No Bean Chili

Chris hates beans in his chili.
I enjoy beans in my chili.

Guess who won that battle?

Ok, let me rephrase that...
Guess who is the better of the two spouses and would willingly make sacrifices without complaint for the other's happiness?

That's right... I'm that selfless spouse :) Hence the title of the blog being 'NO BEAN chili'

I didn't take a picture of the final product (topped with sour cream and mild grated cheddar) because we were all too busy woofin' it down. Whoops.

I've made my fair share of chilis, but this was BY FAR my favorite recipe because it had the most veggies in it, and didn't have that greasy, heavy feeling- it was about as light and healthy as I can see beef chili being :) Originally, this chili is a stovetop chili, but I made the crockpot version because there is nothing better than your house smelling like amazing chili all day. Scentsy should make that into a new scent... just sayin'.  If you don't want to/or have a crockpot, the stovetop edition of this recipe can be found on the link to the original recipe below.

No Bean Chili
Recipe adapted from Deep South Dish.

Dry Seasoning Ingredients:
* 1 tablespoon ground cumin
* 1 tablespoon dried oregano
* 1 tablespoon chili powder
* 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
* 1/2 teaspoon cajun seasoning (why did we never own this sooner?)
* 1 tablespoon granulated sugar

Wet Seasoning Ingredients:
* 2 tablespoons Worchestershire sauce
* 2 tablespoons Kitchen Bouquet (I omitted this)
* Coupld dashes hot sauce (I omitted this as well)
* 1 6-oz can tomato paste
* 2 cans diced tomatoes (not in original recipe, I added these on my own)

Chili Base Ingredients:
* 2 tablespoons olive oil
* 1 medium yellow onion, diced
* 1 medium green pepper, diced
* 1 medium red pepper, diced
* 1/4 cup green chilies (I used 2 jalapenos)
* 2 lbs ground beef
* 3 garlic cloves, minced
* 2 cups beef stock or broth
* 2 bay leaves
* salt and pepper to taste

Crockpot directions:
* Brown ground beef in skillet over medium-high heat. Drain. Transfer to crockpot. Add the dry and wet ingredients, veggies, and the rest of the chili ingredients. Stir well. Cover and cook on high for 4-5 hours or on low for 7-8 hours.

Chili & Cornbread

The guests have gone... the routines have once again begun... and it is just the three (ahem, four) of us in the house, once again. Joy! I loved having guests for Alex's bday, but I really enjoy our boring normalcy we have going in our family. This meant that it was back to cooking dinners for two (and a half) and eating whatever we wanted! I vowed to do the cooking if husband picked out the menu for an entire week- something he's never done before. I told him to pick five meals and I would make the grocery list, do the shopping, do the cooking, and the clean-up, if he would just PICK.

Ladies... don't let your husbands pick the menu for an entire week. Seriously. Especially if your husband believes he's the 'all-that-is-man' type and doesn't eat anything healthy like my husband. Gulp. Here is what he picked...

Spaghetti with homemade meat sauce and garlic bread. (no need for salad I guess)
Spicy sausage jumbalaya with cheese (out of a box... sigh....it actually worked since I wasn't feeling well that night and he had to make it after his busy work day and he was really the only one who ate it)
Hearty homemade chili served over fritos and cornbread (no need for salad again I guess)
Calzones with salad (yay- he actually mentioned salad!)
Smokey chicken, cheese, and potato casserole (left over salad maybe?)

Is it any wonder I truly believe husband may kick the bucket by the age of 30? All meat, cheese, starch. No veggies, fruit, or anything remotely healthy. Don't worry mom, I'm eating all my fruits for breakfast, and my veggies at lunch!

I also need to add he requested I make him Puppy Chow, and when I asked him to pick a dessert he wanted a chocolate peanutbutter pie. Yeah... no. Instead, I made him reason with me and pick something with fruit- so he picked peach cobbler... with ice cream....

Anywho, his menu did make me slightly happy because it wasn't our normal five dishes we eat every week- I actually get to try and cook some things I've never made before! I have never made chili from scratch, so I was eager to try, and it was delicious! May I take a minute to stop and toot my own horn? TOOOT... TOOOT!!!!!!!!! Not only was it fast, but it was simple- just the way I like it :)

This chili was amazing. Even Chris, who rarely compliments my dinners-from-scratch, and is a HUGE chili fan, said it hit the spot and was very very good! :) Also, it was nice that I didn't have to make it in my crockpot- just so I didn't have to smell its delicious aromas all day :) Oh, and I had all the ingredients without going to the store- whoop!

