I Actually Won! (Plus a Recipe for Corn Bread)

This is just going to be a short little brag-blog. Our church had a chili cook-off this Thursday, so I whipped up a pot of my trusty chili, and I took 2nd place! They had a bluegrass band and everything, it was so much fun. I love living in a smaller town! We never did things like that in the bigger cities I've lived in.

Anyway, if you want to try some of my Award-Winning Chili, you can find the recipe here.

And just for the fun of it, and because you can't have chili without corn bread, here's my family's favorite best-ever corn bread recipe.

Corn Bread
Makes 9 big pieces

1 c. milk
1/4 c. melted butter
1 large egg
1-1/4 c. cornmeal
1 c. flour
1/2 c. sugar
1 tbsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Grease a 9x9" square baking pan. In a medium-sized mixing bowl, combine milk, butter, and egg. In a separate bowl, stir together dry ingredients. Add dry ingredients all at once to milk and egg mixture. Stir just until moistened. Pour into pan, and bake at 400 degrees F for 20-25 minutes, until golden brown.

For a fun variation, you can add canned green chilies and cheddar cheese.

Also, you can bake the corn bread in muffin tins to make individual servings.

Enjoy!

Winter Dinners: Chili and Texas Spaghetti

I was just looking over the recipes I've posted to this blog, and I noticed that there are hardly any meal ideas. I decided it's time to change that, so today I'm blogging on a winter favorite: chili. I found a good basic chili recipe in a cookbook a while ago, and as I usually tend to do with recipes, I adapted it and made it my own. It's chunky and has a stew-like consistency. Feel free to adjust seasonings depending on how hot you like your chili. I like to serve this chili with hot cornbread and cheddar cheese.

Leftover chili is great for Texas spaghetti. I grew up in a suburb of Dallas, and Texas spaghetti was a family favorite. Just cook up some pasta (we like spaghetti or fettucini best) and serve it with chili on top (instead of spaghetti sauce). You can also add cheese, onions, etc. If you don't have leftover chili, you can use cannedchili. That works really well too.

Chili
This recipe serves 4-6

1 lb. ground beef
1 med. onion, chopped
1 clove garlic
1 can diced green chilies
2 14-oz. cans tomatoes
2 8-oz. cans tomato sauce
1 tbsp. chili powder
3/4 tsp. ground cumin
1/2 tsp. red pepper flakes
1/2 tsp. cayenne pepper
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
1 can kidney beans
1 can pinto beans


Cook beef, onion, and garlic in 3-qt. saucepan until beef is browned. Drain off fat. Add all the other ingredients except the beans. Heat to boiling; reduce heat to low. Cover and simmer for about an hour (to blend flavors), stirring occasionally.

Stir in beans. Heat to boiling, reduce heat. Simmer uncovered for another 10 minutes, until the beans have warmed through and the chili reaches your desired thickness.

Hot Cereal for Cold Mornings

All of a sudden it's winter! Utah's a funny place. One day it's 65 degrees and you're outside in your shorts, and the next it's 38 and you're freezing your bum off. I really love the different seasons though. It's nice to have some variety.

One thing I love about winter mornings is a hot breakfast. But if you're like my husband, who is defintely not a morning person, you usally don't have much time for one. The recipe I'm going to share today is a mix for a wholesome hot cereal that doesn't take much time to prepare, and is really good for you. It's made using equal parts cracked wheat, rice, and beans, so it's got plenty of carbohydrates, dietary fiber, and protein. The recipe here makes 6 cups (about 24 servings), but since it uses equal parts, it's easy to adjust to as much as you want. This cereal tastes a lot like cream of wheat.

Cream of Beans Cooked Cereal:
Using a grinder, crack (coarsly grind) 2 cups each of wheat, brown rice, and white beans.

To prepare cereal:
1. Heat 2 c. milk or water (don't overheat the milk--it'll boil over!)
2. Add 1/2 c. cereal mix and 1/4 tsp. vanilla; whisk well.
3. Simmer until thick, stirring frequently.
4. Serve with honey, brown sugar, raisins, cinnamon, etc.


Bean flour, if you grind it fine, can also be used as a substitute for up to 25% of the white flour in most baking or sauce recipes. This adds a lot of nutritional value without changing the flavor or texture. Beans are a great addition to food storage because they are high in protein, fiber, and lots of other nutrients, and can be prepared so many different ways and adapt to so many different flavors. They make a great substitute for meat, and can be used in all sorts of recipes.

Guacamole Bean Dip

Hey Everyone!

It's time for another party recipe--this time it's for a bean spread that you can use all sorts of ways. I like it in tortillas (like a burrito), sandwiches (with lettuce and tomato and cheese), pita bread, crackers, or on tortilla chips. It tastes a lot like guacamole, but it's got beans in it, so it's a great source of protein and fiber.

Guacamole Bean Spread:

1 can white beans (great northern or garbanzo)
1 large avocado
1/4 c. ranch dressing (or mayo)
1 tsp. dried onion
1 tsp. lemon juice
2 tbsp. salsa

Place all of the ingredients in a food processor or blender. Process until smooth. If you're using a blender, add the beans a little at a time.