Blue Ribbon Chili

I've posted before about hubby's deep dislike of beans and my love for them. I was craving chili- real chili with beans- so I added it to our menu and kept quiet about the beans. My husband exhibited 5-year old tendencies during this meal and ate around every single bean and dumped them in the trash can, all while giving me a slightly nasty look. He can be so cute sometimes.

Even though hubby wasn't a fan, I loved it. This is a perfect chili recipe and we'll definitely be making it again. Recipe from And a Cookie for Dessert.

2 lbs ground beef

1/2 onion, chopped

1 tsp black pepper

1/2 ts garlic salt

2.5 cups tomato sauce

8 oz salsa

4 tbsp (1 packet) chili seasoning mix

15 oz can light red kidney beans

15 oz can dark red kidney beans

In a large saucepan, over medium heat, combine the ground beef and onion and saute for 10 minutes, until beef is browned and onion is tender. Drain.

Add the beef mixture along with the rest of the ingredients to the crock pot. Cook on low for 8 hours. Enjoy!

Oreo Truffles

I saw these on Bakerella and knew I had to make them! Oreos were my favorite childhood cookie and any combination of chocolate with something is usually amazing. I took a quick break from studying to make a batch of these and they were gone by the next day- hubby took half of them to work but that still means the 2 of us consumed an embarrassing amount...

I had originally planned to make these for the Super bowl in the shape of footballs like Bakerella did here. However, mine looked more like the "footblobs" she posted so I gave up and just rolled them into little balls.

1 package oreo cookies (divided, use cookie and cream center)

8 oz cream cheese, softened

white chocolate bark (I used dark chocolate)

Finely crush 7 cookies in a food processor or place them in a ziploc bag and crush into a fine consistency. Reserve for later. Crush the remaining cookies and stir in softened cream cheese. Use the back of a large spoon to help combine the two together. Roll the mixture into 1" balls and place on a wax paper covered cookie sheet. Refrigerate 20 minutes.

Melt chocolate as directed on the package and then dip balls into chocolate, tap off extra and set aside on wax paper covered cookie sheet to dry. You can sprinkle the tops with the 7 crushed cookies for decoration. Once dry, refrigerate. Enjoy!

Chicken Brunswick Stew

I love brunswick stew but this was my first time making it. The only other times I've had it has been with my aunt. She's from South Georgia and makes an amazing brunswick stew. Actually anything she makes is pretty amazing. She even catered our wedding!

This isn't her recipe it's from Crockpot Tuesdays. It was delicious and easy as almost all crock pot meals are. It makes a ton so Neil took some for lunch and we froze the rest for a later date.

2 large onions, chopped (I used two medium onions and it felt like a lot of onion. But I'm not a huge onion fan)

3 chicken breasts

2 cans cream-style corn

28 oz can crushed tomatoes

12 oz bottle chili sauce

1 can chicken broth

1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce

1/4 cup butter, cut up

2 tbsp vinegar

2 tsp dry mustard

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp pepper

1 tbsp sugar

Place onions in the bottom of the crock pot. Lay chicken breasts on top. Add the rest of the ingredients, and carefully stir to combine (without disturbing the chicken and onions). Cook on low for 8 hours. Remove chicken and shred with two forks. Place chicken back in the stew and stir to combine. Enjoy!

Honey Balsamic Glazed Chicken

I recently posted another balsamic chicken recipe. Even though these two recipes shared a common ingredient, they had completely different taste. I preferred the thicker glaze and taste of this one while my husband liked the balsamic, garlic and onion sauce of the first. I made a little extra sauce and we served it with white rice. Recipe from Food.com.

1.5 tsp dried thyme

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp black pepper

1 tsp olive oil

4 boneless skinless chicken breast halves (2 breasts)

2 tbsp balsamic vinegar

2 tbsp honey

Combine first three ingredients and sprinkle over both sides of chicken. Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add chicken. cook 7-8 minutes on each side or until chicken is done. Transfer chicken to a platter and keep warm.

Reduce heat to medium-low. Add vinegar and honey to pan. Simmer 1 minute or until glaze thickens. Stir constantly. Pour glaze over chicken. Enjoy!

Baked Balsamic Chicken

We had two delicious dinners last week inspired by balsamic vinegar. Actually, balsamic vinaigrette, since my husband did the grocery shopping. Silly boy-he thought vinaigrette and vinegar were the same thing! So yes it had more calories than if we had made it with straight vinegar but maybe that's what made it so delicious! I can't vouch for how it would taste with balsamic vinegar but I think the taste would be similar.

