Teresa's Quick and Easy Chili

(Based on Kendra's chili recipe from Sister Blakesley; I use less beans because I like a higher meat to beans ratio.)

This was a big hit last week with the neighbors and the missionaries, and again this week with my family!  I like to serve chili with shredded cheese, Fritos corn chips, and chopped onion.  Saltine crackers and scones are acceptable also.

Quick and Easy Chili
1 quart pinto beans*
1 quart tomatoes
2 T. chili powder
1 T. granulated sugar
1 tsp. cumin
1 tsp. crushed basil
1 tsp. salt (wait until the end to add this; adjust amount as needed)
1 lb. lean ground beef
1 small or medium onion, finely chopped

Drain and rinse pinto beans and place in crock pot.  Use a blender to puree tomatoes and seasonings.  Add pureed tomatoes and seasonings to crock pot.  Cook ground beef and onion in a non-stick skillet, and then add to crockpot.  Cover crockpot and cook on high for 2-3 hours.

*I pressure-canned my own beans a few weeks ago.  If you don't have a quart jar of pinto beans in your storage, you can cook 1 1/2 cups dried pinto beans, use 2-3 cans of pinto beans, or use some beans leftover from Refried Beans Without the Refry.

Slow Cooker Applesauce

This past week I've been using my crockpot everyday. My kids love applesauce and I had some apples from Pettingills left over still, so I made this yummy applesauce. Shayne has been loving having it for breakfast all week. Oh, and the house smelled delicious all day!

· 8 medium apples (Use a combination of Golden Delicious, Honey Crisp, Fuji, Gala, etc.)
· 1 strips of lemon peel - use a vegetable peeler
· 1 tsp fresh lemon juice
· 3 inch cinnamon stick
· 5 tsp light brown sugar (unpacked) - or agave
Directions:Peel, core, and slice the apples
Place them in the slow cooker. Add the cinnamon stick, lemon peel and brown sugar
Set crock pot to low and cook for 6 hours. Stir apples occasionally, apples will slowly become a delicious applesauce. Remove cinnamon stick and use an immersion blender to blend until smooth or if you prefer a chunky sauce, leave sauce intact

3 Bean Turkey Chili

I have to say that I am not a chili person. In fact I don't think I've ever made chili. So when our ward was having a chili cook-off I went in search of a recipe to try. I found this recipe and I havae to say it was quite delicious! I especially loved it with the cilantro on top and that it was super easy to put together.

· 1.3 lb (20 oz) fat free ground turkey breast
· 1 small onion, chopped
· 1 (28 oz) can diced tomatoes
· 1 (16 oz) can tomato sauce
· 1 (4.5 oz) can chopped chilies, drained
· 1 (15 oz) can chickpeas, undrained
· 1 (15.5 oz) can black beans, undrained
· 1 (15.5 oz) can small red beans, undrained
· 2 tbsp chili powder
Topping:
· 1/2 cup chopped red onion
· 1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro for topping
· shredded cheddar to top (extra pts)
Brown turkey and onion in a medium skillet over medium high heat until cooked through.Drain any fat remaining and transfer to crock pot . Add the beans, chilies, chickpeas tomatoes, tomato sauce and chili powder mixing well.Cook on high 6-8 hours.Garnish with onions, cilantro and cheese and enjoy

Split-Second Cookies

We made these yummy cookies tonight for Family Dinner (with Devyn and Derek and our cousin Brianna). Derek reminded me that these are just like thumbprint cookies, so you probably all already have a similar recipe, but we thought these were so good that I just couldn't not post them! The recipe came from one of my Taste of Home Cookbooks.

3/4 cup butter, softened
2/3 cup sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup raspberry jam (I used plum, since that's what I had on hand - it was SO yummy!)

1) In a large mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in egg and vanilla. Combine the flour, baking powder, and salt; gradually add to creamed mixture and mix well.

2) Divide dough into four equal portions (I needed a bit more flour to do this); shape each into a 12-in. x 3/4-in. log. Place 4 in. apart on two greased baking sheets. (I got all 4 of my logs to fit on 1 large cookie sheet.) Make a 1/2-in. depression down center of logs; fill with jam.

3) Bake at 350 degrees for 15-20 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool 2 minutes; cut diagonally into 3/4-in. slices. Remove from wire racks to cool completely.

