CHILI – Part 2

Here is my basic go-to Chili – it’s great and you can make it with ground beef, chicken, turkey or pork – whatever you like 🙂 It’s also really healthy. There are a lot of ingredients but once you do it once it’s a cinch the next time.

Ingredients

cooking spray
a whirl of olive oil
1 large onion chopped
3 garlic cloves minced
Salt & ground pepper
1½ pounds lean ground beef – or whatever meat you want
¼ cup chili powder
2 teaspoons oregano
2 teaspoons cumin
½ tablespoon paprika

-Side note – If you don’t have all of these spices in your spice rack just buy a packet of McCormick’s of Lawry’s Chili Seasoning. Use the whole packet and you’re good to go. 

½ red pepper chopped
½ green pepper chopped
½ yellow pepper chopped
1 can (14 ounces) diced tomatoes, juices drained – I like to use the fire roasted tomatoes, it gives it a little something extra 😉
1 can (3 ounces) tomato paste
1½ tablespoons red wine vinegar
2 cans (15–16 ounces each) beans, drained, rinsed and drained again (black beans, pinto beans and/or red kidney beans) – I like to use all three types of beans, I just leave a little left at the bottom of each can so I don’t overload it with beans.

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Instructions

Lightly coat your slow cooker with cooking spray. Warm up a skillet over medium-high heat and add a whirl of olive oil; sauté onions and garlic until soft. Season with salt and pepper. Place in slow cooker.

In the same skillet, heat another whirl of olive oil; cook ground beef (or whatever meat you choose) until brown, breaking up clumps with the back of a spoon. Stir in salt and pepper, chili powder, oregano, cumin and paprika (or the chili seasoning packet). Cook over low heat until spices are fragrant. Transfer meat mixture to slow cooker.

Add sliced red, green, and yellow peppers. Stir in diced tomatoes, tomato paste and red wine vinegar. Cover and set time to 8 to10 hours on low. One hour before serving, turn heat to High. Stir in beans and slow cook until heated through.

Sometimes I just throw the beans in the beginning. It taste’s just fine it just makes the means soft and the chili a lot thicker.

 

CHILI – Part 1

Pepperoni Pizza Chili:

1 pound lean ground beef or turkey, browned and drained

1 (15-ounce) can kidney beans not drained

1 (14-ounce) jar premade pizza sauce

1 (14.5-ounce) can Italian stewed tomatoes

1 green bell pepper, seeded and diced

1 teaspoon Italian seasoning

25 pepperoni slices

1 cup water

shredded mozzarella for topping when served

The Directions.

Brown your ground meat on the stovetop, and drain. Put the cooked meat into an empty slow cooker and add the entire can of beans, pizza sauce, and the whole can of tomatoes. Add diced bell pepper, and stir in the Italian seasoning and pepperoni (chopped or whole pieces). Add 1 cup of water.

Cover and cook on look on low for 6 to 8 hours, or on high for about 4. Serve with a sprinkling of cheese.

-I serve this with cheesy bread sticks from Trader Joe’s – so yummy! Pizza in a pot, lol 🙂

Best Oatmeal Cookies Ever!

So I have to say that Alex and I make this recipe for Oatmeal Cookies at LEAST twice a month. No joke, they are so good and so easy to make. When we both help out it might take 15 min. to prep and that’s just because the oven has to heat up. The recipe was given to me by my mother-in-law who got it from Martha Stewart. She used provided artwork that was on Martha Stewart’s website and wrapped it around an oatmeal container and it was such a great little gift  Here is the artwork for the containers.  I hope that you can try this recipe but make sure you have someone else to share them with because it’s hard to stop eating them 🙂

Ingredients

• 1 cup cup all-purpose flour
• 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• Salt
• 1 stick unsalted butter, room temperature
• 2/3 cup packed light-brown sugar
• 1/3 cup granulated sugar
• 1 large egg
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 cups old-fashioned rolled oats
• 1/2 cup golden raisins

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Sift flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, and 1/2 teaspoon salt into a bowl. Beat butter and sugars until pale and fluffy. Mix in egg and vanilla, then flour mixture. Mix in oats, then raisins.
2. Using a 1 1/4-inch ice cream scoop (or 1 tablespoon), drop dough onto parchment-lined baking sheets, spacing each scoop about 2 inches apart. Bake until edges are golden, about 14 minutes. Let cookies cool on a wire rack.

