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As planned, I have been utilizing my crock pot lots this fall & winter. It makes me VERY happy to have a “home cooked” meal, even after being away for home all day.
It makes eating during 15-hour work days a bit easier, too. Here’s what I packed to go to work with me yesterday:
Breakfast: papaya & low-fat cottage cheese, coffee
Snack: banana
Lunch: Crock Pot Tamale Pie leftovers
Snack: 2 clementines
Dinner: Lightened Up Caesar Salad
I know that if I don’t pack for a FULL day away from home, I’m going to make poor food choices. And that’s never a good thing! Leftovers help me pack my lunches, and crock pot meals are a great way to make multiple servings with no additional effort or time 
Crock Pot Tamale Pie adapted from A Year of Crockpotting and Bean Town Baker
Cornbread topping
3/4 cup cornmeal
1 1/4 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1 cup skim milk
1/4 cup sugar Splenda granular
1 egg
1 tsp baking powder
Filling
1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 can fire roasted tomatoes
1 can corn, drained
1 Tbsp chili powder
1 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp paprika
1/4 cup 1/2 onion, diced
1/2 cup 2% shredded cheddar cheese
Directions:
Spray your crock pot with cooking spray. Dump in the filling ingredients–cheese, too!– and stir well to distribute the spices. You will not be able to stir this again, so please check to see that the spices aren’t in a clump anywhere.
In a separate bowl, mix together the cornbread topping. When finished, pour evenly over the filling, spreading with a spatula if needed.
Cover and cook on low for 4-7 hours or on high for 2-4. I cooked on high and it took about 2.5 hours. Serves 6.
Nutrition Information (for 1/6th of recipe): 323 calories; 5 g. fat; 43 mg. cholesterol; 335 mg. sodium; 57.5 g. carbohydrate; 10.8 g. fiber; 12.2 g. protein
Result: If you like cornbread, you will love this recipe. The cumin and corm meal make this dish very savory while the beans and corn make it very hearty and filling, while being a great high-protein vegetarian meal. Mr. P enjoyed this recipe, too…he said there was a lot of cornbread on top and he liked that part. Of course. 
Enjoy!
And while I am loving my crock pot, I am more than ready to say farewell to winter. Central Ohio has had ice and is expecting up to 5 inches of snow today. Thankfully, I have meetings just 5 minutes from home today.
I want to apologize for somewhat falling off the face of the blogosphere. For the few moments a day I’m at my computer, I am often returning student emails. But I hope to catch up with everyone this weekend, if not sooner!
Question: Are you satisfied with vegetarian meals, or do you prefer a serving of meat with your meals?
Happy Thursday!
![Photo](http://i799.photobucket.com/albums/yy280/preventionrd/webshotcopy.jpg?t=1302742583"V")
I love crockpot recipes…and the cornmeal-genius! Gives that yummy bread-y feeling:) I never used to think I could eat all veggies-now thats all I do anyways and am completely satisfied!
Mmm…cornbread.
I’m not a vegetarian, but most of my meals are vegetarian mainly because I hate touching raw meat. I know, lame excuse. But also, meat’s freaking expensive!
Oh, I def want to try this recipe. My crockpot has seen more action this winter, than any other I think, because of the food blog I started…
One of my fav frozen meals in a pinch, is Amy’s organic roasted veg tamale with black beans..I top it with a dollop of nf greek yogurt….so good. I think this casserole might be like that.
I am perfectly content with a veg meal now and then, my husband, on the other hand, not so much.
I know, NOT looking forward to the snow today. Pretty much done with winter. My fb status yesterday was this….I don’t care how many scarfs, boots, coats, mittens, hats, and other winter outwear you put on, when you take the dog for a walk and it’s under 20 degrees F with a windchill…you are going to get COLD…just sayin…
I love cornbread, so I’m sure I’d like this dish. I really don’t know the least about crock pot cooking though because surprisingly my mom never used one when I was growing up. I’m a pescetarian, so I can say I definitely get satisfied by veggie meals. I’ve actually been experimenting with vegetarian comfort foods and they’ve been so hearty and delicious. I’ll have to share some recipes soon.
As you can guess…I’m happy with vegetarian meals
This tamale pie looks awesome!
Even though I’m not a vegetarian, I really prefer making veggie meals! I think because it’s cheaper, I don’t like cooking with meat (I’m always nervous I won’t cook it through or something!), and it makes me feel creative.
Question for you…..do you keep your crock pot on low heat when you’re gone all day long? Sometimes I’m gone for 10ish hours, and I’m so scared to keep it on that long!
That recipe looks super delicious! Will be bookmarking it so I can make it next week. I also find that when I am on the road all day, I HAVE to pack my meals otherwise it is too easy to grab something not quite so healthy. When I do forget meals, I try to stop by a grocery store to pick up a few essentials to make a sandwich or stop by their salad bar for a veggie packed salad to go.
Just bookmarked this recipe! It’s right up my alley. And I’m making a point of eating more bean-based meals because they’re CHEAPER!
I have become more content with a vegetarian dinner – beans make a meal hearty and filling.
I also love my crockpot and need to use it again soon – this is a great recipe!
I love vegetarian meals….this one looks great!
Love cornbread! And I didn’t know you could cook it in the crockpot like that?!?!
I love corn bread so know I would enjoy this! A hearty bean filled vegetarian meal will fill me up… But my husband may wonder where the meat is.
When I worked in Chicago, at least twice a week I accessorized my lunch with Heaven on Seven’s jalapeno cornbread – even 10+ years ago it was $2.50 a square, but completely worth it!
Of course, you know I’ll leave out the onions!
My hubs is a meat eater, but a while back I made a chili with bulgar wheat that did have a “meaty” texture.
http://mybizzykitchen.com/2010/06/27/another-stormy-morning-and-bsi-bulgar-wheat/
Oh, I’m definitely going to make this soon.
I love vegetarian meals but my husband always says he’s still hungry if there’s no meat.
Sounds like a great dish! I was going to use my crock pot more, but I still haven’t… Glad it’s working out for you!
I hope you are enjoying your class!
Nice new blog!!
Sounds delicious!! And looks it too… Yep, I still need a crockpot. It will come in handy when I have kids! I do prefer meat with my meals, but never a lot (maybe 2-3 ounces is all I need). We rarely do vegetarian meals, but we do eat a TON of beans in this house! Nick loves em’.
Yummy! You had me at cornbread. I might add some spicy sausage to this just to kick things up a notch
Yum! I saw crock pot and cornbread so I am all over this recipe! I love vegetarian meals especially with beans because beans really fill me up
Going to have to make this one!
Do you know if the ‘print this’ function works in Chrome? I can’t seem to get it to work
May I ask how you did this feature? Thanks!
[...] for easy recipes to make for dinner that are healthy and fast. When I saw this recipe on my friend Nicole’s blog, I knew I had to try this. I did however change it around some. Instead of using the crock [...]