Yield: about 5 dozen (the way I cut mine I got 4o cookies - just over 3 dozen)

Nutrition Facts: 2 cookies equal 99 calories, 5 g fat (3 g saturated fat), 19 mg cholesterol, 95 mg sodium, 13 g carbohydrate, trace fiber, 1 g protein.

YUMMMMMMMMM - YUM! :)

Stuffed Pumpkins

I loved this recipe. However I pulled a Teresa and I used a sweet meat squash instead of pumpkins and I used ground turkey instead of the bison. It was delicious!

1 4-5 pound sugar pumpkin or 6 small sugar pumpkins
2 tsp sea salt
1 tsp dry mustard
1 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 1/2 lbs lean ground venison or bison
7 green onions, trimmed and chopped
4 cloves garlic passed through a garlic press
1 1/2 cups cooked wild rice
4 egg whites + 1 yolk, beaten
1 tsp dried sage, crumbled
1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cut the top from each pumpkin and remove seeds and strings. Prick the inside flesh with a fork. In a small bowl, mix the sea salt and dry mustard. Rub the interior of the pumpkin with this mixture. Set pumpkin aside.

In a large skillet, heat olive oil. Add ground meat, onion and garlic. Saute over medium high heat until meat is browned. Remove from heat. Drain excess oil. Add cooked while rice, eggs, sage and pepper. Mix well with clean hands. Stuff each pumpkin with the meat/rice mixture.

Place the pumpkin in a shallow baking dish or lasagna pan. Add water until half of the baking dish is full.

Bake for 1 to 1 1/2 hours or until pumpkin is tender. If using individual pumpkins, cooking time may be shorter. If using a large pumpkin cooking time may be longer. When serving a large pumpkin cut it into six wedges and serve. When serving individual pumpkins, place on individual serving plates.

Nutritional Value: Calories: 345 Protein: 32 g Carbs: 30 g Total Fat: 11 g Fiber 2 g Sodium 665 mg

Cranberry Stuffed Apples

Ingredients
5 medium apples
1/3 cup fresh or frozen cranberries, thawed and chopped
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
2 tablespoons chopped walnuts
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
Whipped cream or vanilla ice cream, optional
Directions
Core apples, leaving bottoms intact. Peel top third of each apple; place in a 5-qt. slow cooker. Combine the cranberries, brown sugar, walnuts, cinnamon and nutmeg; spoon into apples.
Cover and cook on low for 4-5 hours or until apples are tender. Serve with whipped cream or ice cream if desired. Yield: 5 servings.


Nutrition Facts: 1 apple (calculated without whipped cream or ice cream) equals 136 calories, 2 g fat (trace saturated fat), 0 cholesterol, 6 mg sodium, 31 g carbohydrate, 4 g fiber, 1 g protein. Diabetic Exchanges: 1 starch, 1 fruit.

Whole Wheat Banana-Nut Pancakes

1 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup Kellogg's® All-Bran® Original cereal
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1 egg, slightly beaten
1 1/4 cups milk
1 medium banana, mashed (1/3 cup)
1/3 cup chopped pecans
- OR -
1/3 cup chopped walnuts
Maple syrup
Banana slices (optional)
Chopped pecans (optional)

Directions
1. In large bowl combine flour, KELLOGG’S ALL-BRAN Original cereal, brown sugar, soda, cinnamon, salt and nutmeg.

2. In medium bowl stir together egg, milk and banana. Add to flour mixture, mixing until just combined. Stir in 1/3 cup pecans.

3. For each pancake, on hot, lightly greased griddle or large skillet pour about 1/4 cup batter. Cook over medium heat about 2 minutes on each side or until golden brown, turning when pancakes have bubbly surfaces and edges are slightly dry.

