Feeding The Troops - A Game Plan

Since my husband moved to the evening shift at the beginning of the year, I have been struggling with the meal situation. I took his advice for awhile and just worried about feeding me, but then he would come home with fast food or eat a protein bar, and my inner Haus Frau couldn't abide that.

This week I've been cooking a meal ahead. Yesterday we had chicken pot pie that I had made the previous evening and tonight we'll have a meal I prepared last night. WARNING: the following dish is not gourmet by any stretch of the imagination, however it is probably one of the first things I learned to cook as a wee girl. My Mom and Auntie used to make this as a quick meal after school. It didn't have a name until I started calling it Texas Casserole (primarily because mother is from Texas and it strikes me as classic cowboy fare.)

So, without further ado, I give you Texas Casserole . . .

Brown & drain about 2 lbs of ground beef (the leaner the better). If you have one, use a cast iron skillet, otherwise you'll have to transfer it to a baking dish.

Add a can of baked beans, a can of corn, about 2 cups of BBQ sauce, a bit of garlic, cumin, and onion powder. I also add a bit of Cajun seasoning (roughly: salt, chili, cayenne, garlic salt, pepper, and a lot of other stuff I can't remember). It is also good with some onions thrown in. Stir.

Top with ready-made biscuits (again, this was created by two teenage girls in the 60's so bear with me).

Bake in a 350 degree oven until the biscuits brown.

Okay, here's the dirty little secret: in mom's original recipe the biscuits were dipped in butter and cornmeal before they were put on the casserole, but I just can't bring myself to do it. Taste-wise it's a bit like Sloppy Joe's, but of course the biscuits soak up the BBQ goodness and they don't fall apart like a hamburger bun.

P.S. Primarily, the reason I documented this nonsense is because it was late and I was tired and I needed something to keep me on task.