CHILI HOMINY BAKE

Back when I was a latch key kid I was supposed to go home after school, lock the door, do my chores and homework and then start dinner. Dinners were mainly casseroles and a pre-planned set of recipes at that. One of those recipes was my great aunt Louise's Chili Hominy Bake. I recently ran across that recipe and it drudged up memories - some good, some not so good. You see I can't stand kidney beans or black olives and I hated hominy - or so I thought. I did love the overall flavor, but since I didn't like the parts I decided to rework them to make a better whole!

AUNT LOUISE'S JIFFY CHILI HOMINY BAKE
1 pound ground beef
1/2 cup chopped onion
1 pound can chili with beans (2 cups)
1 tablespoon chili powder
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 can yellow hominy, drained (2 1/2 cups)
2 tablespoons sliced ripe olives
1/2 cup shredded American cheese

• Cook ground beef and onion until browned.
• Stir in other ingredients except cheese.
• Put in casserole.
• Cover and bake in medium oven for 25 minutes.
• Sprinkle cheese over top, continue baking uncovered 5 minutes more.
• Good re-heated.

MY CHILI HOMINY BAKE
1 1/2 pounds ground beef
1 Vidalia onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 packet Williams Chili seasoning
1 can Rotel tomatoes with green chiles, drained, but save the juice
1 can cream of celery soup
1 large can hominy, drained & chopped small
1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese
salt & pepper to taste

• Cook ground beef, garlic and onion until browned.
• Add in the chili seasoning mix and tomato juice.
• Cook until well blended and juice is absorbed.
• Chop hominy smaller.
• Stir together the soup, tomatoes and chiles, hominy until well blended.
• Stir together the soup mixture and beef mixture until well blended.
• Put in greased casserole.
• Sprinkle cheese over top, continue baking uncovered 25-30 minutes more.
• Good re-heated.

The key was taking out the kidney beans, black olives and chopping the hominy into better sized pieces. Now that might not be the key for you so add them back in! This is a very versatile recipe. I guarantee these changes will make this a great kid friendly casserole.