Mexican Aggravation Casserole

Last night sucked. This is not my personal blog or anything, but I'm going to tell you exactly why it sucked, if that's okay.

I thought I had a great idea for a quick and easy meal that would be fast, filling, and a good use of the salsa I made the night before. A Mexican cornbread casserole! I got this recipe from Cody, back when we played D&D in my college days. Good times. Good food.

GOOD GOD. My son did not stop whining from the time I took the meat out of the freezer, to the time I threw my spoon down in my bowl and said, "That's it. I'm going to take a bath."

He latched onto my leg, screaming for me to hold him. I tried to hold him as much as I could, but you need two hands to cook meat, slice onions, drain corn. He wouldn't let me put him down. I'd try, he'd scream. Real tears pouring down his face. He wanted a cookie. COOKIE! COOKIE! So I gave him one. He wanted A DIFFERENT KIND OF COOKIE. He threw the one I gave him. He arched his back and howled. I put him on the counter, so he could watch me cook (and I could free my hands and back up for JUST ONE SECOND), and he grabbed for the knives. I told him no. He screamed some more. I brought him to a quiet room, he wouldn't settle down. I talked to him quietly, asking him to try to use his words. No words. Only pointing and whining and demanding.

He wouldn't let Shayne take him, either. He wouldn't go watch Elmo, or Barney or the Movers. He wouldn't eat anything we offered him, it was all WRONG. He pointed to the living room and demanded CHAIR CHAIR CHAIR. He wanted me to go sit in the chair and hold him while he ate three different kinds of cookies - NOT ONE KIND. All three! I...just...WHAT? NO. So he got in trouble.

After he was done throwing his sulking fit from that, he did settle on ONE kind of snack, and I did go sit in the goddamn chair, because I was exhausted. He broke me, 30 minutes into my evening home.

I directed Shayne around the kitchen some from the chair. "Baby, mix up the cornbread. Can you check the meat? Okay um...well I guess preheat the oven for me if you would." And he did all of that. That was nice.

But the point is, the level of chaos that one small child created around dinnertime got in my head. The noise, the demands, the strain and the frustration. All of it coming out of NOWHERE, SO FAST. After a long day at work. After a whole week of not enough sleep.

That's it. I'm out. Dinner can go fuck itself.

And that is exactly what it tasted like. It was bland. I didn't get to lovingly season the meat, or check the cornbread for the exact right done-ness. It tasted like nothing to me by the time I ate it. No, it tasted like defeat. Like aggravation and sadness. Shayne told me it was pretty good, though, so whatever. Maybe the leftovers tonight will be better.

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MEXICAN CORNBREAD CASSEROLE THAT IS USUALLY PRETTY AWESOME

1 lb lean ground beef
1 medium onion, chopped
Minced garlic, to taste
Frozen corn
Salsa (either 1 jar, or fresh if you made some)
Shredded sharp cheddar
2 boxes Jiffy corn muffin mix
2 eggs
2/3 cup milk
Taco seasoning, and any other seasonings you want to add - to taste


Brown the beef. Add in the onion, garlic and corn, and cook until onion is translucent. Drain everything well, then put in the taco seasoning (I used the low sodium packets, that you mix with water) and cook for several minutes until water reduces.

Meanwhile, mix up the cornbread mix (with the eggs and milk). Pour the meat mixture into a baking dish. Spread it out evenly on the bottom, then layer a jar (or fresh) salsa over the meat. Spread it out all nice and pretty. Sprinkle with a layer of cheese, then top with the final layer of cornbread.

Bake at 350 for 20-30 minutes, until the cornbread is done to your liking.

The only thing that I will warn you about is that it always gets me - the cheese layer, next to the cornbread, results in a goopy-cheesy-doughy type consistency that ALWAYS makes me think "the cornbread isn't done all the way down!" Except it is. That's an effect of the cheese on the bread when cooked together like that. No worries.

Usually this is a great, simple, hot and comforting dish for weeknights!

USUALLY.