It’s Chili Season!

Football, snow, fire in the fireplace… it’s that time of year when I want me some CHILI!

I’ve been meaning to share my favorite chili recipe for some time now, and with all the snow and cold weather we’ve been getting, now couldn’t be a better time to make a big pot of chili.

This chili recipe is very easy, but also very delicious. My family loves it and asks for it over and over again.

My Favorite Chili Recipe

Ingredients:
1 ½ – 2 lbs ground beef
½ chopped onion
1 green chili pepper
Large can crushed tomatoes
1 can Rotel tomatoes
Chili powder to taste
Red pepper to taste
Salt & pepper to taste
Chili seasoning – ½ of packet
3 small cans V-8 juice

Directions:
Brown ground beef (season with salt & pepper) and add chopped onion, chili pepper and chili seasoning.
Combine remaining ingredients in large pan or crock pot.
Add ground beef mixture. Add remaining seasonings. Mix and simmer.
I use a dutch oven to cook my chili in right on the stove top, but a crock-pot would work great as well.
Serve with crackers and corn bread.

That’s it! See… I told you it was easy

My Favorite Thanksgiving Dish… Sweet Potato Casserole

Everyone has their own favorite dish for Thanksgiving… mine is the sweet potato casserole.

My mother in law is usually in charge of making this dish, but she shared her recipe with me so I can make it at home as well.

This sweet potato casserole uses pecans as the topping instead of marshmallows.

The recipe follows. What’s your favorite Thanksgiving dish?

Sweet Potato Casserole

Ingredients

* 1 (40 oz) can cut sweet potatoes, undrained
* 1 cup sugar
* 2 eggs
* 1/3 cup butter
* 1/3 cup milk
* 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Topping
* 1 cup packed brown sugar
* 1 cup chopped pecans
* 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
* 1/3 cup butter, melted

Directions

1. Cook sweet potatoes in a medium saucepan for 15 minutes, or until tender. Drain and mash the potatoes.
2. Mix the mashed sweet potatoes, sugar, eggs, 1/3 cup butter, milk, and vanilla extract. Spread evenly into a buttered 2 quart baking dish.
3. In a separate bowl, mix the brown sugar, chopped pecans, flour, and 1/3 cup melted butter. Sprinkle on top of the sweet potato mixture.
4. Bake for 35 minutes at 350 degrees.

My Favorite Meatball Recipe

My family always asks for my meatball recipe, so here it is:

1 lb ground beef
1/4 onion (grated, you want the juice from the onion for moisture)
1 egg
Parmesan cheese (1/2 cup)
Italian bread crumbs (1/2 cup)
Milk (1/4-1/2 cup depending on how moist you want the meatballs)
Salt
Pepper
Garlic salt

1 jar Ragu Parmesan and Romano spaghetti sauce

Comgine all ingredients except spaghetti sauce. Form meatballs, and brown in large skillet or dutch oven. Simmer in spaghetti sauce on low for 30 minutes.

Oven: you can bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes instead of simmering on the stove-top.

Quick Healthy Dinner Recipes

photo credit: Bill HR

One of the challenges of meal planning is having dinner recipes on hand that your family will enjoy and eat.

Here are some of my favorite places to find quick healthy dinner recipes:

FoodNetwork.com – not only do I love watching the Food Network, I love trying out the recipes too.  You can find all of the recipes from your favorite shows and more on the Food Network website.

AllRecipes.com – this is my go-to website when I need dinner ideas or if I’m looking for a recipe.  There are thousands of recipes and ideas on this site.  One of my favorite sections is Budget Friendly Meals.

CookingLight.com – a great site to find healthy recipes for those who are dieting or just trying to eat better.  Check out the Vegetarian section, or my favorite, the In Season section.

EatingWell.com – this is the Eating Well magazine website.  In addition to finding tons of recipes you’ll also find articles on topics such as cooking for kids, food and travel, food and entertaining, and much more.

KraftFoods.com – this is another one of my favorite sites for finding meal ideas.   This site is frequently updated with recipes for the occassion.  For example, right now you’ll find Mother’s Day recipes and Cinco de Mayo recipes.  They also have a new BudgetWise section if you’re looking to stretch your food budget.

