Mother’s Day is right around the corner this weekend and there are so many ways to honor that sweet woman in all our lives. As a mother of three girls, as well as a daughter, I realize each day how lucky I am to have each of them in my life. It also occurs to me that along our way, there have also been others who helped mold and grow each of us in to the women we have become. As we look toward this celebration of Mother’s Day this weekend, I challenge you to reach out to all those great women who have impacted you in so many ways.
As always with any celebration comes the food, and on our ranch the meat of choice will inevitably be Hereford beef. As I plan our menu this weekend to honor my mom, I keep thinking back to the recipes she made for me as a child and molded me in to the cook I have become. I proudly now serve these meals to my own family and blog about them on my site, The Ranch Kitchen.
When my first daughter left home to attend Texas A&M University 10 years ago, she and her friends, to my delight, began calling home for my recipes. As an educator who has taught or mentored teachers as an Instructional Coach in English and Language Arts for over 26 years, writing has always been my passion. So, as the story goes, I started my blog and began to post my recipes that were and still are greatly influenced by my sweet mom and Granny.
To date, The Ranch Kitchen has more than 220 posts and recipes that are deeply rooted in Hereford beef. They are treasured recipes handed down to me from my family, friends, and those I have created myself.
Along with my husband, Scott, and daughters Ilissa, Bethany and Audrey, we’ve lived and raised our girls on our registered Hereford ranch in Northeast Texas. We show Hereford cattle in Texas and throughout the nation at the National Junior Hereford Shows, and my daughter, Bethany, is a past National Hereford Queen.
We are FFA and 4-H Proud, and all three of my daughters were and still are actively involved in the Future Farmers of America, where my oldest daughter Ilissa was a Texas FFA Vice President. Our youngest daughter, Audrey, is a high school student who is now an FFA district officer and competes on the state level in speaking events based on agricultural issues. My husband, Scott, is a commercial contractor, rancher, real estate agent focusing on ranch properties, and is also an auctioneer giving freely of his time to local FFA chapters for fundraising events.
My mission and goal has always been to advocate for our way of life in agriculture and share recipes that anyone can prepare – from the budding, beginning cook to the most experienced.
My recipes are southern and southwestern inspired that have ingredients that are easily found in your groceries or from your pantry in your home. I want the recipes I share to be easily prepared and on the table in 30 minutes to an hour. I am a working mom and wife like so many of you, so I get it! Life is fast and dinner should be as well, but not lacking in flavor.
When contacted by Certified Hereford Beef to partner with them on their site to share my recipes, I was thrilled and honored to say the least. As a past President of the National Hereford Women and developer of both my own and their relatively new recipe site, it has been one of my largest goals for us all to share the stories behind the beef and recipes we serve our families and friends.
For my first post for Certified Hereford Beef, I wanted to get my introductions in and share my favorite recipe from my mother, Virginia, that to this date is my kind of comfort food. This recipe was featured in the 2016 Go Texan cookbook. I also gave a cooking demonstration about this Hereford beef main dish at the 2016 State Fair of Texas.
This Beefy Mexican Cornbread uses Certified Hereford Beef we proudly serve our family. It’s southwestern inspired and the cornbread can be made with the addition of green chilis or even jalapeños, but that all depends on your personal ‘heat’ index!
Our family loves anything spicy and with a Mexican/Southwest flavor, so this recipe is easily a family favorite. If you are looking for the perfect pot luck dish to take to friends, church events or to cook for a crowd, this recipe is easily doubled or tripled as I have done many, many times.
Ingredients
2 pounds ground Certified Hereford beef
3 cloves garlic or 1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 onion, chopped fine
1 large can green chiles
1 can creamed corn
1 can tomatoes with lime juice and green cilantro
2 packages of cornbread, prepared according to directions uncooked (not baked yet)
1/2 cup milk (for cornbread)
2 eggs, beaten (for cornbread)
2-4 cups Mexican blend grated cheese or mild or sharp cheddar
Instructions
1. Cook ground beef, garlic and chopped onion until it is browned.
2. Drain excess fat and add can of diced tomatoes and chopped green chiles.
3. In separate bowl, prepare cornbread according to package directions, reducing milk to 1/2 cup for broth packages. Then add cans of creamed corn to mixture for both packages. Set mixture aside.
4. Grease a 9×13 inch glass dish and add ground beef mixture.
5. Sprinkle two cups of cheese on top and pour cornbread mixture on top of meat.
6. Bake in a 425°F oven for 45 minutes or until top of cornbread is slightly browned.
7. During the last five minutes of baking, add 2 cups of grated cheese on top of cornbread.
8. Allow to cool for ten minutes and cut into squares.
So, happy Mother’s Day to all you moms out there! Your work shines through in all those you have touched in your lives. Sometimes it’s in those thankless, long hours where we realize it’s in the little and big things we’ve shared or taught that will speak of our legacy one day.
Enjoy your day and we hope you will try The Ranch Kitchen’s Beefy Mexican Cornbread for your lunch this weekend. We love to serve this main dish with a big pot of pinto beans, side salad, salsa and chips, along with a big glass of sweet tea. Margaritas are also a huge hit with this meal if you are partial to them. Beefy Mexican Cornbread will feed a crowd and leftovers are such a treat!
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