Mama's Chili

This chili says "home" to me. I am not a picky eater in the least. And I love "chili" because it means something different to everyone. Some people make theirs extra thick or spicy or with chicken. The options are endless and I enjoy trying every variety. But this recipe in particular comes from my mom's recipes. And though I don't normally follow recipes to the T, I did this time because I had a hankering for Mom's chili. It's just the perfect thickness and you can add as much chili powder or Tabasco sauce that you want if you love heat. And don't forget about the endless topping options. :) Tonight, I'm serving this with a loaf of fresh white bread. What's better than that?!

Actually the reason I'm making this tonight is because I just found out an hour ago that my parents my arriving at our home tonight. Oops. Totally missed that memo. I guess I thought we were meeting them at Kevin's parents' house tomorrow for Thanksgiving dinner. I was cracking up as I overhead the conversation Kevin was having with my mom as she said they should have left the house a while ago. What?! Tonight?! I wanted to have something for them to eat when they arrived and I wanted it to be home cooked but not overly strenuous. This chili goes together in 30 minutes or less. Then just let it simmer away to goodness. :)

Ingredients

1 lb ground beef

1 onion, chopped

1 green pepper, chopped

2-3 cloves garlic, minced

2-28 oz cans crushed tomatoes

2-8 oz cans tomato sauce

2-15 oz cans kidney beans

1 tsp salt

3-4 tsp chili powder

2 bay leaves

Brown the ground beef in a 6 quart sauce pan. Add onion, green pepper and garlic. Saute until softened. Add spices. Stir in crushed tomatoes, tomato sauce and kidney beans. Season additionally as desired. Cover and simmer for at least one hour.

Serve with extra hot sauce, grated cheese, sour cream, crackers, cilantro or anything you feel like adding. :)

Mel's Own Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ok. You may have to forget everything I've ever said about chocolate chip cookies. I may have just created a new perfect cookie. Though Kevin and I are still huge fans of the flavor of the cookies with all butter, the texture and thickness of this cookie is phenomenal (not as flat as the all-butter cookie. Butter melts at a lower temperature, thus butter cookies spread more.) We both agree that this recipe replaces "The perfect" chocolate chip cookie recipe, but I'll let you decide for yourself. These are a bit softer and flatter than "the perfect" ones. They have more vanilla (a flavor we love) and the ratio of the fats to the flour changes everything. Please don't forget the refrigeration stage. SO important for this recipe.

Ingredients

1/2 cup margarine, softened

1/2 cup shortening

2 large eggs

1 Tbsp vanilla

1 Tbsp milk

2-1/4 cup flour

1 tsp salt

1 tsp baking soda

2 cups chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Soften the margarine. Combine flour, baking soda, and salt in a small bowl using a whisk and set aside.

Beat margarine, shortening, granulated sugar, and brown sugar together until completely combined and creamy. Add vanilla. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add milk and beat until combined. Gradually (in three additions) mix in flour mixture, beating just until combined (do NOT overmix!). Stir in chocolate chips.

Refrigerate dough for 15-30 minutes.

Drop by rounded spoonful onto ungreased cookie sheets. Bake for 10 minutes or until edges are just brown and middle is not quite set yet. Cool on pan for 2 minutes and then transfer to a cooling rack.

Before adding more dough to warm cookie sheets, place sheet in freezer for 5-7 minutes to cool.

Store in an airtight container.

Soft & Gooey Chocolate Chip Cookies

I know I've said I don't try other chocolate chip cookie recipes simply because Kevin absolutely loves "the perfect" recipe I use and will hardly tolerate me trying a new one. :) But alas, I caved. I wanted a different recipe--preferably one with all butter (since it's on sale at our Aldi for $1.49 a pound!) and one which had been road tested and approved by a fellow foodie whom I respect and admire. I hit up Michelle at the BrownEyedBaker and found what I was looking for. Though I'm still trying to figure out the cooking capabilities of my new oven and new baking sheets (and may have over baked a few batches), they still turned out scrumptious. (I don't even want to know how many I ate! eek!) Don't let the thin look deceive you into thinking this is a crunchy cookie. Though the edges may be, these turned out exactly as Michelle predicted--"thin, not cakey, soft, chewy and gooey." Yum!

*note: these cookies are even better the next day. Soft and Gooey is right!

Chelle’s Soft & Gooey Chocolate Chip Cookies

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter

3/4 cup granulated sugar

3/4 cup packed light brown sugar

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

2 large eggs

1 tablespoon milk

2 cups semisweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Microwave butter for 30 seconds, stir and set aside. Do not worry if it is not completely melted.

Combine flour, baking soda, and salt in a small bowl and set aside.

Beat butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar and vanilla on medium-high speed until creamy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add milk and beat until combined. Gradually beat in flour mixture, beating just until combined (do NOT overmix!). Stir in chocolate chips.

Refrigerate dough for 15-30 minutes.

Drop by rounded spoonful onto ungreased cookie sheets. Bake for 12 minutes or until edges are just brown and middle is not quite set yet. Cool on pan for 2 minutes and then transfer to a cooling rack.

Before adding more dough to warm cookie sheets, place sheet in freezer for 5-7 minutes to cool.

Store in an airtight container.

Recipe yielded 3 1/2 dozen cookies.

