When I saw this recipe in the book, Family Feasts for $75 a Week, I was instantly drawn to it.

“Oh! This sounds yummy!” I thought, as I started copying down the recipe. Then I realized–this is almost an exact replica of a staple in my house growing up…Corn Muffin Casserole.

No matter what you call it, it’s tasty. (And cheap, and easy!)

Ingredients:

1 lb ground beef

1 onion, chopped

1 can kidney beans, rinsed and drained

1/2 cup frozen corn

1 1/2 cups plain tomato sauce (no salt or spices added)

1 tbsp chili powder

1 tsp cumin

1 tsp salt

1 pkg Jiffy corn muffin mix

1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

2. Cook the beef and onion until the beef is no longer pink and the onion is translucent. Then add the rest of the ingredients except the corn muffin mix and cheddar cheese to the skillet. Stir well to combine and simmer until it’s heated through, 5-10 minutes.

3. While the meat mixture is simmering, make the Jiffy corn muffin mix by adding 1 egg and 1/3 cup milk to the mix.

4. Spoon the meat mixture into a casserole dish. I used two 8 inch glass loaf pans (which was perfect.) You can also make this in a pie plate so that it actually looks like a pie.

5. Spread the corn muffin mix on top of the meat mixture. Then sprinkle some cheddar cheese all around. Bake for 45 minutes!

Variations: I used ground turkey for this recipe and drained the fat after it was done cooking. You can also make your own corn muffin mix from scratch, but I opted for the Jiffy mix. If you don’t like kidney beans, you can add in other veggies like peas or green beans or carrots. That’s what my mom did when I was a kid.

Yum.