Chili

I haven't been keeping up with this very well. I've been a bit busy and not feeling too well. Anyway, last week I made chili, which was the first recipe I ever created. There's actually a bit of a story to it. A couple of years ago my husband was deployed overseas for a year, he left when our oldest daughter was a week old. So... I didn't have much to do here alone with an infant, so I tried new recipes. After all, I was the only one that was gonna eat 'em, if they were terrible, oh well! Anyway, I love chili so I made it for myself about once a week that winter. I added new things and tried different combinations each time until I found what I thought was the perfect chili recipe. I love it, and my family loves it. I'm actually thinking about entering a chili cook-off here in my home town this fall.

Chili

1 Tbsp chili powder
½ Tbsp cumin
1 tsp adobo
1 tsp cayenne pepper
1 Tbsp sugar
1 tsp salt
¼ tsp black pepper

Plus enough of all of the above to season meat with

1-2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 ¼ lb ground beef
2 jalapeno peppers, chopped
½ - 1 onion
2 (16 oz) cans kidney beans (drained)
1 (16 oz) can chili beans
2 (16 oz) cans diced tomatoes (fire roasted are my personal favorite)
1 bottle beer (my favorites that I have tried in this recipe are amber lagers and stouts)

• Heat olive oil in pan. Add jalapenos and onion and cook until soft, about 5 minutes. Add beef and brown, lightly season with spices while cooking.
• Combine the meat mixture, beans, and tomatoes in a large pot or crock pot. Add beer (you may not need the whole bottle). Add spices and mix well.
• Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to low and simmer 1-2 hours (or longer, in crock pot).

Serves 5-6

New Year's Eve!

Happy 2010 everybody!

Last night was New Year's Eve, so of course I made snacks! I had a great night with my husband, daughters, and parents. We played games, watched the New Year's Eve party on TV, and, of course, ate! Unfortunately I didn't get any pictures of what I made, it was all gone before I thought to!

The first thing I made was a new recipe I hadn't tried before- Spinach and Artichoke Dip! It turned out wonderfully!! You can find the recipe I used here. The recipe tells you to place all the ingredients in a food processor, however I didn't. I only put the artichoke hearts in to chop them up, everything else I just mixed by hand and it turned out great! Everyone was impressed. I thought it was especially good on "hint of lime" tortilla chips!

Next were Tortilla Pinwheels. I personally love these, and they are pretty simple to make. Here's my recipe:

4 tortillas (the small ones, not the huge burrito sized ones)
8 oz (1 package) cream cheese
About 10 spinach leaves
1/2 cup grated carrots (I put mine in my small food processor)

Let the cream cheese come to room temperature (to make it easier to spread). Spread 1/4 of the cream cheese on each tortilla, be sure to reach the edges. Top the cream cheese with spinach and carrots. Roll the tortilla up, secure with a toothpick if needed. Cut the roll into bite-sized slices to make the pinwheels.

There ya have it! Very easy, yet delicious snack!

And last are Mini Cheesecakes! Very yummy! Here's that recipe:

12 vanilla wafers
16 oz (2 packages) cream cheese, at room temperature
1/2 sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
2 eggs
Cherry (or whatever flavor you like) pie filling

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Place paper cupcake liners in a muffin tin. Place a vanilla wafer at the bottom of each liner.
2. Beat the cream cheese until smooth. Add sugar and vanilla and continue beating until mixed well. Add the eggs and beat until smooth.
3. Pour about 2 Tablespoons of the cheesecake mixture into each cupcake liner. Bake for 20 minutes, or until centers are almost set. Cool. Refrigerate 2 hours or overnight.
4. Top the cheesecakes with pie filling.

These are very good. If you don't like cherry you can substitute with whatever kind of pie filling you like, or even chocolate or strawberry ice cream topping.

Again, sorry for no pictures, but the food was so good I didn't have a chance!! :)

I hope everyone had a fun and safe New Year's Eve, and I wish everyone a fantastic 2010!!