One million years of evolution honed our senses to see, smell, touch, hear, and taste danger in a split second. These razor sharp sensors kept humans out of the weeds long enough to ensure our species survival, and are what gives us that keen sense of awareness to everything in our environment. Our senses are just as adapted identifying those things that are friendly to us as well. Like the smell of your Grandmothers house, or better yet the sound of your own Mothers voice. These things give you a sense that the world is going to be alright and can transport you back to a place of comfort. Your taste buds are no different, they are connected directly into the memory center of your brain. Just one bite of a familiar food can take you back to happy places of the past.
I am a product of the 70’s and grew up in the 80’s. Latch key kids, Atari games, Saturday morning cartoons, The Ghost Busters, and microwave ovens shaped our generation along with the All American Dinner….. Casserole. As an ode to all the Mothers out there who learned to take simple, cheap ingrendients and turn them into unforgetable dishes that we still crave today, I honor my Mom with this post.
Out of all the different foods I have learned to cook, eat, and breakdown for their nutritional value I find mindself going back to many of my Mom’s old recipes when feeding my children. The memory of this recipe is so powerful, my sister and I both feel instantly transported back to our childhood at even the first sight of it. This may not look like someting a nutritionist puts up on his recipe blog, but my philosphoy around food is this. Eat as nutrient dense as possible by eating whole foods, make mindful choices, treat the earth and animals with respect, and always, always, always enjoy life and the abundance of Mother Nature. That may mean your diet isn’t always “perfect”, but neither is life, and it’s too damn short to short yourself some creature comforts every now and then.
My Mom did a damn good job raising my sister and I and made due with what she had available to her. And out of everything she provided, the most important thing she gave us was her love. You can’t market that and put it in a box Mr. Kellog! Thank you Mom for all that you did for us your legacy lives on here. I hope you find as much comfort in this dish as I do. Lets eat!
Mayhew Casserole
- 1.5 lbs grass fed ground beef
- 1 can organic whole kernnel corn
- 1 can organic crushed tomatoes
- 1 small can organic tomato sauce
- 1/2 can whole black olives drained
- 1/2 onion diced
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 2-3 cups bowtie pasta (I used GF pasta here)
- 1 1/2 cups shredded chedar cheese OR 1 cup shredded yucca for those who are dairy free (shown here)
- Large sauce pan with lid (The one used here is the original from 40 yrs ago)
Method
- Saute onions in some butter or avocado oil until they start to turn clear
- Add garlic and cook for 2 minutes stiring so it doens’t burn
- Add ground beef and brown while breaking it up into small pieces
- Add the cans of the tomato’s and suace and stew for a few minutes
- Add the whole can of corn with the water
- Add the olives
- Add 1 cup of water
- Add salt to taste
- Cover with the bowtie pasta
- Sprinkle with the shredded cheese or yucca
- Cover with the lid and cook on low heat until the pasta is all dente 25-45 minutes depending on your pasta. Some pasta may even been hard around the edges, don’t worry that makes it yummy.
- Serve with a green salad or vegetable of your choice