My Recipe for Stuffed Pasta Shells

I make this a couple of different ways.  Sometimes I make stuffed spinach pasta shells, sometimes just stuffed cheese pasta shells, but most of the time I make my fiance’s favorite… stuffed meat & cheese pasta shells.

This is another recipe that my family and friends have been asking for, so here it is:

Stuffed Pasta Shells (Meat)

1 box large pasta shells
1 pound ground beef
1 jar spaghetti sauce (Ragu Parmesan Romano)

Cheese Filling:
1 package ricotta cheese (12 oz)
1 egg
3 cups mozarella cheese (separated – I like the Italian blends that have parmesan or asiago cheese in them also)
1 cup parmesan cheese
1/2 teaspoon parsley flakes
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper

Cook pasta shells as directed on box.

Brown the ground beef, season with salt and pepper while browning.  Drain and let cool (enough so that cheese won’t melt when combined with cheese filling).

Combine all of the ‘cheese filling’ ingredients except for 1 cup of the mozarella cheese.  When cooked ground beef has cooled, combine with the cheese mixture (I usually fill a few shells with the cheese mixture before adding the beef for those who like all cheese shells).

Stuff the pasta shells with approximately 1 tablespoon each of the cheese/beef mixture.

Pour half of the spaghetti sauce in the bottom of a glass baking dish.  Arrange the stuffed pasta shells in the dish (single layer).  Pour remaining sauce over shells.  Sprinkle the remaining 1 cup of mozzarella cheese over the shells.

Cover dish with foil.  Bake at 350 degree for 30 minutes.

My Favorite Meatball Recipe

My family and friends have been begging me to give them my recipe for meatballs.  So I finally wrote it down and have decided to publish it to my website.  Enjoy!

Meatballs (for spaghetti and meatballs)

1 lb ground beef
1/4 onion (grated, you want the juice from the onion for moisture)
1 egg
parmesan cheese (1/2 cup)
Italian bread crumbs (1/2 cup)
Milk (1/4-1/2 cup depending on how moist you want the meatballs)
Salt
Pepper
Garlic salt

1 jar Ragu Parmesan and Romano spaghetti sauce

Comgine all ingredients except spaghetti sauce.  Form meatballs (you can brown them, but I place them directly in the sauce without browning).  Simmer in spaghetti sauce on low for 30 minutes.

Oven: you can bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes instead of simmering on the stovetop.

Stuffed Baked Potatoes

We eat a lot of potatoes, so I’m always looking for new ways to cook them.  I saw a recipe for stuffed baked potatoes on MenuPlanningCentral.com recently that looked great.  I modified it a bit to fit my family’s tastes.  I hope you enjoy it as much as we do!

4 large baking potatoes
1 medium onion, chopped
Olive oil
3/4 cup milk
2 tablespoons butter
1 teaspoon pepper
3/4 cup shredded cheddar cheese

Bacon bits
Sour cream
Green onion, chopped

Preheat oven 350 degrees. Bake potatoes on rack for 1 hour or until tender.

Saute onions in olive oil until tender. Drain and set into large mixing bowl.

When potatoes are done, cut in half and scoop out the insides. Add potato to mixing bowl with onions. Blend in milk, butter and pepper. Blend in 1/2 cup of the cheese; set remaining 1/4 cup back in refrigerator for later.

Return potatoes by the spoonful to the skins. Place on baking sheet and bake for 20 minutes longer.

When done, top with sour cream, extra cheese, bacon bits and green onions.

My Favorite Taco Soup Recipe

Taco soup is one of my favorite comfort foods. It’s great for football or snowy days or even a quick dinner idea.

This recipe is extremely easy to put together with inexpensive ingredients, and my friends and family ask for this dish over and over.

Anyone who knows me knows that I rarely cook from recipes… I may start from a recipe, but I like to tweak and improve recipes to put my own unique stamp on them. Since my family has been asking for this recipe, I’ve decided to write it down and share it with others on my blog.

I created this recipe from a combination of taco soup recipes I found on the web and my favorite chili recipe.  Enjoy! Read more