Hearty chili

This an awesome chili recipe for the men in your life! It is really hearty and filling! I was asked to bring chili to a Halloween party a few years ago and I found this recipe. Since then I have made it quite a few times. I usually serve it with a little bit of melted cheese on top and some cornbread. This is an easy dinner for those nights when you don't have much time or can't think of anything. Most of the ingredients I usually have on hand too so that helps!

I got this recipe off of the Big Oven app but you can find it here on their website as well.

Ingredients:

1 pound Lean ground meat
1 large Onion chopped
1 tablespoon Chili powder
1 tablespoon Ground cumin
1/2 pound Smoked sausage (I like to use Polska Kilbasa instead)
1 12-oz can Kidney beans or Ranch Style beans
1 cup Pace's picante sauce
1 cup V-8 vegetable juice
1 8 ounce can Tomato sauce

Serves: 6

Preparation:
Brown ground meat with onion in large sauce pan or dutch oven.  Sprinkle chili powder and cumin over meat while cooking and stirring for about 2 minutes.  Slice and quarter the smoked sausage.  Add remaining ingredients and bring to a boil.  Reduce and simmer uncovered for 20 minutes.  Add a little water if it gets too thick.

I have used smoked sausage and it tastes really yummy. I usually prefer polska kilbasa though. This last time I made this I realized that I didn't have any picante sauce on hand. You know the feeling when you thought you had all the ingredients and when you are in the middle of making it you realize you are missing something? So frustrating. Instead of picante sauce I used a jar of mild salsa and I honestly couldn't tell the difference. If substituting salsa for picante sauce I would just make sure it isn't chunky salsa.

Homemade White Bread

30 weeks pregnant and look at Jackson's awesome surfboard that Tyrone painted. It's getting glassed and fins put in it right now!

I have been wanting a Bosch mixer for quite some time now but I just couldn't justify spending money to get it. But my birthday was coming up and my husband kept asking me what I wanted and I'd say something like, "What I really want is a Bosch mixer, but I know they're really expensive, so I don't know..." I just felt like it would be great to have but it was a lot of money. Well, being the amazing husband that he is, he along with my father in law pitched in together and they got me a Bosch mixer and I'll tell you, IT IS BEAUTIFUL!

 This means no more kneading dough myself. This means that it will no longer take me all day to bake bread or cinnamon rolls, or bread rolls. It's amazing!!It came in the mail the day we were leaving out of town though, sadly. I opened up a few things and read the manual but I didn't actually get it out and use it for the first time until last night. I think Tyrone was almost more excited than I was to use it. He kept on saying he wanted to make bread with me. Those are great words coming from his mouth!

I got all the parts washed and ready to go. I found this recipe on pinterest and it is delicious! We ate half a loaf when it came out of the oven. I put butter and homemade strawberry jam on mine. Tyrone wanted peanut butter and strawberry jam on his. It was so yummy! Joyful baker is where the recipe came from.

This recipe makes 2 loafs. After the first batch came out of the oven, Tyrone suggested to make another batch so we made 4 loafs total. Then after that he wanted to make cookies. Homemade bread and cookies for dinner. YUM!

Homemade white bread
2 cups hot water (out of the tap)
1/4 cup + 1 tbsp oil
1/4 cup + 1 tbsp honey
2 tsp salt
1/5 cup Powdered milk
2 1/3 cups flour (any combination of white and wheat - if mixing flours, start with white)
2 1/2 tsp saf-instant yeast
3 cups flour (any combination of white and wheat - if mixing flours, start with white)

 Combine ingredients in the order listed above in a stand-mixer bowl fitted with dough hook, saving the last 3 cups of flour to add later. After adding the yeast, turn mixer on and let ingredients combine slowly. Add the remaining 3 cups of flour, until the dough starts pulling off of the sides of the mixer. Turn mixer to high and knead for 8 minutes. Cover the bowl and allow the dough to rise for 20 minutes. Preheat oven to 150 degrees.

Once dough has risen, divide the dough into 2 even balls. Place on a floured surface and with your fingers, lightly press each ball into a rectangular shape about the length of a bread pan. Roll into loaves and place them seam side down in pans sprayed with cooking spray.