4. Serve with syrup, banana slices (if desired) and pecans (if desired).

Pumpkin Spice Cupcakes with Cinnamon Caramel Buttercream

I’m still not tired of pumpkin. As more leaves turn gold and red my craving for pumpkin just seems to increase. When trying to come up with a treat to give away, I kept coming back to pumpkin flavors. I decided to try our favorite pumpkin cake as cupcakes—and I was thrilled with the result. I didn’t actually taste one—I ended up giving them all away—but they baked beautifully and were shaped perfectly for topping with a swirl of buttercream. These cupcakes would also be great topped with cream cheese frosting if you’d prefer to go that route. However, I’m becoming more and more of a fan of Swiss-meringue style buttercream. At first I didn’t think it was sweet enough. Now, though, I enjoy the silky smooth texture and delicate flavor. With this version, if you want it sweeter just add more caramel. You can also add a pinch of salt to the sugar in the first step if you’d like. I prefer this type of buttercream served at room temperature—it tends to be too hard to enjoy when refrigerated. I just remove the cake from the fridge before dinner so the buttercream is softened by dessert time.

Pumpkin Spice Cupcakes:

3 cups (12 ¾ ounces) all-purpose flour
1 cup (7 ounces) granulated sugar
1 cup (7 ½ ounces) packed light brown sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon ground ginger
½ teaspoon ground allspice
1 cup (8 ounces) water
1 scant cup (8 ounces) canned pumpkin
2/3 cup (4 5/8 ounces) vegetable oil
2 teaspoons distilled white vinegar

Preheat oven to 350°F. Prepare muffin tins by lining with cupcake liners (this recipe should yield 24 cupcakes—I doubled it and got 48 cupcakes).

In a medium bowl combine the flour, sugars, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger, and allspice; set aside. In a small bowl whisk together the water, pumpkin, oil, and vinegar. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and beat with an electric mixer at medium speed until the flour is well incorporated (about 2 minutes), scraping down the sides of the bowl with a spatula as needed. Do not overbeat. The batter should look thick and creamy. Scoop the batter into the muffin tins. Bake for 16 to 24 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Transfer to a cooling rack; let cool for 5 minutes, then remove from tins to cooling rack. Let cool to room temperature. You may refrigerate these if desired and frost them the next day.

Cinnamon-Caramel Buttercream

1 cup sugar
8 large egg whites
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
3 cups (6 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 teaspoon cinnamon
2 - 3 tablespoons Torani caramel-flavored syrup (the clear stuff—you’ll find it by the coffee supplies in the grocery store)
½ cup Torani caramel topping (or use ice cream topping—the caramelly-looking stuff—if using Torani brand it will be by the coffee supplies)—add more or less to taste

With an electric mixer on medium-high speed, cream butter until pale and fluffy; add cinnamon and beat well. In the heatproof bowl of a standing electric mixer, combine 1 cup sugar and the egg whites. Set bowl over a pan of simmering water; whisk constantly by hand until mixture is warm to the touch and sugar has dissolved (the mixture should feel completely smooth when rubbed between your fingertips).

Attach bowl to the mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Starting on low and gradually increasing to medium-high speed, mix until stiff (but not dry) peaks form. Continue whisking until egg mixture is fluffy and glossy and completely cool (test by touching the bottom of the bowl), about 10 minutes. Reduce speed to medium-low. Add beaten butter, about 1/4-cup at a time, mixing well after each addition. Mix in vanilla and caramel flavoring.

With mixer on medium-low speed, very slowly pour in caramel; beat about 5 minutes, scraping down bowl as needed, until caramel is fully incorporated. Keep buttercream at room temperature if using the same day, or transfer to an airtight container and refrigerate up to 3 days or freeze up to 1 month. Before using, bring to room temperature and beat with paddle attachment on low speed until smooth again, about 5 minutes.

Recipe source: Pumpkin Spice Cake adapted from King Arthur Flour Baking Sheet, Buttercream heavily adapted from Martha Stewart's Cupcake book

Loaded Baked Potato Soup

Sorry, it was Halloween so I didn't get a picture of the soup. But, it was delicious! I got it from the Crock Pot Girls on Face Book.

Loaded Baked Potato Soup
 
6 large potatoes, peeled and cubed
1 large onion, diced
1 quart chicken broth
3 garlic cloves, minced
1/4 cup butter
Salt to taste
Pepper to taste

Sauté onions and garlic in the butter before adding to the crockpot.  Cook on low about 8 hours (high for 4 hours).  Mash potatoes and then add evaporated milk and 1 cup cheese.  Serve with garnishes.
 
1 cup evaporated milk
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
Garnish: chives, sour cream, bacon, and cheese