Spicy Chorizo Chili

After church today we were both craving something warm and soothing from Panera. But I always have a hard time choosing to go somewhere and pay $5 for a bowl of soup that I could make at home...and a whole pot for that same price! So I set to work developing something that suited our mood. And, well, chili always suits my mood. :D I wanted to use the hot Mexican Chorizo I purchased at Aldi this last week and knew it would work well in a spicy chili. The results were perfect (despite the fact that I burned myself on splattering hot oil.)

Ingredients

1/2 pound chorizo, hot or mild

1/4 pound ground beef (I used 90/10)

1 whole medium onion, chopped

1 whole green pepper, chopped

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 (14.5 oz) can black beans, drained and rinsed

1 (14.5 oz) can kidney beans, drained and rinsed

1 cup corn (I used frozen, could drain off canned corn)

1 (28 oz) crushed tomatoes

1 (4 oz) can tomato sauce

1-2 cups water

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp pepper

2 Tbsp chili powder

1 tsp cumin

crushed red pepper, sprinkle with discretion

Heat a heavy bottomed 5-6 qt pot to medium. Remove the chorizo from the casing and combine it with the ground beef. Cook through thoroughly. Drain off fat, if desired. Return to pot. Add in onions, green peppers and garlic. Stir in corn. Stir occasionally and cook until vegetables are softened. Stir in kidney beans, black beans, crushed tomatoes, tomato sauce water and spices. Add desired amount of water (to yield desired thickness/consistency). Bring mixture to a boil. Lower heat and simmer for 20 minutes to 1 hour.

Top with sour cream, shredded cheese, chopped cilantro, etc.

French Toast

I hadn't made French Toast in years and whenever I offered it to Kevin as a breakfast option he always turned it down. Some bad experiences, I guess. But this morning he decided he wanted to give it a go. I was kind of nervous. I didn't want to disappoint him. I did my best from what I could remember and the results were scrumptious! Kevin kissed me when he saw his plate of gloriousness.

Next time, I might enjoy a more stale piece of a bread to be used. I know there are some fantastic bread options out there, but I had whole wheat white bread that was going a little dry so I used what I had. You should do the same. The trick here is not to drench the bread in the egg. We don't want scrambled egg on our French toast. That's just wrong.

Ingredients

4 slices dry bread, the thicker the better

3 eggs

1/2 cup milk

1-2 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp vanilla

syrup

Beat the eggs. Whisk in the milk, cinnamon and vanilla. Preheat large skillet to medium. Dip each slice of bread in the egg mixture, coating thoroughly but not drenching. Place in hot skillet and cook till golden brown on each side (approximately 2-4 minutes each side). Serve with your favorite syrup or fruit topping.

Vegetable Stirfry

We were in the mood for something with rice and something with vegetables. I knew there were a few options and so I started pulling fresh veggies from my fridge. I chopped this and that and pretty soon my kitchen smelled like a Mongolian BBQ. Feel free to use whatever vegetables you have in your kitchen--snap peas, broccoli, red peppers, etc. Anything would be a great addition. The trick is to cook the vegetables in the order of their cooking time. (i.e. the potatoes and carrots take the longest to cook so start them first.)

Ingredients

3 cups whole grain rice, cooked

Olive oil

1 small potato, diced

1 large carrot, sliced thinly

1/4 onion, sliced

3 cloves garlic, minced

1/2 green pepper, sliced into strips

4 mushrooms, sliced

1 large chicken breast, sliced

Teriyaki sauce

Soy sauce

Cook rice.

Heat oil in a large skillet over medium high heat. Add in potato and carrot. Prepare garlic and onion and add to skillet. Slice peppers and add to skillet. Cook 10 minutes or until all vegetables are softened (especially potatoes). Add in chicken and cover. Stir and cook until chicken is no longer pink. Stir in mushrooms and approximately 1/4 cup teriyaki sauce.

Serve over rice and drizzle with soy sauce.

Hot Cocoa Mix

For many of our Christmas gifts this year I personalized mugs and filled them with homemade hot cocoa mix. I had trouble deciding which recipe of hot cocoa to use, but when I saw an overlap between Annie's and Michelle's I knew I had found a winner. With a bag of mix leftover I had plenty of chances to test the recipe for myself. And Boy! is this wonderful! I loved mixing it with hot milk...the thick creaminess of the chocolate is just heavenly.

When we used up the last of that batch, I had to make more right away. Now Kevin and I have our own little stash of amazingness.

Yield: about 4 cups cocoa mix

Ingredients:

2 cups nonfat dry milk powder

3/4 cup sugar

1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1/2 cup semi-sweet mini chocolate chips

1/2 cup powdered nondairy creamer

1/8 tsp. salt

mini-marshmallows

Directions:

Combine all ingredients in a mixing bowl. Whisk together until evenly blended. Portion into gift packages as desired, and top each with a handful of mini-marshmallows.

Attach tags with the following instructions: “Mix 4-5 heaping tablespoons of cocoa mix with very warm water or milk to achieve desired flavor. Top with mini marshmallows and garnish with peppermint stirrer. Enjoy!”

OR place mix into an airtight container and enjoy the chocolately goodness for yourself! :D