6 Bean Chili

6-Bean Chili adapted from Crossroads of America
2lbs chuck, cut into bite-sized pieces
1 medium yellow onion, diced
1 medium green bell pepper, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 1/2 T chili powder
2 t salt
1 1/2 t ground cumin
1 t black pepper
1/2 t cayenne pepper
1/8 t ground coriander
1/8 t ground cinnamon
2 bay leaves
1 28 oz can diced tomatoes
4 cups beef broth
1 can great northern beans, rinsed and drained
1 can pinto beans, rinsed and drained
1 can light kidney beans, rinsed and drained
1 can dark kidney beans, rinsed and drained
1 can black beans, rinsed and drained
1 can navy beans, rinsed and drained
Sour cream, shredded cheddar cheese and green onions for garnish

Directions:  Brown meat in a large pot or Dutch oven. Add onion, bell pepper, garlic, chili powder, salt, cumin, black pepper, cayenne pepper, coriander, and cinnamon and cook over medium-high heat until vegetables are starting to soften, about 6-8 minutes. Add bay leaves, tomatoes and beef stock. Bring to a boil then reduce to a simmer. Cover partially and simmer for 2 to 2 1/2 hours or until beef is tender, stirring occasionally. Add beans, stir, and cook another 30 minutes. Add cilantro and season to taste. Service garnished with sour cream, cheddar, and chopped green onions.

Modifications:
-I just used ground chuck
-I did not use the bay leaves or cinnamon.
-I added about 2Tbsp of chili powder.
-I added about 1 1/2 Tbsp of cumin.

Here's what you'll need:

Brown the ground chuck in a Dutch oven.

Chop the onion and add to the pot.

Chop the green pepper and add to the pot.

Chop the garlic and add to the pot.

Add the spices.

Add the tomatoes and beef broth.

Bring to a boil and then let summer for an hour or so.

Drain and rinse the beans.

Our Thoughts:
This chili was really good and popular with my football crowd.  I know that there are 2 crowds when it comes to chili-with or without beans.  I am definitely a "with" beans kind of girl and I loved the fact that there were so many beans in here.

I ended up adding a lot more chili powder and cumin than the recipe called for because, for me, I just knew that the recipe was not going to be enough.

If my crowd would have consisted of adults only, I would have minced up a jalapeno to throw in, as well, but I didn't want it to be too hot for them.

Overall, this dish was a success!

Hope you enjoy!
April  

This Week's Menu

It's been a while since I posted what we will be having for dinner so while looking through my "to try" recipes, I figured I would go ahead and share with you, too.

Monday:  Sausage and Pepper Heros

Tuesday:  Turkey Macaroni Casserole

Wednesday:  Tex Mex Burgers with Roasted Garlic Sweet Potatoes

Thursday:  West Texas Chipotle Chicken Salad Wrap

Some Changes

Hey Everybody~I just wanted to let you know about some changes that I will be making to this blog.  I am going to start only posting those recipes that in the past have received either a 4 or 5 star rating.  There are a couple of reasons for this:

1. To be honest, it takes a lot of time to upload pics and then explain the recipes just to tell you that we hated it or that it was just OK.  

2. I know that as a reader of other blogs, I wouldn't really try a recipe in which the author said this recipe is just "OK".  I would look for something in which they said it was good or great.

3. I want to make the recipes more easily accessible.  When people come here maybe looking for something to cook that night for dinner, I want everyone to know that what they are looking at are recipes that my family actually enjoyed so they can feel safe to try anything.

I will be going through the blog in the next few days deleting those recipes that got 1's, 2's, and 3's.  I will look back over our thoughts on them and if there are any that I feel I can make again and make some changes I'll keep them, re-make them, and then repost them.

Thanks for understanding.

P.S. I would love to have your favorite chili recipe.  I am making chili for Sunday's first full NFL day (plus, I just love chili) and I'd love your input.  It doesnt' have to be chili . . . what's your favorite football watching recipe?

Smoky Beef Goulash

Smoky Beef Goulash
1 1/2lb trimmed, boneless top round steak, cut into 1-inch chunks
1/2 tsp kosher salt
2 tsp canola oil
2 leeks, sliced, white and green parts only
2 red bell pepperes, chopped
3 Tbsp all-purpose flour
3 garlic cloves, minced
1Tbsp smoked paprika
2tsp crushed caraway seeds
1 (14.5oz) can low-sodium beef broth
1 (14.5oz) can fire-roasted petite-diced tomatoes
6 Tbsp fat-free sour cream
3 Tbsp chopped fresh dill

Directions:  Preheat oven to 325 degrees.  Sprinkle round steak, cut into 1inch chunks, with 1/2tsp kosher salt.  Heat canola oil in 4 1/2 quart Dutch oven over medium-high heat.  Add beef in 2 batches; cook until browned on all sides, about 3 minutes per batch.  Heat canola oil in Dutch oven.  Add leeks, bell pepper; cook, stirring occasionally, until vegetables are softened, about 3 minutes.  Add flour, cloves, paprika, and caraway seeds; cook, stirring frequently, until fragrant, about 1 minute.  Add beef broth, scraping up browned bits from bottom and sides of pot.  Stir in beef with juices and tomatoes; bring just to a boil.  cover pot and transfer to oven.  Bake until beef is fork-tender, about 1 hour 15 minutes.  Serve topped with fat-free sour cream and dill.

Here's what you'll need:

Preheat the oven.

Cut the beef into 1 inch pieces.  Sprinkle the salt over it.

Cut off the root end of the leeks and then slice up the white and green parts all the way up until it starts to branch out.

Chop up the bell pepper.

