Chili!

Written Monday August 3rd.  

Today has been a gorgeous day in central MN! The temperature and humidity has dropped, my hubby is home for the week and the kids have NO activities! Yes Triple bonus! With that being said I have been wanting to make Chili for a few weeks but it has been so darn hot that I just could not deal with cooking something low and slow all day (my preferred method for chili). Also my garden had this to offer today...

  Chili is one of those recipes I never make the same way twice. It is a very forgiving dish so feel free to experiment a bit. The hardest part of this recipe is cooking the ground beef. After that you add it all to your Crockpot and let it simmer for 4-6 hours on low.

get the printable version here... chili


Ingredients:
3 pounds ground beef browned and crumbled
2 small onions diced
1 can chili beans (I used mild)
1 can black beans
3 garlic cloves (run thru a press is best)
1 can diced tomatoes or 2 cups fresh diced. (feel free to add more or less to taste)
1 Tablespoon of chili powder (more if you like it spicy)
1 1/2 Teaspoons of paprika
1 teaspoon oregano
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1 Tablespoon cumin
salt and pepper to taste (I used about 1/2 teaspoon of each)

Instructions:
 Brown the ground beef in a large skillet and chop into fine crumbles as it cooks. Add Ground beef to a large Crockpot (5 quart MINIMUM!). Add the rest of the ingredients and let simmer on low for 6-8 hours.

Please taste at least 1/2 hour before serving. You can adjust any of the seasonings to suit your own tastes.

Also here are some things you could add to make it your own...
Diced Jalapenos
Diced bell peppers or any kind of pepper
Corn (I recommend frozen)
Diced zucchini
Diced summer squash

 Optional toppings:
Shredded cheddar
Sour cream
 
I served this with cornbread. You can find my favorite recipe here... golden sweet cornbread

   I have to say this was one of the best batches I have made in a long time and everyone agreed!

* Disclaimer!!! Every Crockpot is different! I used my large 8 quart Crockpot and it cooks super hot. I put it on high for an hour them backed it down to low for a few them left it on keep warm. If I was going to be gone for 6-8 hours I definitely would put it on low and maybe add a bit of water.

The best part about this dinner is we only ate half of it and even had half the cornbread left so I packaged it up and put it in the freezer for dinner another night when I don't feel like cooking! Yes, woohoo!

Putz factor... 3... yes there are a lot of ingredients but it does not take long to get them all put together. After it was all in the pot I really did not think much about it the rest of the day :)

Meal plan 4/27 -5/2 and catching up...

I was worn out after Easter and last week was crazy busy. So sorry I did not get around to posting my plan for last week so here it is...

Meal plan 4/20 - 4/26
Sunday - Easter - Spiral ham in the Crockpot
Monday - Quesadillas
Tuesday - crockpot bacon & cheese chicken
Wednesday - Grilled hot dogs and sweet potatoes
Thursday - Teriyaki chicken and fried rice (from the freezer!)
Friday - Pizza
Saturday - Dinner out :)

And here is this weeks plan...
Meal Plan 4/37 - 5/3
Sunday - Grilled chicken
Monday - Chicken Cordon Bleu casserole (from the freezer)
Tuesday - Grilled Rib-eye steaks
Wednesday - New   minestrone soup
Thursday -  New    Tex mex chicken salad
Friday - Pizza
Saturday - New  crock pot Mongolian beef  

Friday and Saturday may have some changes due to it being my Birthday and my family may have something planned or I may get really lazy :)

Here are some photos of our happy Easter!

Meal plan 4/13 - 4/19/2014

    Often when I talk with people about meal planning their first reaction is "oh I could never do that!" Or "What if something comes up?" I say Sure you can and if something comes up roll with it. Last week was a perfect example for me. Sunday I was just plain wiped out so we ordered pizza and another night I had run out of an ingredient I needed so I swapped a recipe from another night. If I remember right I swapped dinner on Tuesday and Thursday. It was an easy fix and no stress. Meal planning does take a bit of forethought but in the end it has reduced my daily stress level. I started by planning out a few weeks at a time and now I try to sit down at least once a week and plan for about 2 weeks out. As we come into warmer weather I try to always have burgers, hot dogs or brats (paired with a nice salad of course) on hand for a quick grill option if we feel like being outside or I just want a quick easy dinner.

Here is my list for this week...
Sunday - Cheesy Potato soup W / ham
Monday - Kielbasa W / onions and bell peppers
Tuesday - Chili W/ Cornbread (Chili is from the Freezer)

Wednesday -  Roasted Chicken (in the Crockpot)
Thursday -  Mexican Chicken Salad Inspired buy this recipe
Friday - Crockpot steak fajitas
Saturday -  Pizza, We will be eating out since we will be at a family outing.

Quesadillas

One night 2 weeks ago Quesadillas were on our meal plan. I had not made them in a while so I was really happy to run across this recipe hearty black bean quesadillas

Many thanks to Beth over at budget bytes for the inspiration!