Chili
From the Better Homes & Gardens Cookbook

Ingredients:
* 1 1/2 lbs lean ground beef
* 2 cups chopped onion (2 large- I only used one)
* 1 cup chopped green pepper (1 large)
* 4 gloves garlic, minced
* 2 15 oz cans of kidney beans, pinto beans, blackbeans rinsed and drained. I used a half can of black beans and a can of chili beans- Chris isn't a huge bean fan so I decreased the amount to appease him.
* 1 15 oz can tomato sauce
* 2 14.5 oz cans of diced tomatoes (I used one regular, one fire roasted) undrained
* 1 cup water
* 2 tablespoons chili powder
* 1 teaspoon dried basil
* 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
* shredded cheddar cheese to top
* sour cream to top
* fritos for under chili if you are like Chris and enjoy the 'frito pie' thing

To Do:
* Cook ground beef, onion, green pepper, and garlic over medium heat until meat is browned and veggies are tender. Drain fat.
* In dutch oven (or large boiling pot like I have), combine beans, undrained tomatoes, tomato sauce, water, chili powder, basil, black pepper. Add meat and veggie mixture.
* Bring chili to a boil and then reduce heat so a simmer. Cover, and cook for 20 minutes, stirring occassionally. I let ours cook for about half an hour.
* Ours did seem a little more runny than we were used to, so I did thicken ours up a bit with some cornstarch- but didn't add too much.


Cornbread
Recipe from Better Homes & Gardens Cookbook

Ingredients:
* 1 cup all-purpose flour
* 3/4 cup cornmeal
* 2-3 tablespoons sugar (use 3 if you like sweeter stuff)
* 2 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
* 3/4 teaspoon salt
* 1 tablespoon butter
* 2 eggs, beaten
* 1 cup milk
* 1/4 cup cooking oil or melted butter (I used butter)

To Do:
* Preheat oven to 400. In medium bowl, combine flour, cornmeal, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
* Add 1 tablespoon to 9 in. round baking dish, and place in oven for 3 minutes, or until butter is melted. Remove pan from heat and coat bottom and sides of pan with melted butter (perfect that swirl motion!)
* Meanwhile, in small bowl, combine eggs, milk, and oil. Add egg mixture all at once to flour mixture and stir until just moistened.
* Pour batter into hot buttered skillet and return to oven for 15-20 minutes (mine needed 20). When toothpick comes out of middle clear, its done!
* Cut into wedges and serve warm. Feel free to whip up some tasty honey butter to serve on the side :)

Crockpot Sunday: Classic Potroast with Garlic-Thyme Gravy

First of all, thank you to my friend Emily for sending me a subscription to Cuisine at Home magazine. I like this for many reasons. I like this because I've known Emily since kindiegarden and we were BFFs throughout our youngin' years and its awesome she still thinks of me from time to time! I also like this because I love me some magazines in the mail (I get that from my mama), food magazines the most! I also especially like this because this months issue came with a 'Back by Popular Demand Slow Cooker' magazine! Jackpot!

I decided to start out my new series of Crockpot Sunday recipes with the cover recipe because it looked Oh-So-Good. I made this last Sunday and not only did it make my entire house smell of delicious beef (because we all know thats one of the best smells on earth- Yankee Candle Co. should make a potroast candle... I'd buy it...), but it was fall-apart tender and reminded me of a middle of winter dinner.

It did steer away a bit from the tradition potroasts I've grown up with in one way: the gravy. The gravy includes tomato paste, which I'll tell you, isn't a bad thing at all. It adds a sweet tangy quality to the dish that you don't get with regular gravy!

P.S. I also apologize for the picture. I was in such a hurry to sit down and eat it, I forgot to make it 'pretty' on my plate for a picture. Instead, I just threw it all on the plate and smothered it with gravy. Sorry. Wait, I'm not sorry. It was delicious, and I refuse to apologize for delicious food, no matter how off-putting it looks.

Truly unappetizing photo,
but truly mouth-wateringly good!

Cuisine Slow Cooker Potroast with Garlic-Thyme Gravy

Ingredients:

* 3 tablespoons vegetable oil
* 3-4 lb. boneless chuck roast, trimmed, seasoned with salt and pepper
* 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
* 2 tablespoons tomato paste
* 1/2 cup dry white wine (I omitted because I was cooking for 2 preggos and you can never be too sure)
* 1 1/2 cup beef broth
* 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce (just as hard to spell as it is to say!)
* 2 cups sliced onions
* 6 medium carrots, cut into 2-to-3 in. pieces
* 3 large celery ribs, cut same was as carrots
* 5 cloves garlic
* 3-4 sprigs fresh thyme
* 2 dried bay leaves

To Do:

* Heat oil in saucepan over medium-high heat. Brown roast on all sides, about 10 minutes total (I kept mine on a litttttttle longer to create more browning in the pan to make a richer gravy). Transfer roast to slow cooker.

