May 10 - Cornbread Enchilada Casserole

Today was the May installment of "Munchin Mamas" recipe club. Although already taken place, we honored the Cinco de Mayo holiday and made it a Mexican themed meeting. We had some fantastic food, including: fruit salsa with cinnamon sugar chips, guacamole and chips, a spicy cream cheese/Velveeta/turkey sausage dip with chips, a cheesy salsa-y chicken, and Mexican wedding cookies. I decided to bring the famed cornbread enchilada casserole, given to me by my friend Katie. I made it a month or two ago and it was a HUGE hit! I had enough leftovers for it to be dinner tonight, so I ate it twice today (so did the kiddos). Luke was really diggin it, too - I couldn't believe how much he enjoyed the beans especially. Watching him eat all this "big boy" food is fascinating, albeit a bit sad...where did my baby go?!?

For those of you who haven't tried it, here is the recipe again!

Cornbread Enchilada Casserole
Ingredients
4 oz. can diced green chiles
1/2 cup of your favorite salsa
3 to 4 chopped scallions (I used 1/4 cup onion)
2 cups shredded cooked chicken (I used 2 boxes of Purdue Short Cuts because I didn't have too much time to make it)
1 can black beans, rinsed and drained
1 can corn with red & green peppers, drained
1 (10 oz.) can enchilada sauce
1/2 cup egg substitute (I used 2 eggs)
1 (8.5 oz) package corn muffin mix
2 Tblsp chopped roasted red bell pepper
1 1/2 cups (6 oz) shredded Mexican cheese
for garnish - sour cream, fresh cilantro

Directions

1. Place salsa, scallions, chicken, beans, corn, half the chilies, and enchilada sauce into the cooker; stir well. Cover with lid and cook on LOW for 4 hours.
2. Combine the other half of the chiles, corn muffin mix, egg substitute, and chopped red pepper in a bowl. Spoon batter evenly over the bean mixture in the cooker. Cover and cook 1 hour until the crust is done.
3. Sprinkle the cheese over the corn bread, turn off the crockpot and let it sit 5 minutes until the cheese melts. Top each serving with a tablespoon of sour cream and additional cilantro, optional. Makes about 6 servings.