Place pans in oven and allow to rise for 20 minutes. Then raise the temperature to 350 degrees and bake for 25-30 minutes. Remove from oven. Then remove the bread from the pans and allow to cool slightly before slicing. I like to turn my loaves onto their side on the cooling rack. This makes lines in the side of the bread and then you have perfectly even slices when you are ready to cut it.

This bread is great for toast or sandwiches. It is delicious!

I am so excited about my new kitchen gadget. Homemade bread is now a piece of cake.

Funnel Cakes for the Whole Family

My mother in law gave me a funnel cake kit last year for the fourth of July and I kept telling myself I need to try it but I never did. I finally decided this year that we should have a big funnel cake party with our friends and neighbors. I figured that would be more fun than making funnel cakes for just the two of us anyway.

I decided to send out an invite for funnel cakes but it took a lot more planning and figuring out than I thought. We have a small one bedroom apartment and so we can only invite a small number of people over. We decided that if we made them downstairs in the courtyard of our apartment we could invite a lot more. That's what we ended up doing and it was perfect. The weather was great and we started at 6pm so that friends with kids could come before it got too late.

The chefs.

our toppings table

We were trying to figure out how to cook funnel cakes outside and at first I thought we could just do it on the grill but then we realized that it won't stay hot enough to keep the oil at the right temperature. We decided to use outdoor stoves. We borrowed one from our neighbor and then we bought one at Sports Chalet for only $29.99. It will be awesome to have next time we go camping. It even comes with a little carrying case.

With the funnel cake kit we got, it came with a metal ring, to make the funnel cake in, a pitcher, and some funnel cake mix. The pitcher for pouring the batter works awesome. I would recommend getting one. I also bought a small 4.5 inch metal cookie cutter so that we could make small funnel cakes for the kids. I used a small clear plastic ketchup bottle and poured the batter out of that. They turned out great. They were the perfect size for the kids.

My husbands funnel cake. With how big my belly looks here you would think I already ate one.

Now on to the recipe. I tried a few before I found this one and this was definitely the best! I got this recipe from Taylor takes a taste

You will need a deep frying pan with oil filling the ring up about half way. When you pour your batter into the ring, pour it in a circle around the outside twice and then pour the batter crisscross all directions to keep the funnel cake together.  Cook for about 30 seconds on each side. The funnel cake should be a golden brown. Then add whatever toppings you'd like.

We quintupled the recipe. This much batter fed 26 of us, 14 adults and 12 kids, with many people having seconds.

Dry ingredients
1 1/2 cups AP Flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 cup powdered sugar

Wet ingredients
1 1/3 cup milk
1/4 tsp lemon zest (I omitted this)
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 egg

Toppings:
powdered sugar
whip cream
chocolate syrup
cut up strawberries

Cinnamon Rolls

Cinnamon rolls are one of my favorite desserts/ breakfasts! Every time I go on a trip I cross my fingers that the airport will have a Cinnabon.

Growing up, my older brother took a homec class and one of the things they made was homemade cinnamon rolls. He liked them so much that he decided to try to make them at home and then for the rest of his life he has been asked to make his cinnamon rolls, which he doesn't really do anymore because he has an awesome wife that just does it for him. Our family still uses the original recipe that he got in Jr High though. It is the best homemade cinnamon roll I have ever had. My recipe is now almost yellow looking it's getting so old. Today I'm going to share the recipe with you. Now the recipe is broken into three days, because it took the students three one hour periods to make the cinnamon rolls. For your sake, I will break it down into three big steps if you would like to make them over a period of days or you can just go on to the next step if you want to finish them in one day.

Ingredients for the dough:
1 TBS active dry yeast
1 cup warm water (105-110 degrees)
1/3 cup margarine- softened
1/2 cup sugar
1 TSP salt
4 cups flour
2 eggs

Directions: Heat milk for 1 minute in the microwave. (This will depend on your microwave. You want the water warm but not too hot. If the water is too hot it will kill the yeast if its too cold, it won't activate the yeast. I test the milk temperature with my finger and make sure it is warm. Pour yeast into milk and stir to dissolve.

Add the margarine and half of the flour mixture (sugar, salt and flour) and mix on low speed with the paddle attachment if using a kitchen aid mixer. Add the eggs and the remaining flour mixture. Continue to mix until all flour is incorporated and dough ball starts to form.