Last Wednesday, I stayed up till 1 (whoops) cooking dinner for the next two nights. Thursdays are super busy so we usually have another crock pot meal or leftovers. I decided to cook for Thursday and Friday and decided to switch the recipe up a bit. This is the first recipe. It's inspired by this recipe from Food.com but I switched it up a bit.

4 chicken breast halves (2 whole breasts)

2 cloves of garlic

1/2 cup chopped onion

1/4 cup balsamic vinaigrette

1 tbsp olive oil (I would omit if you are using a vinaigrette)

1.5 tsp dried oregano

1 tsp kosher salt

1/2 tsp fresh ground black pepper

Preheat oven to 400º. Chop onion and garlic and place in the bottom of a 9 by 13 inch glass baking dish. Place chicken breasts in pan. Pour the balsamic vinaigrette over the chicken and sprinkle evenly with the oil (if using), oregano, salt, and pepper.

Bake the chicken for 20 minutes and then baste with the juices. Bake 20 more minutes or until the juices run clear and the chicken is fully cooked. Serve chicken with juices spooned over them. Enjoy!

Slow Cooker Spaghetti Casserole

Happy Valentines Day everyone! Like I mentioned yesterday, my V-Day will be spent in class and then with some delicious Outback Steakhouse take out and 2 hours of quality time (hopefully) with my husband before he passes out.

This is actually a recipe we had a few weeks ago but since today isn't a crock pot meal I pulled this one out of the archives. It was my first time making spaghetti in the crock pot where I didn't cook the noodles first. I was worried it would be crunchy and not fully cooked, and part of it was. I made the mistake of not spreading the sauce to the edges and covering the noodles and while the center portions of the casserole were delicious and perfectly cooked, the outsides that weren't covered with sauce were still a tad bit crunchy. As long as you don't make the mistake of throwing it together quickly and not using your brain, like me :0, you should be just fine! Recipe from Reservations Not Required.

1.5 lbs lean ground beef

1 medium onion chopped

1 26 oz jar of pasta sauce

1/4 cup butter

1/4 cup all purpose flour

12 oz can of evaporated milk

1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese

1/4 tsp pepper

8 ounces uncooked spaghetti, broken into pieces

3 cups shredded Cheddar Cheese (the recipe recommends sharp but I used a mild cheese and it was fine)

grated parmesan cheese

Cook ground beef and onion in a large skillet, until beef crumbles and is no longer pink. Drain meet and return to skillet. Stir pasta sauce into the beef mixture.

Melt butter in a saucepan over medium-low heat. Whisk in flour until smooth. Cook 1 minute, whisking constantly. Gradually whisk in milk. Cook over medium heat, whisking constantly, for 8 minutes until the mixture has thickened and is bubbly. Remove from heat and stir in 1/2 cup parmesan cheese and pepper.

Spoon one-third of the meat mixture into a lightly greased slow cook. Sprinkle 1 cup of cheddar cheese over white sauce. Repeat layers once. Spread remaining meat mixture over cheese (make sure all sides of the spaghetti are covered). Top with remaining 1 cup cheddar cheese.

Cover and cook on low for 4 hours. Let stand 10 minutes before serving. Serve with parmesan cheese if desired. Enjoy!

With that I'll leave you with this quote and a non-smiling picture of Lucy who really does love her heart bandana.

"Cooking is like love, it should be entered into with abandon or not at all."

Weekly Meal List

For Valentines, we're picking up some take out from Outback and having a picnic on our living room floor. I don't get home from school til 7:45 and hubby is coaching on the pistol range this week so he has to be on base at 3:45 in the morning. It will pretty much be an eat and sleep kind of night. I'm just lucky he's waiting up for me :) I am cooking a pretty elaborate meal of lasagna, caesar salad, garlic bread, and toasted ravioli tonight as well as some chocolate cookies for dessert tomorrow!

Tuesday: Homemade Beef and Cheese Manicotti

Wednesday: Salsa Chicken

Thursday: Mac and Cheese and Asparagus

Friday: Homemade Pizza with Mozzarella, Feta, and Pepperoni

Saturday: "Benchiladas"

Sunday: Foil Pack Taco Chicken

Hopefully this will last us more than a week. The mac and cheese and manicotti usually provide enough for 2 dinners and 2 lunches for each of us so I'm expecting leftovers in there somewhere. I just wanted to go ahead and plan and grocery shop for 7 days!