Chili Tonight?

We tried this White Chili with Chicken recipe from Family Fun Magazine last week and loved it. Top it with some cheddar and eat with crusty rolls.

And here's my recipe for Meaty Chipotle Chili (a variation of this recipe):

1 Onion, chopped

1 Bell Pepper, chopped

3-4 cloves Garlic, minced

2lb. Ground Turkey or Ground Beef

1 can Kidney Beans

2 cans Tomato Sauce

2 TBL Chili Powder

1 TBL Oregano

1 TBL Cumin

1 1/2 tsp. Salt

1/4 c. Tobasco Chipotle Chili Sauce

Saute onion, bell pepper, and garlic in olive oil in pot. Add ground meat and brown thoroughly.

Add beans and tomato sauce.

Add chili powder, oregano, cumin, and salt. Stir in Chipotle Chili Sauce. Let simmer for 30 min. to an hour.

Great served with cheddar, sour cream and Fritos. J and the kids like their's over rice.

June's Menu and Three Recipes

BREAKFASTS:

• Cinnamon toast with fresh fruit.
• Vanilla yogurt with granola and fresh fruit.
• SATURDAY: French toast with fresh fruit (all sprinkled with a little powdered sugar).
• SUNDAY: Donuts or something equally easy and quick and low-mess.

LUNCHES:

• Pasta with veggies and salad.
• Chef salad.
• SATURDAY: Tuna sandwiches with raw veggie sticks.
• SUNDAY: Burgers or Dogs with raw veggie sticks.

DINNERS:

• SUNDAY: Grilled meat of choice (whatever is cheap) with salad and other fixin's.
• MONDAY: Mexican (tacos, burritos, nachos, or enchiladas) with chips and dip.
• TUESDAY: Salad night ~ Veggie salad, potatos salad, pasta salad. . .
• WEDNESDAY: Chicken Alfredo with salad.
• THURSDAY: Meatless Mexican (black bean burritos or nachos) with chips and dip.
• FRIDAY: Pizza night!
• SATURDAY: Cincinatti Chili and salad.

SPECIAL DAYS:

TEENY'S TEA PARTY

• Iced raspberry tea and lemonade
• Bite-sized PB&Js and cream cheese and jam sandwiches and veggie sticks
• Biscuits with jam or honey
• Thumb-print cookies and shortbread cookies
• Peaches and blueberries with sponge cake and coolwhip.
• Icecream cake with white cake and sprinkles and cherry ice cream.

TEENY'S BIRTHDAY

• All meals of Teeny's choosing ~ yet to be decided.

FATHER'S DAY/FIRST DAY OF SUMMER

• BREAKFAST: Bacon, eggs, and grits.
• LUNCH: Grilled burgers and dogs.
• DINNER: Wings and veggie sticks
• DESSERT: Deep fried brownie sundaes.

RECIPES:

THUMB PRINT COOKIES

from Paula Deen

3 sticks Butter, softened

1c. Sugar

2 Egg Yolks

3 3/4c. All-Purpose Flour

1/4 tsp. Salt

1 tsp. Vanilla

Preserves/Jam

Cream butter and sugar. Add egg yolks. Sift flour and salt; blend into butter mixture. Add vanilla. Chill dough thoroughly. Preheat oven to 350*F. Shape dough into 1" balls and place on ungreased cookie sheets. Make indentations in center of each with thumb (I use my pointer finger for a deeper hole); fill with preserves/jam. Bake for 15min. or until lightly browned. Cool slightly; remove to rack to finish cooling.

SPONGE CAKE

from The Anne of Green Gables Treasury

1c. sifted All-Purpose Flour

1 tsp. Baking Powder

1/4 tsp. Salt

1/2 c. Milk

2 TBL Butter

2 Eggs

1c. Sugar

1 tsp. Vanilla

Preheat oven to 350*F. Grease and flour a 9" or 10" round baking pan. In a bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt. In a small saucepan, heat the milk and butter until the butter melts. Keep the mixture warm until you are ready to add it to the batter. In a large bowl, beat the eggs until they are think and lemon-colored (about 3 min.). Add the sugar a little at a time while continuing to beat the eggs. Stir in the dry ingredients till just blended. Add the warm milk and butter and the vanilla. Stir into batter. Turn batter into pan and bake for 25-30 min. or till the cake bounces back when touched. Let cool completely in pan on rack. Serve iced, sugared, or topped with fruit and Cool Whip and whipped cream.

DEEP FRIED BROWNIES

Take about 1-2 cups baking mix (we use Jiffy) and mix it with enough water to make a slightly thin batter. Add a teaspoon or two of vanilla extract. Dip brownies of choice into batter and deep fry in oil heated to about 375*F.

For a sundae, top with vanilla ice cream, a bit of cheap chocolate syrup, and some Cool Whip or whipped cream. Oh so delicious.

For My Mother-In-Law

Flourless Chocolate Cupcakes

An April Fool's Tip for Moms

Here's a link to some great food pranks.

We'll be having the colorful cupcakes for dinner (along with sides to be brought out later). Dessert will be ice cream potatoes with faux fishsticks and peas.

I first tried these dinner pranks when G was just about two or three years old. It totally wierded him out. He cried over the cupcakes; and I felt so bad that I tried to let him go straight to dessert, but he wouldn't believe that the potatoes were really icecream.

And I think April Fool's Day is as great an excuse as any to mix up some goop.

To Save Me Yet Another Friday Night Google Search:

The good pizza crust recipe.

A Chocolatey Treat

Here is a recipe I found through the Make It From Scratch blog carnival -- which I subscribe to but have not yet entered myself. I digress.

