Chili

I’ll admit it: I am one of the few that still watch Suvivor. Which is pretty funny when you consider that I was just about the only person around who did not watch it in it’s first season! And Thursday nights are a long-held tradition in this family. My hubby and I plant our butts on the couch to watch Survivor, 30 Rock & The Office. We’re there for 2 hours, getting up only to refresh drinks and/or have a bathroom break. One of the things that comes with this tradition is the food. Our long-time favourite Thursday night suppers is nachos with chili & cheese. The secret of course is the chili.

Dear Readers, you may not know that I was a vegetarian for more than 10 years. In this time, I perfected many a meatless recipe that satisfied my carnivorous husband. Among all the concotions, my veggie chili was his favourite. I have since incorporated meat back into my diet, but veggie chili is still a staple in our house. Here I will post my recipe for veggie chili, as well as what I do from time to time when the requests for chili with meat come.

Veggie Chili

Ingredients

1 28 oz can diced tomatoes
1 19 oz can red kidney beans
1 19 oz can white kidney beans
1 14 oz can baked beans in tomato sauce
2 tbsp chili powder
1/4 tsp cumin
1 tsp worchestershire sauce
1/8 tsp tabasco sauce
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1 large green pepper, diced
1 onion, diced
1 large carrot, grated
1 zuchini, grated
1 cup Texturized Vegetable Protein (TVP; dried soy product that looks like ground beef)
1/2 cup water
1 14 oz can mushroom pieces & stems (you can use fresh too, about a handful will do nicely!)

Method

1. Open the cans of tomatoes, all three beans and add to a big pot (add in the water that the beans are packed in), cooking over medium heat.
2. Add in the spices and stir to combine.
3. Next, add the green pepper, onion, grated carrot & grated zuchini.  Stir to combine.
4. In a bowl or a 2-cup measure, combine the TVP and water, stir and allow to sit for a moment.  This give the TVP a head start in absorbing some moisture.  Add it to the pot and stir.
5. Once the chili starts to boil, reduce heat to low and simmer for about 20 minutes.  Of course, the longer you let it sit the better it tastes!
6. Serve with grated cheddar & nachos, or better yet, spread your nachos on a cookie sheet, spoon the chili over them, sprinkle with cheese & bake at 350 for 10 minutes or so; just until the cheese starts to bubble.  YUM!!!  I also love it over rice, or with some toast on the side…  I just love chili. 

Chili with Meat

Ingredients

1 28 oz can diced tomatoes
1 19 oz can red kidney beans
1 19 oz can white kidney beans
1 14 oz can baked beans in tomato sauce
1 lb ground beef
2 tbsp chili powder
1/4 tsp cumin
1 tsp worchestershire sauce
1/8 tsp tabasco sauce
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1 large green pepper, diced
1 onion, diced
1/2 cup water
1 14 oz can mushroom pieces & stems (you can use fresh too, about a handful will do nicely!)

Method

1. Place the ground beef in a frying pan and cook over medium heat to brown it.  Once done, drain the fat and add to the pot.
2. While the meat is browing, open the cans of tomatoes, all three beans and add to a big pot (add in the water that the beans are packed in), cooking over medium heat.
3. Add in the spices and stir to combine (my meat is usually done by this point, so add it to the pot now)
4. Next, add the green pepper, onion, stirring to combine.
5. Once the chili starts to boil, reduce heat to low and simmer for about 20 minutes.  Of course, the longer you let it sit the better it tastes!
6. Serve with grated cheddar & nachos, or better yet, spread your nachos on a cookie sheet, spoon the chili over them, sprinkle with cheese & bake at 350 for 10 minutes or so; just until the cheese starts to bubble.  YUM!!!  I also love it over rice, or with some toast on the side…  I just love chili. 

These recipes will make 6 – 8 servings, depending on how you serve it, and how much the chili is liked!  I usually freeze about half of it to save making it later.  It’s a great leftover (always tastes better once it’s sat for a few days) and an easy way to get veggies into my kids.

Enjoy!

