One Big Beautiful Bowl
- Bess Hawthorne
- Sep 25
- 3 min read
Join Tamara Latham as she shares practical hospitality tips, starting with a very important one: don’t forget to laugh! If you’re not a natural planner or delegator, Tamara offers encouragement to begin anyway, and your muscles will grow. You’ll hear creative ideas for making the most of a tiny apartment, a fun drink that kids will love, favorite playlists, and delicious recipes, including an elevated twist on classic s’mores. We're so glad you're here!
Recipes:
One Big Beautiful Bowl
The concept is to just layer a meat, a bean, and a starch all into one dish with enough moisture in it to make reheating when ready to serve a breeze! This makes a versatile, filling, budget-friendly dish to feed a crowd easy peasy! (Recipe for one 9x13 dish)
Some of our favorite variations are:
Mexican (Taco meat, black beans, and Mexican rice)
Greek (Mediterranean seasoned ground beef, garbanzo beans, and turmeric rice)
BBQ (Pulled pork barbecue, baked beans, mac-n-cheese)
Mexican version:
1-2 pounds (depending on your budget) of taco meat* (See recipe below.)
1-2 cans black beans, drained and rinsed (Use two cans if going light on the meat.)
1 can petite diced tomatoes, not drained
3 cups prepared Mexican rice* (See recipe below.)
1 ½ cups shredded cheddar or Mexican fiesta blend cheese
Serve with:
Cilantro lime sour cream (I just add chopped cilantro, fresh lime juice, and some lime zest to sour cream or Greek yogurt!)
Fresh salsa & hot sauce (if desired)
Tortilla chips
A simple garden salad or my salad!* (See recipe below.)
Directions:
1. Spread the meat on the bottom of the dish. Sprinkle the black beans and diced tomatoes on top. Spread the rice on top. If serving right away, sprinkle cheese on top and place in oven until cheese is melted. If waiting to serve until later, cover with foil before adding the cheese and place in fridge until ready to reheat. To reheat, preheat oven to 350° and then bake for about an hour, or until heated through and rice is tender again. Then uncover, add the cheese to the top, and cook until cheese is melted.
I have also frozen this dish fully assembled (before baking, without the cheese), and it worked pretty well! Just defrost fully, sprinkle 2 tablespoons of water in the pan, bake covered until hot and tender, then add the cheese to melt!
*My Taco Meat:
1 pound ground beef
1 tablespoon chili powder
1 teaspoon cumin
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon pepper
¼ teaspoon garlic powder
¼ teaspoon onion powder
¼ teaspoon oregano
¼ teaspoon paprika
Small drizzle of honey
*My Mex Rice
Heat 2 tablespoons olive oil in heavy bottomed pot. Add 2 cups jasmine rice to the pan and sauté for a couple minutes. Add about 8 ounces tomato sauce, and stir until absorbed. Pour in 1 box (4 cups) of chicken broth, and sprinkle in some onion and garlic powders. You can plop some salsa in at this time, too, if you’re in the mood! Stir until it comes to a boil, then reduce the heat to low, cover, and cook for 20 minutes.
*My Salad
Fresh greens
Tomatoes
Cucumbers
Green bell peppers
Cheddar or feta cheese
Pistachios or roasted pepitas (pumpkin seeds)
I love a well-chopped salad, so I prefer chopping all the veg into similar sized small bites! I also love buying feta in a block, instead of the pre-crumbled kind, and chopping that to a similar scale as well! Serve with a simple lime dressing, yum!
Lime “Vinaigrette” Salad Dressing:
Combine a ratio of ⅔ olive oil and ⅓ lime juice. Add salt, pepper, and fresh minced garlic to taste. (Or sometimes I just sprinkle a little garlic powder in to save time!)
Fun Drink for Kids!
1/2 fruit juice - Apple, white grape (These don't stain.) or cranberry pomegranate (for a holiday) are good choices.
1/2 seltzer water
Mix together and serve.
Dessert!
Peanut Butter Cookies
Easy gluten-free/dairy-free treat with no strange ingredients!
Ingredients:
2 eggs
1 cup sugar (Coconut sugar works if you're looking to lower the glycemic index!)
1 cup peanut butter
½ teaspoon baking soda
Directions:
1. Mix two eggs in your mixer until frothy. Add the sugar and baking soda, blend to combine. Add peanut butter.
2. Scoop dough onto parchment paper-lined cookie sheets. Batter will be pretty sticky. I usually opt to skip the traditional fork lines, but you can try if you want! Dipping the fork in sugar between cookies helps!
3. Bake on center rack at 350° until cookies look dry on top but not browned.
Note: Sometimes we mix in chocolate chips, just for kicks!
Recommended Items:
Playlists!