Chili…my Style

This weekend I made chili, from scratch. No recipe or list, just a big pot of whatever I wanted to include. I realized that this is honestly the first thing I can “cook” without any sort of reference or guideline. Being from the Southwest, I found this appropriate and have decided to share the list of ingredients so that you can cook chili too…My way!

1 can Kidney Beans (can substitute and/or add Black beans too)
2 cans Diced Tomatoes (undrained)
1 cup Celery, diced
1 cup Onions, diced
1 cup Green Peppers, diced (feel free to add/substitute Red and Yellow Peppers as well!)
1 lb Ground Beef (if you’re going for a slightly healthier version, use Lean Ground Beef)
1 packet Taco Seasoning
1 1/2 cup Chunky Salsa
Salt and Pepper
1 tbsp Sugar
1 tsp Chili Powder

Spray a non-stick pan with cooking spray, heat & brown the ground beef. Once it’s browned, add the Taco seasoning (use directions on packet, they vary according to which brand you use).
In a large pot, combine the following: beans, tomatoes, celery, onions, peppers, salsa, sugar and the meat (when it’s finished). Stir this all together and bring to a boil. Add the salt, pepper and chili powder. Once it’s boiling, reduce the heat to low and let it simmer for about 20 minutes (or until the diced vegetables are tender).

Done! Easy, right?! And it’s sooo good! The salsa is definitely optional, and feel free to use more/less depending on how spicy you like things. I like to use a little more, it adds a lot of flavor and I love the spice! I got this idea from my mom, good stuff.

You can also top it off with some shredded cheddar, crunched up tortilla chips, a dollop of sour cream, or the new onion-flavored Premium crackers. Mmmmmm. This is also a healthy meal when using lean ground beef, and a great source of protein (from beans and meat), fiber (beans), and lots of vegetables!

I’d say this recipe makes about 5 servings (approx. 1 1/2 cups each), and takes about 30 minutes all together. Pretty quick and super easy. Plus it’s the perfect way to warm-up after a cold rainy/snowy day. Along with a nice cuppa’ tea of course

Weekend Reviews

We had a busy weekend around these parts! It involved football (of course), comedy, eating out, movies, bars, a lot of walking, and an “extra” hour of sleep.

Let’s start with Friday night:

First stop: dinner at Texas Roadhouse with those roommates of mine.

Things were looking questionable when the bar-tender asked LB and Sally if they wanted their Bud Selects “frozen” or “on-the-rocks”. Umm…what?!

Simple misunderstanding though, because obviously “BudSelect” sounds the same as “Margarita”….right??

Moving on. Aside from a slightly unenthusiastic waitress, the meal was a success. Any restaurant that provides complementary warm, fresh rolls with a sweet cinnamon butter is on my good side!

The food came out fast and fresh. The food was delicious. Entertainment was provided in the form of country music and some pretty impressive line-dancing from the waiters. All under $20 per person, including drinks!

Next up: Sarah Silverman performance.

The show opened up with the comedian Tod Barry. His delivery was reminiscent of the late Mitch Hedberg and he definitely got things started.

Sarah herself was every bit as obscene and offensive as we had hoped. Funny in an awkward and completely inappropriate way, she held the stage for over an hour. It may not have been a sold-out arena, but it was definitely a responsive one. The only flaw in her act was encouraging random outbursts and questions from the crowd, which continued (obnoxiously) throughout the entire performance. It provoked some jokes and completely interrupted others.

Overall: she sang, proudly sported a PennState jersey, delivered plenty of Jewish jokes, made every person in the audience uncomfortable at least once, and got a lot of laughs.

Saturday:

It was our last home game of the Football season. Despite the fact that Purdue scored within the first 15 seconds of the game (ahhhh!), we came out on top.

Penn State: 26     Purdue: 19

It was the perfect day for football: 60 degrees and Sunny. As seniors, it was our last home game in the student section. I’d rather not think about that.

 

The night consisted of a few drinks, some dancin’, and an extra hour of sleep thanks to Daylight “savings” time.  A concept I’m not sure I understand entirely, seeing as how it started getting dark around 6 p.m. tonight…but let’s not go there.

 

Sunday:

 

Waking up refreshed, it was time to run the THON 5k.  My personal goal was to run it in 25 minutes. Mission accomplished! There were over 1,000 runners, meaning the event raised $12,000 + for THON. Amazing!

 

This was followed by a nice, relaxing afternoon in the apartment. Mostly spent doing a little homework, watching Emily bake and loving the oatmeal raisin cookies she made, TV, and a movie date!

 

Movie of the night: Dan in Real Life

I’ll give it 3 stars.

It has a lot of the corny family scenes, but overall I enjoyed it! I love Steve Carrell and really feel that he can make you like any character that he portrays. In LB’s words, he always seems somewhat “vulnerable”, which brings sincerity to the character. The plot wasn’t anything spectacular, but entertaining nonetheless. It was a good balance between family comedy/drama.

 

It was a great end to a very busy week and a great break before starting another one.

Countdown to Thanksgiving break = 2 Weeks!!

 

 

food & family

As an avid reader of (and hopefully future writer for) Kraft Food & Family magazine, I eagerly await the fresh new recipes, articles, and tasty treats featured in each new issue.

My interest in these mini-magazines started at home when my mom began receiving them in the mail. This was far before I had acquired my interest in food, nutrition, and cooking; the days of browsing colorful pictures of Kraft mac-n-cheese variations and dreaming of those Jell-o pudding pies. The days when all I knew about cooking was how to boil water… and of course add the butter, milk and cheese packet to those macaroni noodles. Also the days when recipes for innovative appetizers, simple lunch ideas, family dinners, and fresh new twists on classic deserts carried the magazine themselves.

Don’t get me wrong, this magazine is still full of all these things, and they’ve even expanded the wide array of what are labeled “Healthy Living” recipes. Yet, these staples tend to stand in the shadows of brand names for every ingredient, full page advertisements for crackers and pizza, and even two page spreads of “What’s New” on the market for brands that are now within the Kraft family.

For those who may not know, Kraft is the #1 food company in the United States. Somebody’s doing their job right! They’ve expanded to include Jacobs, Milka, Nabisco, Philadelphia (cream cheese anybody?), Oscar Meyer, and Post. (Source: Yahoo! Finance) Not that I wouldn’t brag if my company was #1 in the U.S., but when I’m looking for a fun new recipe to try and cook for my roommates sometime soon (yes, roomies, always thinking of you ) I don’t want to see a full page ad telling me how easy & delicious frozen pizza will be if I just heat it up!

Alright, Kraft…I can only be upset for so long. The truth is that even if the magazine inflated to 100 pages (with half of them being advertisements), but kept its heart of fabulous foods, healthy options, decadent deserts, quick-tips and up-with-the-times articles…I’m 100% content.

In the meantime, I’ll continue to fold in the corners of those irresistible recipes that I fully intend to cook for those lovely roommates of mine…soon…

Another wonderful resource that Kraft has set up is their website:
www.kraftfoods.com
Check this out! I can’t say enough good things about this site! You can search everything from 20-minute dinners to crafty seasonal deserts. You can set up your own “recipe box”, essentially “bookmarking” those dinners that you know you’ll make…someday. Users can also rate recipes so you know which to try and which to pass-up, or maybe change-up to your own likings.