* Stir flour into pan and cook for one minute. Add tomato paste and cook for one more minute.

* Deglaze saute pan with wine (I just used addition beef broth since I didn't cook with the wine), cooking until liquid evaporates. Stir in beef broth and Worcestershire and bring mixture to a simmer. Be sure to scrape up any browned bits from the roast.

* Transfer broth mixture to the slow cooker. Add the onions, carrots, celery, garlic, thyme, and bay leaves.

* Cover and cook on high setting for 4-5 hours or on low setting (I used this one) for 8-9 hours.

* I pulled the roast onto a serving plate (well, tried, it was so tender it kept falling out), as well as the veggies. I discarded the thyme and bay leaves. To thicken the gravy I added a cornstarch mixture (2 tablespoons cornstarch, two tablespoons water mixed together and then added to the hot liquid in the crockpot), and mixed it with a whisk until it was the right consistency.

My usual potroasts include small red potatoes in the crockpot, but this time I opted to make mashed potatoes for on the side. I mean, come on- I had a crockpot full o' gravy... mashed potatoes are mandatory in situations like that!

Spaghetti and Meatballs

When I asked my husband what he wanted for dinner tonight, his answer was the usual: I don't care. We had some burger thawing in the fridge, so I asked him if he wanted me to make meatballs.

His response was: Yes, but make them the normal way ok? Not the way you make them all the time.

Burn.

In my house, meatballs were made with brown gravy and mashed potatoes- and thats how I like 'em.

Apparently, everyone else eats them with spaghetti sauce and noodles (?)  how about that! Please note the sarcasm in that, I'm not an idiot who doesn't know what spaghetti and meatballs is... 

I sighed, never having made them in this fashion, and turned my attention to make some italian style meatballs to appease the husbandly Gods. (I mean, I do still need him to mow the backyard after its done raining.)

Ta-Da!

I didn't use a set recipe- I just shuffled through a bunch on foodnetwork.com until I found elements of some that I liked and threw them all together, which turned out pretty darn tasty. My husband even said 'they turned out good, babe'. Not that I need his praise to know a good job, but if he's happy, he may just mow the front yard as well!

Ingredients:
* 1 lb hamburger
* 1 egg
* 1/2 cup italian breadcrumbs
* 1/4 cup parmesan cheese
* Salt, pepper, and garlic powder to taste

To Make
* Combine all ingredients in a bowl (feel free to use your hands)
* Roll them into size of your choice- I made smaller ones to ensure they would cook through quickly
* Place them on a cookie sheet (grease with olive oil if you need to)
* Bake for 10 minutes (or more if they are larger)
* Once cooked through, add them to sauce of your choice, or make a homemade sauce like the sauce for Mama Sue's Lasagna

Place on top of al dente spaghetti noodles- serve with green salad and homemade garlic toast!

Guest Blogger: Mindy Bradley

Mindy (Julia) Bradley (Child)

My goal in life really is to be able to cook like Julia Child.  To attack the kitchen with the same joy and passion that she had.  To not turn away at the thought of simmering, searing, roasting, basting, stuffing, trussing, whatever it may be.  I love cooking, although, I'll be the first to admit that I often tend to shy away when there are more than 10 steps involved.  I will get a hankering for a dish then I will search for hours through cookbooks and the interwebs until I find what I'm looking for.  Often times I will take pieces from this recipe and from that recipe and combine them to satisfy my taste buds.  After I make it once, I will then add my own twist to it.  This makes Chase very nervous.  :)  A few times it has failed, but boy when it succeeds, I love that I can call that recipe my own!  My family cooked dinners, but other than my grandma's chicken and dumplings, we have no "signature" recipe.  I've made this my goal.  I love cooking for my family and have them rave over my dishes.  The place I am truly most comfortable is indeed the kitchen!