I changed it up just a bit but my version was definitely inspired by this recipe. My changes are in Bold Italics

This was before I added the cheese and cilantro. I was lucky to remember to take a photo at all :)

Ingredients

•  1/2 pound of cooked ground beef (crumbled) Because if I do not add a bit of meat my hubby will give me a funny look :)
  
• 1 (15 oz.) can black beans
• 1 cup frozen corn kernels (1 can of Corn Kernels. I use the Aldi Brand)
• ½ small red onion
• 1 clove garlic
• ¼ bunch fresh cilantro (I only had dried)
• 2 cups shredded cheese
• 1 batch taco seasoning
• 10 taco sized tortilla  (I used yellow corn tortillas)
• Optional toppings... Jalapeños, sour cream, tomatoes, lettuce, guacamole, avocado

The original authors Instructions:

1. Drain the can of beans and rinse lightly. Place the beans in a large bowl along with the corn (no need to thaw).
2. Rinse the cilantro, remove the leaves, and chop roughly. Dice the onion and mince the garlic. Add the cilantro, onion, garlic, and shredded cheese to the bowl with the beans and corn. Lastly, mix up a batch of taco seasoning and add to the bowl. Stir everything until evenly mixed.
3. Place a half cup of the filling on one side of each tortilla and fold over. Cook in a skillet on both sides over medium heat until brown and crispy and the cheesy filling has melted.
4. To freeze the quesadillas, simply fill each one and place on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Place in the freezer for one hour to solidify the quesadillas and then transfer to a freezer bag. To reheat either microwave (for a soft quesadilla) or cook in a skillet on low heat (make sure to use low heat so that the filling has time to thaw and melt before the outside burns).

What I did:
    I cooked the ground beef in a medium fry pan. Turned off the heat then added the rest of the ingredients (except the tortillas and toppings).
    Heat a large skillet (I used my double burner griddle) lightly coat the pan with oil (I used my sprayer but a pastry brush would also work to get a light coating). Place tortilla on pan place 1/3 cup of filling off to one side of the tortilla. Add a bit of extra cheese if you like. Fold over tortilla. Hold in place for a minute until tortilla has set. Cook until crisp on each side and filling is warmed through.
 
This fed all 4 of us VERY well!  I had a good amount of filling leftover so I made up burritos for my hubby for work lunches.

My whole family Loved these and were happy campers!

Meal Plan 4/6 - 4/12 2014

Generally I only post dinners but I am making breakfast on Sunday as well.
We are having cinnamon rolls sausage and fresh fruit.  More on this Cinnamon roll recipe another day but know that it is FANTASTIC!

For general breakfasts this week I made 2 loaves of cinnamon raisin oatmeal bread

Sunday -    taco pasta bake
Monday - Chicken cordon-bleu casserole see my post Here   
Tuesday -  barbecue beef and cheesy potato casserole   New!
Wednesday -  Oven Fried Chicken   (family favorite)
Thursday - Tortellini Bites
Friday - Grilled Steak
Saturday - Frozen Pizza  (hubby is in charge as I will be gone scrapbooking)

Meal plan 3/31 - 4/5 2014

Monday - scalloped potatoes and ham  
Tuesday - slow cooker balsamic pot roast recipe  New!
Wednesday - chicken hard tacos
Thursday - Hut Dogs w/ oven roasted fries & salad
Friday - Pizza ( dough recipe ) More info Here
Saturday - pork roast with apples and onions   New!
 

Meal plan Jan 26th - Feb1st 2014

I'm working on meal planning again for many reasons...
1. My kids have after school activities 4 days a week
2. I'm working part time (which I love and am grateful for!)
3. I want to use my crock pot more due to the fact that my oven and stove are propane and the price of propane has skyrocketed here in the Midwest.

Sunday: Hungarian Goulash
Monday: Bacon and Cheese Chicken
Tuesday: Steak fajitas
Wednesday: Potato soup
Thursday: Tater tot hot dish (it's a MN thing!)
Friday: Sweet Garlic Chicken ( NEW! I saw this allover FB and want to try it!)
Saturday: Ravioli with Italian beef

All these recipes will be made in the Crockpot!

Here is the Steak Fajita recipe :)  Print

Ingredients:
1/2 cup salsa
1 clove garlic, minced
1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 pound of steak, trimmed of excess fat. Flank is good I generally use tenderized round (AKA cubbed steak)
1 red bell pepper, cut into 1/4-inch strips   (you can use all green peppers to save $!)
1 yellow bell pepper, cut into 1/4-inch strips
1 green bell pepper, cut into 1/4-inch strips
1 large onion, thinly sliced
2 teaspoons minced fresh cilantro for garnish (dried is OK too)

Directions:
In a small mixing bowl, combine salsa, garlic, lime juice, salt and pepper. Place flank steak in a 4-5 quart slow cooker and pour sauce over steak, making sure to coat steak well. Add bell peppers and onion. Cover and cook on low heat setting 6 to 8 hours (OR on high heat setting 3 to 4 hours).

Remove steak and vegetables from juice and let steak stand 10 minutes before slicing. Slice steak thinly across grain of meat. Serve with peppers and onion. Garnish with fresh cilantro and your favorite toppings.

*TIPS*

If you want more heat use a spicier salsa or add diced Jalapeños.

This is great with guacamole or a Mango Salsa!

For more tender meat place your beef on the counter for about an hour before adding to crock pot. I'm not sure why this works but it does for me.

I highly recommend cooking this on Low Vs. High!


My favorite Guacamole (that my husband will eat!)
1 ripe avocado mashed
1-2 Tablespoons finely diced red onion
1 Teaspoon lime juice or to taste
salt to taste
cilantro to taste 1/2 Teaspoon dried or 1 teaspoon diced fresh
1 roma tomato diced (optional)  I do not add this when the Hubby is sharing :)
1 diced Jalapeño (optional) I do not normally add this for myself.

If a recipe does not have a link either it is new, I do not have it typed up yet or its a recipe i never do the same way twice :) It's just how I roll...