These are, without a doubt, the absolutely richest, sweetest brownies that I have ever tasted in my entire life. The recipe makes a square pan, which I, out of habit, cut into nine square brownies. Whoa!!! Could have halved those babies and still gotten "sugar willies." Don't get me wrong, these babies are to-die for. But for the sake of my health, I will be reserving this treat for special days like Valentine's Day or for those totally Down-In-the-Dumps Days when nothing else will help but some Serious Chocolate.

The recipe is super easy, but here are a few tips/words of warning. I stopped baking them when I could insert a knife about an inch or two from the edge and have it come out clean. . . even though the brownies still looked undercooked to the naked eye. Hot, they were still so moist that they were literally falling apart, but they were done. And so good under some cold vanilla ice cream. Cooled, they are super chewy and very easy to handle.

So, if you are bummed, celebrating, or know a chocoholic who deserves a special treat, whip these up. Yum.

Happy Halloween

On the agenda for the day:

1. A breakfast of Flap-Jack'o'Lanterns (orange pancakes with faces made from cut-up fried ham) and "Witches Brew" (green Hawaiian Punch -- a rarity around here).

2. Baking "Soul Cakes". For us, these are always just cupcakes that we frost and create faces on using Halloween candy. I'll be trying out this recipe for Pumpkin Cupcakes this year.

3. Lunch of "Ogre Fingers" (hot dogs cut in half length-wise and then down the center with a drop of ketchup or mustard at the tips for nails) and "Slugs" (macaroni and cheese) with more "Witches Brew".

4. Carving of the Jack'o'Lanterns.

5. Dinner of "Bloody Worms and Eyeballs" (spaghetti and meatballs) and *more* "Witches Brew".

6. Getting the kids dressed up -- G as a mummy, Teeny as a gypsy, and Bud-Jack as a Hobo.

7. Trick-or-treating.

8. Decorating the "Soul Cakes".

9. Eating "Soul Cakes" and candy and drinking Cider Slushies as we watch The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown.

10. Trying to get three kids into bed while they are on a sugar high. Then sitting down with the kids' candy and watching last night's episode of The Office with J.

Weeding Through, Part 3. . . Since J *Didn't* Wake Up After All

J loves this Crispy Macaroni and Cheese. He loves to have me make it for covered-dish events. It is definitely a bit different, but all Green Bean Casserole lovers should give it a try.

This Crock Pot Stuffing is pretty good. Unfortunately, J prefers StoveTop.

Taste of Home's Delicious Pumpkin Bread is absolutely *the*best* pumpkin bread you will ever taste. Everyone who has ever tried it has raved.

The Common Room comes through again with this vegetarian recipe for Gypsy Soup. It is tasty, tasty. I plan to make it this weekend, as we have a vegetarian guest coming for dinner. Also try out these Honeyed and Curried Chicken Breasts.

I make this Harvest Stew on the first weekend of fall every year -- then often for the remainder of fall as it is a favorite of J's.

Chicken Tetrazzini holds a special place in my heart. It takes me back to Wednesday night church suppers of my middle and high school years. I found this recipe at Home Steeped Hope.

Pork Chop and Cabbage Casserole is another fall favorite! Nice and creamy.

Okay, that's all I've got for now. Time to do some deleting of links. Yippee!!

Weeding Through, Part 2

I haven't tried the 3 Minute Microwave Fudge from The Common Room, but we make and use the hot fudge topping recipe for our sundaes. It's delicious and saves a little money.

Not sure which of these Shoo-Fly Pie recipes I tried, but it turned out pretty well. I remember I made extra crumbs to sprinkle, er heap, on top; and J thought it would have tasted more like what you get in a resturant if I'd used King Syrup instead of Molasses. But G and I devoured it with vanilla ice cream.

I've tried this Mix'n'Match Quick Bread recipe posted at By Sun and Candlelight. I've had different results at different times. I'd first of all recommend smaller, rather than larger bread pans. My attempts sometimes cave a bit in the middle -- not sure what that is all about, but I plan to keep at it as the bread is the most delicious I've ever had with a nice crispy sugary coating on top. And who doesn't love mixing and matching?

J loves, loves, loves these German Meatballs with Sour Cream Gravy. I also make a variation of the meatball recipe to serve with spaghetti and tomato sauce.

Speaking of J, I believe he is up. So I'm going to go and serve some honey nut cheerios and begin our day.

Weeding Through My Saved Recipes

I've got way too much saved on this computer, so I'm trying to pare down. While I do, you can enjoy links to some of our family's favorite Recipes.

We make these Christmas Eve Shortcut Cinnamon Buns for breakfast every Christmas -- courtesy FlyLady.

Here's one of our favorite bean dishes: Cuban Black Beans and Rice.

These Roasted Sweet Potatoes by Tyler Florence are a big hit here. Hmmm. Gonna have to make these soon. He also has this awesome Stuffed Sweet Potatoes with Pecan and Marshmallow Streusel. But, to be honest, I just pour canned sweet potatoes in a square baking dish and sprinkle the streusel topping on top. It is yummy at Thanksgiving -- and I'm not a big sweet potatoes casserole fan.

Okay, that's enough for now. Gotta feed a baby.

Homemade Slow-Cooker Applesauce

This recipe is for a 4 Qt. slow-cooker.

About 10 Medium to Large Cooking Apples (just under 5lbs)

1/2 c. White Sugar

1/2 tsp. Cinnamon

1/2 c. Water

Peel, core and thinly slice apples into slow-cooker. Sprinkle sugar and cinnamon on top. Pour in water. Stir slightly to distribute sugar and cinnamon. Cook on low for about 5-7 hours. Stir up with a whisk until desired consistency. We like ours slightly chunky. Eat hot and fresh. Save the rest in a covered container in the fridge.

Looking forward to the day I get my hands on a larger slow-cooker. I will double this recipe. I might even triple it and can it!!