ingredients in sweet "hominy".

Cheesy. I know. But hear me out. It started like this. A few days ago, during the "cold blast" here in H-Town (which really means it was yucky and about 35 degrees for a few days. Big deal...not), I was figuring out dinner plans for the evening when I felt the urge to dig through our cook book and cooking magazine cabinet. While thumbing through a super old issue of Cooking Light, I stumbled across THE recipe for the night! Pork and Hominy Stew. Thus the pun "sweet hominy". Get it? Get it? OK. Good. Anyway. I hopped in the car and hit the grocery store which was jam-packed with people dressed in what seemed to be every winter-ish related clothing item they owned. I'm in a sweatshirt that may or may not have had stains on it, running shorts (yep, SHORTS) and tennis shoes. I swear some people in there were sweating they were so overly wintered out. Oh well. To each his own and, trust me, I had my share of the classic "up and down" when I trotted in there in shorts. It happens. I'm not bitter. Really, I'm not. Moving along... this post is simply a teaser to the actually post containing the recipe that I'm absolutely positive you'll love, unless, of course, you're allergic to, or happen to despise any of the ingredients, in which case I'm sorry. Very sorry. I will say that accompanying the stew was Fresh Jalapeno Cornbread. OK, OK, I'll give you that recipe by now. Only because I know it by heart. It's so easy that every time I make it I feel like I should have a show called Semi-Homemade...wait, that already exists! I'll come up with something clever one of these days...you just wait! OK. Enough. Below is the recipe for the cornbread. Hope you enjoy! Just FYI, my mom, who was taught by her mom (NaNa), taught me some tricks to make pre-packaged cornbread mix something fabulous, as mom always said. I couldn't help but smile when I made it the other night. It's so true that mom, even though she's not here physically, is still everywhere and a HUGE part of so many things we do day in and day out. Miss her so much!

Fresh Jalapeno Cornbread

What you'll need:

~1 Pkg. Texas Style cornbread mix
~1 Egg
~Fat free sour cream (I believe it's 2/3 C. but make sure you substitute the same amount as milk called for)
~1/2 Can cream style corn
~1 Fresh jalapeno, chopped, seeds left in.
~1/2 Can Mexican style corn (sometimes called Fiesta Corn or Corn & Peppers)

What to do:

~Preheat oven, according to pkg. directions
~Place all ingredients into large mixing bowl. Mix well.
~Pour batter into greased* 8x8 glass or metal pan and bake according to pkg. directions.
*If you want crispy, buttery edges, place 1-2 Tbs. butter or SmartBalance into pan and place in oven until melted. Then pour batter in and the excess butter will go up the sides of the pan and, when baked, will become super yummy, crispy edges.

That's it. Feel like it was too simple? I know. Me, too. But it's so, so good.
So good, in fact, literally every time Matt eats the cornbread he says "I think this is the best I've had."

Be looking for the stew recipe!