Form dough into ball with floured hands and place in a plastic bag if continuing the rest of the process the next day. If continuing on, place dough in a large greased bowl, cover and let rise in a warm place for about an hour or until dough is double in size. (I usually give it about 2 to 3 hours to double in size but each climate will be a little bit different.)

This is my doubled in size dough- say that 10 times fast

Forming the rolls

filling:
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup granulated sugar
2 TBSP cinnamon

1/3 cup softened margarine

Directions: Roll the dough out on a lightly floured surface. Roll the dough flat until it is approximately 21 inches long and 16 inches wide. ( a large rectangle) The dough should be about 1/4 inch thick.

For the filling, spread the softened margarine evenly over the surface of the dough, and then sprinkle the cinnamon and sugar mixture evenly over the surface.

Working carefully from the long side of the rectangle, roll the dough into a long roll.

 

Cut the rolled dough with thread into 2 inch slices and place evenly spaced in a lightly greased baking pan. If continuing on the next day, cover and refrigerate over night. If continuing on, place in a warm place for at least 30  minutes to allow rolls to rise. (I usually give this rising process about an hour.)

This is what your rolls should look like once they have risen. They should be about the height of the pan and they should all be touching.

Onto baking the rolls!
Directions: preheat oven to 400 degrees. Bake the rolls for about 15 to 20 minutes or until light brown. While the rolls bake, combine the icing ingredients. Beat well until fluffy. When rolls come out of the oven coat generously with icing.

Icing:
4 TBSP (1/2 stick) margarine, softened
1/2 TSP vanilla
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1/4 cup (2 oz) cream cheese, softened

Potstickers

Tyrone and I took a trip to New York in January and while we were there we ate at this delicious restaurant in China town. I can't even tell you the name of it because it was in Chinese. Some friends of ours took us there and told us that the potstickers were the best. They told us what to order because again, nothing was really in English. I was shocked with how yummy they were. Ever since then, I have been craving them. 

Recently, we went out to lunch with some friends to a Japanese restaurant and they had gyoza, which I found out is basically the same thing as a potsticker. Then there are dumplings, which are yummy as well, dumplings are made the same way as a potstickers but they are steamed or boiled rather than fried.  I prefer the fried because I like the crunchy outside. Both are very delicious though, it just depends on preference. 

I decided to try and master potstickers yesterday afternoon. I knew it was going to be a lot of work so I was hoping that they would turn out yummy. They did! Sometimes I'll try really complicated recipes that take all day only to have it flop in the end. Those are disappointing days because I have nothing to show for and nothing to serve for dinner. These potstickers take a lot of work but they are not too difficult. If I can do it I think almost anyone can. 

I decided to make the potstickers homemade, from the filling to the wraps. The wraps do take a lot of time, but they really aren't that difficult. I learned how to make the potstickers from Use Real Butter. 

She has great pictures and descriptions. I would check out her page if you get a chance. She goes into much greater detail than I'm going to. I'm just going to go over the main parts. 

On Use Real Butter she has a recipe for a shrimp filling as well if you would rather do that instead. I used the pork filling so that's the only one I've posted on here.

Pork filling: 

1 lb ground pork

4 large napa cabbage leaves, minced
3 stalks green onions, minced
7 shitake mushrooms, minced (if dried – rehydrated and rinsed carefully)
1/2 cup bamboo shoots, minced
1/4 cup ginger root, minced
3 tbsp soy sauce
2 tbsp sesame oil
2 tbsp corn starch

The most time consuming thing of this entire process is chopping up all of these ingredients. Everything needs to be really small.

For the dough: 

4 cups flour

1 cup water

This will be enough for the filling recipe made with 1 lb of pork meat.

Mix the dough until it is smooth but firm. I had to add a little bit more water at a time until the dough stayed together. Depending on the climate you are cooking this in, the water amount could change as well. 

 Form the dough into a ball. Cut the ball into 4 even pieces. Take those 4 pieces and roll them out length wise into 1 1/4 in diameter. Then cut the rolls into 3/4 in pieces. Below are my 3/4 in pieces smashed into round balls. Now, I am no expert in rolling out dough. My round pieces are not perfectly round, as you can see, but they worked. They also recommended to roll the edges thinner and leave the middle thicker but I skipped that. I just rolled them out and they worked fine. I didn't have any problems with them tearing.