Chocolate Chocolate Chip Banana Bread

Once again, Joy the Baker has brought something wonderful into my world. Anything with "chocolate" in the title twice is worth baking, am I right?! This bread is almost chocolate cake-like...the perfect thing for the day after my birthday! It was deliciously amazing. I loved finding those melted bits of chocolate. It was like gold! Eating a slice with a glass of cold milk was perfection. Kevin really liked it as well though he says it's equal to "normal" banana bread. I almost wouldn't qualify it as banana bread. I think of it in a chocolate category all it's own.

It's like cake you can eat for breakfast!

Ingredients

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1 stick (8 Tablespoons) unsalted butter, at room temperature

3/4 cup sugar

1/2 cup (packed) light brown sugar

2 large eggs

2 ripe bananas, mashed

3/4 cup buttermilk

3 ounces bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped

Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter a 9×5 inch loaf pan (or two mini loaf pans--2x6") and place it on an insulated baking sheet or on two regular baking sheets one on top of the other. This extra insulation will keep the bottom of the bread from overbaking.

Sift together the flour, cocoa, baking powder, salt and baking soda.

Working with a stand mixer with a paddle attachment, or with a hand mixer in a large bowl, beat the butter at medium speed for about a minute until soft. Add the sugars and beat for 2 minutes more. Add the egs one at a time, beating for a minute after each addition. Reduce the mixer speed to low and mix in the mashed bananas. Add the dry ingredients in three additions, mixing only until they disappear into the batter. Still on low sweep, add the buttermilk, mixing until it is incorporated. Stir in the chopped chocolate. Scrape batter into prepared pan.

Bake for 3o minutes. Cover the bread loosely with a foil tend to keep the top from getting too dark, and continue to bake for another 40-45 minutes (total baking time is between 70 and 75 minutes), or until a thin knife inserted into the center comes out clean. Transfer the pan to a rack and cool for at least 20 minutes before running a knife around the edges of the bread and unmolding it. Invert and cool to room temperature right side up.

Peanut Butter Rice Krispy Treats

Most everyone (or at least most kids) love a good Rice Krispie Treat. I know I do. I've made a couple pans before but struggled to get the right consistency. It probably had something to do with the age of my marshmallows, honestly. :) This batch turned out just right! And if you love peanut butter as much as I do, definitely go with "option 2"--1 Tbsp butter and 1/3 cup peanut butter. I forgot I wanted to add the peanut butter, so I have a bit more "fat" added to mine than is necessary, but I'm ok with that. They're still delicious little buggers. (After serving these peanut butter krispies tonight to teens and twenty-somethings the verdict is: these things rock!)

This particular recipe is a combination of the Kellogg's Rice Krispie Treat recipe and a recipe from Cooking Light Cookbook.

Ingredients

3 tablespoons butter or margarine

- OR- 1 Tbsp butter and 1/3 cup peanut butter

1 package (10 oz., about 40) regular marshmallows

- OR - 4 cups miniature marshmallows

6 cups Rice Krispies® 9r other puffed rice

In large saucepan melt butter over low heat. Add marshmallows and stir until completely melted. Remove from heat.

Add Rice Krispies cereal. Stir until well coated.

Using buttered spatula or wax paper or greased hands evenly press mixture into 13 x 9 x 2-inch pan coated with cooking spray. Cool. Cut into 2-inch squares. Best if served the same day.

MICROWAVE DIRECTIONS:

In microwave-safe bowl heat butter and marshmallows on HIGH for 3 minutes, stirring after 2 minutes. Stir until smooth. Follow steps 2 and 3 above. Microwave cooking times may vary.

Whole Wheat Buttermilk Pancakes

I know, I'm on some sort of a pancake kick. I'm ok with that. Aren't you? Who doesn't love pancakes? Seriously.

I found this recipe in my trusty Betty Crocker Cookbook. I figured the recipe "as is" wouldn't be nearly as good as Joy's Whole Wheat Banana Walnut Pancakes, so I changed a few things here and there. This recipe is my edited version.

Makes 5- 5" pancakes (thick!)

Ingredients

1 egg

1 cup ap or whole wheat flour

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1 Tbsp sugar

2 Tbsp vegetable oil

3/4 cup buttermilk*

*buttermilk can be made by adding just under 1Tbsp vinegar or lemon juice to the milk.

In medium bowl, beat the egg until fluffy. Beat in remaining ingredients just until combined. Batter may be lumpy. Don't over mix. Heat griddle over medium heat. It is ready when you drip water on it and the droplets jump around and sizzle. Pour batter onto a hot griddle using 1/4 cup or a small ladle. Flip when bubbles form and pop. Enjoy with syrup or a topping of your choice!

Sausage and Peppers Over Pasta

This one pot dinner (well, two I guess because of cooking the pasta) is absolutely delicious. That is, assuming you love Italian staples like sausage, green peppers, garlic, onions, and of course spaghetti. I came up with the idea this morning, knowing Kevin had mentioned sausage as a desired main dish for the week.

Ingredients (for 2)

2 sausage links, sliced

1 green pepper, sliced

1/4 large onion, sliced

2-3 garlic cloves, minced

pasta sauce, homemade or store-bought (I like Prego. Or Meijer brand.)

Spaghetti (desired amount)

Heat a large skillet to medium heat. Add 2 Tbsp oil. Saute onions, peppers, and garlic until soft and fragrant. Push the vegetables to the side of the pan. Add sausage slices and let them brown on each side. Stir skillet contents together, being sure to scrape up the browned bits of sausage to add flavor. Pour in 1-2 cups pasta sauce. Heat through.

Meanwhile, cook pasta. Drain and stir into sauce. Serve and enjoy!