Before I reposted the millet cornbread recipe (shame on computer hackers) I had gone to the health food store that has the best price on the spelt bread my Honorable Husband likes. They told me that they stopped carrying millet, because it wasn’t selling. However, they said they would order it if I bought 3 bags. I agreed and had just picked up the millet. In my mind I could already taste the cornbread.

That afternoon HH and I were hauling gravel around the yard. We needed to get to a certain point in our project because rain was in the forecast. As I worked I was thinking about what to cook with the millet cornbread. Suddenly I had a brainstorm. One of the things I loved in my pre-BTD days was tamale pie. I could substitute the millet cornbread and have an old favorite.

Coming in from the yard at dusk, already hungry and tired, I didn’t take the time to make the full tamale pie. I did a quickie version. It was delicious. HH paid me compliments.

Brown 16 – 20 ounces of ground turkey. Add 2 tablespoons of chili powder and 1 tablespoon of ground cumin. In the full version I would also have added cooked onion and cooked red bell pepper – but like I said, I was in a hurry.

While the meat was cooking, I ground the millet in my food processor and made millet cornbread batter. I put the seasoned meat in the bottom of a flat casserole dish and poured the batter over it. I baked it as if it was just the millet cornbread alone.

Substituting in recipes is beneficial. I have also been substituting in exercise, and that has not been so beneficial. We’ve had lots of yard work this spring. When I work outside for a couple of hours, I don’t come in and do another 30 – 45 minutes of exercise. The yard work makes my back and arm muscles stronger. It often gets my heart rate pumping and I definitely work up a good sweat. I thought this substitution was working.

However, this morning I went for a run – probably the first time I’ve run in 3 weeks. I could tell that I was out of shape. I need to make sure that I allow time for running, bicycling and other Type O intense physical exercise, even in the weeks that I am physically active in my yard.