Today’s Menu: October 30, 2009

We are hosting a small halloween party tonight, so we are busy around here today! Here’s what we did:

Morning Snack (while grocery shopping)
bagels, plain.

Lunch
Picnic plates – turkey, cheese, cucumber, yello peppers & grapes
(because the kids had entire bagles for snack, I did not give them any more starch)

Afternoon Snack
Yogurt
Granola bar

Dinner
We’re having a halloween party, as I mentioned, and here is the Party Menu!

Today’s Menu: October 29, 2009

Thursday’s are my MumNet day.  So I don’t do morning snack, nor do I do lunch.  My dearest mother does that.   Here’s what our afternoon looked like though:

Afternoon snack

Cheese
blueberries

Dinner

Chili (with meat)
with nachos & grated cheddar

Mashed Potatoes

YUM!!  Who doesn’t love mounds of mashed potatoes???  Okay, I’ll admit it: for a long time, I hated mashed potatoes.  Seriously!  I did.  Just ask my parents.  I think what happened was that they got into a bit of a food jag in my teens, and as I remember it, we were having mashed potatoes like, 3 and 4 times a week.  And I just got sick of them.  But that was more years than I care to remember ago, and so  now they are back on the menu!  Here’s what I do:

Ingredients

enough potatoes for everyone you’re feeding (in my house, that’s 4 potatoes)
water to cover them halfway
2 tbsp minced onion, or 1 or 2 cloves of garlic (I haven’t ever done both, I like each flavour separate from the other)
2 tbsp low-fat sour cream
salt & pepper to taste

Method

1. Bring potatoes to a boil and reduce heat.  Simmer until cooked, about 15 minutes.
2. Drain the water from the potatoes, and mash them.
3. Add in the onion or garlic and the sour cream.  Stir it all together and taste them.  Add salt & pepper if you think they need it.

I have also added parmessan cheese, butter, chives…  really, I don’t think you can go wrong with mashed potatoes.  Enjoy!

Baking with your Kids

Friends, I love being in the kitchen.  I believe that this is because I spent so much time there, baking with my Mom.  One of our favourite recipes as kids (and yeah, still today too!) was for sugar cookies.  My 5-year-old and I baked some sugar cookie witches fingers yesterday, and we had sooo much fun.  Of course, the fingers are more likely from monsters than witches — these suckers are massive!  lol…  but we had fun.  What’s nice about this dough is that you can really work it with your hands and it doesn’t get tough.  That is the perfect kind of recipe for working with kids.

Ingredients

1/2 cup shortening, at room temperature (you can use butter, but because of little Sam’s lactose intolerance, we use hard, block margarine)
1 cup sugar
1 egg
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp baking powder
2 cups flour

Method

1. Preheat oven to 400
2. In a large bowl, cream together shortening & sugar.  Once well blended add in the egg and the vanilla.  Mix until combined.
3. In a separate bowl, mix the flour, salt & baking powder with a wire whisk.  Slowly add this to the wet ingredients.  You may need to get your hands into the dough to fully blend in the flour.
4. Roll out the dough, cut into shapes and bake for 8-10 minutes.  Cookies should be jus brown around the edges.

Because we were making witches fingers, we did not roll out the dough.  But the 8-10 minutes timing still worked for us.

I do have a kitchen aid mixer (which I LOVE!) but I my son & I mixed this dough by hand.  We had a lot of fun!  And we’re still reaping the benefits of our project. 

Enjoy!

Stuffed Chicken Roll-Ups

This is one of those recipes that I consider a guilty pleasure.  Guilty because it comes essentially from packaged foods and so it’s not what I consider “real cooking”.  Pleasure because it tastes awfully good!  The first time my 15-month-old had this for dinner, he was – sincerely – taking the plates out of the dishwasher so he could lick them.  Yes, that’s right, he was licking the plates.  If that’s not a “thumbs up” review then I don’t know what is!