This recipe is one of those (sorta) make it my own.  It's based from Rachael Ray's Shephard's Pie.  My dad is probably the pickiest eater on the planet.  A true meat and potatoes kinda guy, as long as the meat is completely well done and the potatoes are mashed and have only salt and pepper on them.  So for your picky eater's pleasure, I introduce to you:

Dad Approved Shephard's Pie

2 sleeves Idahoan potatoes (I used buttery homestyle)
1-2 lb's hamburger (we used deer meat)
1 can corn
1 can peas & carrots
1 mini can peas & carrots
1 packet french onion soup
2 Tbs Butter
2 Tbs flour
1 cup beef broth
2 tsps Worcestershire sauce (4 or 5 splashes)

Cook hamburger meat, drain (if needed).  Add cans of corn and peas & carrots.  In small bowl (I used measuring cup), mix beef broth, worcestershire sauce and french onion soup (it won't be dissolved).  Melt butter in small saucepan, add flour and thicken.  Once thickened, add broth mixture and stir for a minute or two until it thickens.  Add mixture to meat and veggies.  Put in casserole dish (the size will depend on how much meat you make, use your best judgement), top with mashed potatoes and bake at 350 for about 30 minutes.  If you have cheese eaters you can cheese to the top of your potatoes before you bake it....my dad prevented this from happening.

My own notes*  You can use actual potatoes and make all that from scratch if you'd like, but I kid you not, these Idahoan potatoes and fantastic (and oh so easy)!  You can also change up the veggies that you put in it.  The recipe called for peas too....I didn't miss them.  :)  You can also use a fresh onion or onion powder. I feel as though the soup mix does it justice though. 

Chicken Fried Steak

There are some foods everyone grew up with. Almost everyone I know was raised eating chicken fried steak, one of the ultimate comfort foods. I was not one of those people. Oh parents, do not fret because I'm about to admit this, but the only time I think I ever ate chicken fried steak growing up was when it came in a red Banquet frozen dinner box. Last night, I made my first ever attempt at making chicken fried steak from scratch. While Chris considered it tasty, I fear I will never get the hang of making a perfect gravy, like my Grandma Nell always could. To this day, none of us can figure out how that woman did it!

Better Home and Garden's Chicken Fried Steak

Ingredients:

* 1 lb boneless beef top round steak, cut 1/2 in. thick
* 3/4 cup fine dry bread crumbs
* 1 1/2 teaspoons fresh basil or oregano. (I used 1/2 teaspoon of the dried stuff)
* 1/2 teaspoon salt
* 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
* 1 egg, beaten
* 2 tablespoon cooking oil
* 1 tablespoon milk
* 1 small onion, sliced and separated into rings
* 2 tablespoons flour
* 1 1/3 cups milk

To Do:

* Trim fat from meat and cut into four smaller steaks. Pound each piece out until 1/4 in. thick with a meat mallet.
* In shallow dish, combine bread crumbs, basil or oregano, salt, and pepper.
* In another dish, combine egg and milk
* Dip each steak into egg mixture, then coat heavily with bread crumbs
* In skillet, add oil and cook meat for about 6 minutes or until brown. Turn and repeat to brown other side. Add more oil if you need to, but don't go overboard! Reduce heat on skillet to medium low, cover steaks, and cook for 45-60 minutes. Cook until meat is tender.
* Transfer meat to platter, cover to keep warm. Keep drippings in pan to make gravy.

To make gravy:
* Cook onion in reserved drippings. (I also added some whole baby button mushrooms). Cook until tender.
* Stir in flour, and then gradually add the 1 1/3 cup milk.
* Cook and stir over medium heat until thickened and bubbly. Add salt and pepper to taste if you need to.

Snow Day Beef Stew

I am a Montana girl. For winters as far back as I can remember, there was a blanket of snow, a need for mittens and scarves, and you could see your breath outside from the months of September through May. When we moved to Mississippi, I can say it was the one thing I didn't think I would miss. Come Christmas time, as I set up my tree, and made Chris venture on our rickety ladder to hang the lights, I found myself missing the winter wonderland I had grown accustom to. I prayed for one day, just one day, so it could feel like I was home again.This past year, my prayers were answered and we were thrilled to have three whole snow days in our current-hometown of Columbus. It only seemed fitting I whip out my crockpot to make some hearty beef stew, throw some apple cider in a pot on the stove, and shove my newborn into a snowsuit so we could play outside. There's nothing like coming in from the cold to a house that smells like heaven, and to unthaw your hands around a bowl of toasty stew!

You can smell it from there, can't you?

Ingredients:

* Small bag of baby carrots
* 1 onion, chopped
* 4-6 celery stalks, chopped
* 1 lb stew meat
* 7-8 small red potatoes
* 1 large carton beef stock
* 1 small can tomato paste
* salt and pepper to taste

To Do:

* Brown stew meat in a skillet on the stovetop. Drain excess juices.
* Throw stew meat and veggies into crockpot
* Mix enough beef broth to cover veggies and mix with tomato paste
* Pour liquid over meat and veggies in crockpot
* Cook 5-6 hours on high, or 7-8 hours on low