Heat some oil in a dutch oven and then add the beef.  Cook for 3-4 minutes until browned.

Add the leeks and red bell pepper.  Cook until softened, about 3-4 minutes.

Add the minced garlic.

Add the flour.

Add the beef stock.

Add the tomatoes.

Add the herbs.

Once the mixture comes to a boil, cover and pop into the oven for 1 hour to 1 hour 15 minutes.

Here's what you'll end up with:

Our Thoughts:

This dish was a good change to our menu.   The meat was tender and juicy and the fire-roated tomatoes added tons of flavor to the broth. 

Kanin and Scott both really enjoyed this and we all thought that it reminded us of Mom's pepper steak.

I served it over brown rice but it would be great over egg noodles, too.

Hope you enjoy!

April

Southwest Salad

Southwest Salad  adapted from Life . . . As I See It
2 c. brown rice
1-15 oz. can black beans, reduced sodium, drained and rinsed
2 c. frozen corn, thawed
1 red bell pepper, chopped
1 small white onion, chopped
1/4 c. white wine vinegar
1/4 c. cilantro, chopped
1 jalapeno, chopped
1 tsp. chili powder

Directions:  Combine all ingredients and refrigerate. Enjoy!

Modifications:
-I used red wine vinegar.
-I used ready to serve brown and wile rice.
-I used canned corn instead of frozen.

Here's what you'll need:

Cut up the red pepper.

Cut up the onion (I used 1/4 of an onion).

Cut up a jalapeno.  (I used 1/4)

After cooking the rice in the microwave, add it to the bowl.

Drain and rinse the corn.

Drain and rinse the black beans.  Chop up some cilantro.

Here's what you'll end up with:

Our Thoughts:

Scott and I loved this dish.  It had a good kick with the onion, jalapeno, and cilantro and had sweetness from the corn.

The brown and serve rice worked out great and each little container was finished in just 60 seconds each.  I made this dish in about 3 minutes and then just popped it into the refrigerator to chill.

I want to make a breakfast burrito or omelet using the leftovers.  This dish would also be great to as a dip with pita bread.

I did have to add salt to cut through the vinegar but that may just be because I used red wine vinegar instead of white.

Hope you enjoy!

April

Florentine Meatballs

Florentine Meatballs adapted from Simple & Delicious magazine
1pkg (10oz each) frozen chopped spinach,
  thawed and squeezed dry
1/4 cup seasoned bread crumbs

1/8 cup grated Parmesan cheese
2 garlic cloves, minced
1tsp dried, oregano
1 eggs, lightly beaten
1lb lean ground beef (90% lean)
1 jar spaghetti sauce
1 box spaghetti

Directions:  Combine fist six ingredients in a large bowl.  Crumble beef over mixture and mix well.  shape into 16 balls.

Place meatballs on a greased rack in a shallow baking dish.  Bake uncovered at 400 for 24-48 minutes or until no longer pink.  Drain on paper towels.

In a large saucepan, heat spaghetti sauce; add the meatballs.  Serve with spaghetti.

Modifications:
-Instead of using frozen spinach, I used fresh.

Here's what you'll need:

Put some water on to boil.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

Combine the first 6 ingredients.

Add an egg and mix together.

Add the ground beef and mix well.

Form the mixture into balls and place on a greased baking sheet.

Pop the meatballs into the oven for 24-48 minutes.  Put the pasta on to cook.

Here's what you'll end up with:

Our Thoughts:

This was my first time to ever make meatballs and this recipe was so simple.  It literally took me less than 5 minutes to mix all of the ingredients, roll the balls, and toss in the oven.

One thing I particularly liked about this dish is the addition of the spinach.  After thinking about it, I could have added a few more veggies in their just by throwing some squash, spinach, etc in the food processor and mixing it in.

Everyone enjoyed the flavor of this dish.  The one thing that I didn't do, that I wish I would have, is I wish that after pulling the meatballs out of the oven that I would have put them in the pasta sauce and let them kind of soak up some of that sauce.

Hope you enjoy!

April



Sloppy Pizza Joes

Sloppy Pizza Joes adapted from Simple & Delicious
1lb ground beef (90% lean)
1 jar (14oz) pizza sauce
3/4 tsp garlic powder
3/4 tsp dried rosemary, crushed
3/4 tsp dried oregano
3/4 tsp dried basil
1/4 tsp onion powder
1/4 tsp pepper
4 hamburger buns, split
4 slices part-skim mozzarella cheese

Directions:  Cook beef over medium heat in a large skillet until no longer pink; drain.  Stir in the pizza sauce and seasonings.  cook and stir until heated through.  Serve on buns with cheese.

Here's what you'll need:

I put the ground beef on to brown.  As it was cooking, I got to thinking that this might be the perfect opportunity to add some veggies and have "veggie pizza sloppy joes" so I grabbed a can of mushrooms, can of black olives, and a red pepper.  I drained the mushrooms and olives and then diced up everything.

Once the beef was cooked, I drained it and then threw in the mushrooms, olives, and red bell pepper.

Added the pizza sauce and herbs.

Let it simmer.

Sprinkled mozzarella cheese all over it.

Here's what you'll end up with:

Our Thoughts:

This was a very simple and delicious meal.  I am so happy that I thought to add the extra veggies to the mix.  Not only did the olives, mushrooms, and red bell pepper add to the flavor but also acted as a healthy filler.  For a family of 5, I only used 1lb ground beef.

I was thinking more about this and really anything that you would put on a pizza, you can add to this dish-pepperoni, sausage, onions, pineapple, Canadian bacon, etc.  The possibilities are endless.

Kanin gave this dish a 5 and that is good enough for me!

Hope you enjoy!

April