A Square Plate

Eating at the table every night as a family was a very important part of my childhood, and is one aspect that I have implemented in my own family. My son is only one and a half, and we still sit at the table for every meal and eat together, whether daddy is home or not (which he is for dinner every night). I wish every family had the opportunity to sit down as a family and eat meals together, but I understand that every family's dynamics are different.

Almost as important as the company I kept at the dinner table, were the fantastic meals my mom put on that table. We always had a "square meal", with protein (meat or poultry), fruit and/or vegetable, starch (rice, pasta or potato), and some kind of bread with butter (yep, more starch). Oftentimes, we'd have a small salad in addition to the main course. If you put everything on a plate without anything touching, it makes a square, hence "square meal". If you're familiar with the food pyramid, you'll notice that the square meal also follows the concept of the pyramid.

Being raised this way has ingrained in me an almost obsessive need to have all four food groups (although we all know that there haven't been 4 food groups since 1987) on my plate for every meal. However, it also takes a lot of dishes, pots, and pans to make all of the separate food items to serve. Lots of dishes, pots, and pans means lots of washing for mommy. Though I love to cook, I hate doing dishes.

There are so many ways to take those separate food items, and change it up and combine them in one pot or casserole, and still get everything you need without the surplus of dishes!

Southwest Chicken Casserole
1 lb. cooked, cut up chicken breast (or 2 cans white meat chicken, drained and rinsed)
1 can diced tomatoes
1 can green chiles
1 can whole kernel corn (drained)
2 cups cooked rice
2 tsp. cumin
salt and pepper
8 oz shredded cheddar cheese (divided)

Grease a round casserole, combine chicken, tomatoes, chiles, corn, rice, half of the cheese, then season with cumin, salt and pepper. Sprinkle remaining cheese on top. Bake covered for 30 mins at 350, then uncover and bake another 10-15 minutes until bubbly all over.

This hotdish is good on its own, as it combines all of the food groups. However, you can serve a nice spinach salad with some corn and black beans with ranch dressing, also.