I was surprised with how good the wrapping turned out. If mine can look like this I'm sure yours will be much better.

Make sure you go to Use Real Butter to find out how to pleat the edges of your potstickers. She does a great job of explaining how to do it with pictures.

Now that you've made the delicious potstickers, lets cook them.
If making potstickers, heat up about 2-3 tbsp of oil in the bottom of a large, deep non-stick frying pan on medium- high heat. Cook the potstickers until the bottom of them turn a golden brown. Once the bottom is a golden brown, quickly pour 1/2 cup of water into the pan all at once. Make sure to stand back as you do this, the oil will want to pop everywhere. Then, immediately put on the lid and keep covered until all the water has cooked out. When the water has cooked out, take off the lid and turn the temperature to low-medium heat and cook for an additional 2-3 minutes.

If making dumplings instead of potstickers, bring a large pot of water to a boil, place dumplings into the pot. When the dumplings float, they are done. Simple enough, right?

Dipping Sauce:
1/4 cup soy sauce
1/8 cup red wine vinegar
a few drops of sesame oil
1 tsp minced garlic

This is what I used for the dipping sauce. There are a lot of varieties you could use.

some optional additions for the dipping sauce would be:
minced green onions
chili garlic paste
sugar
minced ginger

Here is the guinea pig enjoying his potstickers

Grilled mushrooms

By the way, aren't these BBQ skewers awesome! We got them as a wedding gift and we love them. Don't mind the zebra platter I used.

I bought a bunch of mushrooms at the store because they were on sale but I didn't really know what I was going to use them for. I decided that since my husband had already agreed to grill for dinner, I would make some marinated mushrooms to throw on the grill. I'm not a huge mushroom fan, but I'm liking them more and more. These mushrooms were really yummy. They were also really simple. When I was looking for recipes I was trying to find one that I had all the ingredients for so that I didn't have to run to the grocery store. This recipe is one of those great finds. The recipe is from Natasha's Kitchen. 

Ingredients:

16oz mushrooms. (I used white. Crimini, portabello, or button would work too)

1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup lemon juice (I used slightly less than 1/4 cup and the lemon was still too strong so I had to add a little bit more balsamic vinegar to even it out)
small handful of parsley  (optional)
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1-2 garlic cloves
1 Tbsp balsamic vinegar

Directions: Wash mushrooms and slice in half through the stem. place all ingredients in either a bowl with a lid or a zip lock bag. I used a bowl and then I shook up the mushrooms in the marinade. It would be the same if you used a zip lock bag. Let marinate for at least 30 minutes. I marinated them for about 4 hours and they had a lot of flavor.

I used metal skewers but if you choose to use wooden ones, just make sure to soak them in water for about 10 minutes first so they don't catch on fire.

Heat grill to 400 degrees. Place mushrooms on skewers. Cook the mushrooms on each side for about 5 minutes.

That's all there is to it. After the mushrooms went on the grill, I ran upstairs to try and get the salad and everything else prepared but the mushrooms were done before I could finish. They are really quick and most importantly delicious!

Three Ingredient Fruit Dip

 

 I've made this fruit dip a few times now and it is absolutely amazing. Every time I have made it, it's gone in an instant. I'm not a huge fan of fruit dip to be honest but after eating this one, I have definitely changed my mind. The best part about it is that it is so easy and there are only 3 ingredients all of which I usually have on hand. 

I bought 5 cartons of strawberries at the store this week in anticipation to dip every single one of them into this mouth watering dip. Well maybe not all of them, but a lot of them. Tyrone came home one day and looked in the fridge and asked, why do we have so many strawberries. My response was, "to eat them, duh!" But in reality they were on sale for 88 cents so I figured I would stock up and whatever we didn't eat I would freeze and make yummy smoothies with. 

Ingredients: 

1-8oz package of cream cheese

3/4 cup brown sugar

1 1/4 tsp vanilla extract 

That's it. I put all of the ingredients in a mixing bowl and mixed it with beaters until the dip was smooth. You don't want the sugar to be grainy. I tried originally to mix it with a fork and that didn't go so well. As long as you use a mixer, the cream cheese will mix right in with everything else and then it tastes great cold.