I wish I was in…

Bhutan

Not many people know this about me but one of the places I most want to visit sometime in my life is Bhutan. If you don’t know where it is, this beautiful country is in the eastern end of the Himalayas surrounded by India and China.

The country is so beautiful and is very rich with culture and Buddhist heritage. The reason many people may have not heard of the country has a lot to do with it’s isolation and because foreigners are required to sign up with a Bhutanese tour operator and pay around $200 per day that they stay in the country. This makes it VERY expensive to travel there. I’ve received the National Geographic Expedition magazine for quite a long time and if I was to go I would book this tour.

Please take the time to read about this country. The people are some of the happiest on the planet and they have been relatively hidden from the modern world for centuries. Makes you think…

♫ Concrete Jungle Where Dreams Are Made Of ♫

♫  There’s nothing you can’t do,
Now you’re in New York,
these streets will make you feel brand new,
the lights will inspire you,
let’s hear it for New York, New York, New York ♫

That’s right – Alex and I are headed for the BIG APPLE! Not just New York but CHRISTMAS time in New York 🙂

The reason for the last minute trip is because Alex’s Swedish passport expires in a few months and the only Swedish consulate left open is the one in New York. He has to go in person so we are going to be packing our bags soon. We’ll be going in the beginning of December – just in time for ice skating at Rockafeller Center, shopping at Saks 5th, seeing the big Christmas tree, shopping at Bergdorf’s, wearing big coats and walking in central park, shopping at Bloomingdale’s, Christmas lights and decorations in the big city and did I mention shopping?

I don’t have a very long bucket list, but going to New York during Christmas time was definitely on it. CHECK 🙂

Bling

“Big girls need big diamonds.”
―Elizabeth Taylor

For those that don’t know; I threw a Stella & Dot Jewelry party at my house last month and it was so much fun. I absolutely LOVE their jewelry. Our host for the party was Stacy Goryl and she is the nicest person ever and she knows everything about Stella & Dot. If you are thinking about throwing a Stella & Dot party you totally should, it was a blast. Or if you want to buy anything just go on their website: Stella & Dot.  Below is some of the AWESOME jewelry that I bought. Thank you to all of my friends that came – I hope you are all enjoying your jewels 🙂

Slow Cooker: Chicken Enchilada Chili

I just made this Chili on Monday morning and it is to die for! Seriously, so good.

1 1/2 pounds chicken (boneless & skinless) – I used thigh filets
1 1/2 cups prepared enchilada sauce
2 chopped celery stalks
2 (14.5 oz) cans tomatoes with jalapenos (or Mexican style tomatoes)
2 (15 oz) cans kidney beans, undrained
1 onion, diced
1 teaspoons chili powder
1 teaspoon cumin

The Directions.

Pour enchilada sauce and canned tomatoes into the bottom of a 6 quart slow cooker. Add beans, celery, onion and spices. Stir to combine. Place chicken on top.

Cover and cook on low for 7-8 hours, or until flavors have combined. If you are using dried beans, you may need to cook longer to fully soften the beans.

Serve with shredded cheddar cheese and a dollop of sour cream, if desired.

 

It’s that easy, try it and you’ll love it. It’s perfect for the weather that we’ve been having lately.

Princess Chic

Princess Chic by jenthoren featuring timex watches

Going out dress
65 – warehouse.co.uk

Frye leather boots
$300 – piperlime.gap.com

Cross body handbag
$38 – nordstrom.com

Ring
stelladot.com

Monserat De Lucca long necklace
$18 – modcloth.com

H M metal bangle
6.99 – hm.com

Rag Bone floppy hat
$150 – barneys.com

Prada brown shades
framesdirect.com

Mercy Delta wool scarve
160 – flannelsfashion.com

Dior ‘Backstage Expert’ Holiday Eye Palette No Color One Size
$46 – nordstrom.com

Nars Summer 2011 Wonder Lipgloss
$24 – lordandtaylor.com

Feeling French

Blog Facelift

I know I know – It’s been such a long time and there’s no reason why. I’m going to start updating this and putting up some pictures and recipes.I changed my background – hope you like it!

I’ve been going crazy with my slow cooker and I’ve got some great recipes to share.

Went to France for 2 weeks so there is lots to catch up on.

Forgive me 🙂