Date Night Dinners - How It All Began

9/06/2013 tringel 0 Comments

Who loves fall? I do! Source: Pinterest

It is finally starting to feel like fall: the morning dew; the cool, crisp air; the colorful leaves slowly falling from their branches. But with any positive comes a negative (or at least something to keep the cosmic balance in line...or something like that). And for me, that is the beginning of another (and hopefully my last for a while) fall semester. Now don't get me wrong, I like school; I like seeing my friends; I like the classes I am taking (especially now that I am in grad school and can cater my classes around my own interests), and I like the challenges and knowledge I get from each class. School gives me purpose and pride. But come on, after 19 years of school, yes I am in 19th grade - my final year of grad school...if I pass ;) -  not including pre-k of course, parts of the whole education thing get a little old. I won't miss the stress or homework, and the countless hours of sleep I lose fretting about the minor details of each project. Oh the life of a graphic design major - is this sentence kerned correctly?

A designer "haha," sorry if you are only reading for the food part of this post... Source: Tumblr

Anywho, with that in mind I have been inspired to start a new series of posts (yes I am making more work for myself, woe is me). Because I work a full-time day job, and go to class at night , both which are at least half an hour from where I live, I have this awkward block of time in between the transition of the two. Luckily, my boyfriend lives right by my job, so assuming he is not working I can just pop on over to waste those couple hours before class.

Looks soo yummy right?! Too many to choose from: dinners, appetizers, desserts, oh my!

This time is usually spent thinking about what to eat, preparing what we will eat, and eating what we have made for dinner - time well spent I'd say, I love food. So, with both of us having fairly busy and conflicting schedules, this has become our weekly date night. And, because money is tight we usually eat in and try new recipes, so I can check them off my list of 1,000+ "yumm! pins." With that said, I will be sharing with you our "Date Night Dinners" every Friday.

Here is our first Date Night Dinner, and can I just say, it was quite delicious.





Chili Bake
recipe adapted from cozi.com, Fiesta Biscuit Casserole.

Ingredients

• 1.5 lbs ground beef 
• 1 can (10 oz) diced tomatoes with green chilies 
• 2 cans (15 oz) kidney beans 
• 1.5 cups of shredded cheddar cheese 1 red bell pepper, diced 
• .5 yellow onion, diced 
• 1 tsp chili powder 
• .5 tsp garlic powder 
• salt and pepper to taste 
• Spray oil 
• 1 box cornbread mix

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375F 
2. Cook on medium high, ground beef and tomatoes in large skillet until beef is browned. 
3. Mix in beans, half cup cheese, red bell pepper, yellow onion, and seasonings. 
4. Stir until everything is well blended, about 3 minutes. 
5. Spray a casserole dish with baking oil. 
6. Pour mixture into casserole dish.
7. In a medium bowl, combine cornbread mix with water (following instructions on box). 
8. Pour bread mixture over the meat combination in veggie dish (it helps to dollop scoops of bread and then spread rather then pouring it all in the center). 
9. Top with remaining cheese and bake for 25 minutes or until cornbread is cooked through. 
10. Remove from oven and enjoy.