Spanish Rice and Corn Bread

For dinner tonight we are having spanish rice, fresh corn bread and a big salad. I will share the recipes here.(Although I think most of you can figure out the salad part.:-) We ate lots of this Spanish Rice growing up. My mom really liked making this recipe and we liked eating it! This is my mom's recipe, however, as she will be quick to inform me, it is not exactly like hers. This is because I don't have her recipe,(I keep forgetting to copy it) so I make it from memory and add my own touches as I go. It is basically the same. So here goes-


Spanish Rice Casserole
Ingredients:
1 pound ground beef
1 clove garlic
1 medium onion, chopped
2 stalks celery, chopped
1/2 green pepper, chopped
2 cans(14.5 oz.) diced tomatoes
1 can(6 oz.) tomato paste
1 or 2 bay leaves
Chili powder (to taste)
Salt and Pepper(to taste)
1 or 1 1/2 cups long grain rice, uncooked
Approx. 3 cups water
Directions:
In skillet, crumble and brown ground beef. Drain. Add garlic, onion, celery and pepper. Cook together for a minute or two. Put all in a large pot and add the rest of ingredients. Stir all together and bring to a boil. Cover and simmer on low heat for at least 30 minutes or so, stirring occasionally.
* This is good with shredded cheddar cheese on top. Leftovers are good in flour tortillas.
* If you are like me and are only serving a couple of people, go ahead and freeze half of it. When ready to serve, thaw and bake in greased casserole dish at 350 degrees for about 30 minutes.

Here is the recipe that I use for corn bread. It is from the cookbook Mad About Muffins by Dot Vartan.

Sweet Corn Muffins
Ingredients:
1 1/4 cups all- purpose flour
3/4 cup yellow cornmeal
1/2 rounded teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1 egg
1 cup milk
1/4 cup corn oil

Directions:
Heat oven to 400 degrees. Combine flour, cornmeal, salt, baking powder, and sugar in a large bowl. Lightly beat the egg in a small bowl. Add milk and oil to the egg and stir well. Pour the egg mixture into the flour mixture and blend the ingredients. Fill greased muffin tins. Bake for 20-22 minutes or until tester comes out clean. Serve warm. Makes one dozen muffins.
* I make this recipe in a greased 9 inch square pan.