Ingredients

1 pkg. (6 oz.) of Stuffing Mix for Chicken (Stove Top or Uncle Ben’s is what I generally am able to get)
1 cup water
2 eggs, lightly beaten
6 small boneless skinless chicken breast halves (1-1/2 lb.), pounded to 1/4-inch thickness
1 can (10-3/4 oz.) condensed cream of chicken soup
1/2 cup milk
1 tsp. paprika

Method

1. Preheat oven to 400°F. Combine stuffing mix and water in medium bowl. Let stand 5 min. Stir in eggs.
2. While the stuffing is standing, put a chicken breast into a ziplock freezer bag and pound (mallet or roling pin work well) until about 1/4″ thick. Set aside. Repeat until all breasts are flattened.
3. Stir the lightly beaten eggs into the stuffing.
4. Place chicken, top-sides down, on large cutting board; spread evenly with stuffing mixture. Starting at one of the short ends, tightly roll up each chicken breast. Place, seam-sides down, in 13×9-inch baking dish.
5. Spoon any remaining stuffing mixture over the top of the chicken roll-ups.
6. Mix soup and milk; pour over chicken. Sprinkle with paprika.
7. Bake 30 min. or until chicken is cooked through (170°F).

As I said when I pasted this on my facebook page, sometimes we ALL need some convenience foods. And this? Well… very tasty, very pretty to look at, and quite convenient. I serve this with mashed potatoes & then some bright veggies: steamed brocolli & carrots are a favourite in this house. Oh, and it clocks in at about 34 pts if the chicken breasts are 3 oz cooked.

Enjoy!

Today’s Menu: October 28, 2009

Morning Snack

blueberry muffin
bananna

Lunch

Kraft Dinner with mixed forzen vegetables (remember, no judgement! )

Afternoon snack

Yogurt
Apple slices

Dinner

Stuffed chicken breasts
Roasted peppers
Mashed potatoes
Steamed broccoli

Pan Fried Salmon

My kids love fish.  Some would say that’s because it’s their birthright (my hubby, their daddy, is a Newfoundlander).  And hey — maybe they’re right.  But you know, I love fish too and I was born & bred in Ontario.  Who knows.  Whatever the reason, I am grateful for it!  It’s so good for us.  Anyway!  Here’s what I did with the salmon tonight:

Ingredients

2 tbsp olive oil
2 whole cloves garlic (not minced)
1 lb salmon filets

Method

1. Measure out the olive oil and pour into a large frying pan.  Turn on the heat to med-high and allow to get warm.
2. Using the blade of a chef’s knife, press each clove of garlic until it cracks into smaller pieces.  Add the garlic to the oil and cook until fragrant, about a minute.
3. Place the salmon filets into the oil and cover.  Cook for about 3 minutes.  Then flip the fillets over and cook them for another 3 minutes.

Serve 4 people nicely.  Enjoy!

Today’s Menu: October 27, 2009

Morning Snack

Kiddie Trailmix – corn bran squares, raisins & gold fish all mixed up together.

Lunch

Turkey soup (from the thanksgiving bird)
Toast with butter
Butterscotch Blondie

Afternoon Snack

Peanut butter on graham crackers
orange pieces

Dinner

Salmon
Rice
Steamed broccoli & carrots

Butterscotch Blondies

As some of you may know, I donated a “Baked Good of the Month” prize to my friend‘s recent funraising efforts for Princes Margaret Hospital.  I am getting ready to make my first installment in this prize, and wanted to test out the recipe that I will be working with.  It came to me from Bakerella (whom I love deeply) and…  wow.  This just knocked my socks off.

Ingredients

2 1/2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup (2 sticks) butter or margarine, softened
1 3/4 cups packed brown sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
2 large eggs
1 300 g butterscotch chips

Method

1. Preheat oven to 350° F.
2. Combine flour, baking powder and salt in a medium bowl. Beat butter, sugar and vanilla extract in a large mixing bowl until creamy. Beat in eggs. Gradually beat in flour mixture. Stir in the butterscotch chips. Spread into ungreased 13×9-inch baking pan.
3. Bake for 30 to 40 minutes (mine actually took about 45 minutes, and might have needed another 5 more)
4. Cool in pan on wire rack, cut into squares and enjoy!