Taco Chili

Looking for something to warm you up on these unseasonably cook Spring days? Taco chili will surely warm you up. This is a family favorite that my husband introduced me too when we first started dating. I was leary about it because he does like spicier foods than me, but once he said I could add sour cream, I was in heaven.

This is a super easy recipe that we name a dump and run and the slow cooker does all the hard work for us.

The only prep you need to do is browning off the meat and onions. Once you have that done, it's literally dumping in a bunch of cans and then set the slow cooker to do the rest of the work.

Here's the recipe:

1 lb. ground meat
1 lb. ground turkey
half a medium onion, diced
1 can corn, with liquid
1 can chili beans
2 cans beans of your choice (you can drain liquid and rinse beans)
1 can tomato sauce
1 can diced tomatoes
1 pkg. taco seasoning
1 pkg. ranch seasoning
1 can chilies (optional)
1 cup water (optional)

Toppings:
Fritos Scoops
shredded cheese
sour cream

Brown the meat and onion together. Once done, add to slow cooker, add all other ingredients and stir together. (I hold on the water until the end if it doesn't seem to have enough liquid). Set slow cooker on LOW for 6-8 hours to let the flavors really meld.

Serve in a bowl topped with sour cream and cheese. Scoop it up with some Fritos for extra texture.

ENJOY.

I know everyone makes chili a little different--I would love to know how you enjoy it. How spicy can you handle? Do you have a signature ingredient that goes in yours?

Party Eats & Treats!

Today the Packers played a nerve-wracking game against the "dirty-playing" Lions. Though Aaron Rodgers went out early with an injury, he came back for the second half and (despite getting stepped on) threw some great passes for a Packers NFC North Championship WIN!

I invited my friends over and together we made a great buffet of eats. 

I made a large crockpot of sloppy joes. I used 3 lbs of locally sourced meat. My parents bought half a cow from Salentine Farms in Big Bend. It was processed at Sorg's in Fort Atkinson.

I browned it off, drained off the grease and added sloppy joe mix, carrots, celery, onion, worchestershire sauce, garlic powder and a bit of sirracha for a kick.(I don't think I added enough, but I was worried about over spicing it and then no one would like it). I served it on King's Hawaiian rolls and it was well received. I had very little left at the end of the game.

I also made Hissy Fit Dip, a big hit at my Super Bowl party last year. This pic is of the mixing stage but it's gooey, creamy, deliciousness when warmed up. I served it with carrots, celery, pretzels and tortilla chips. This was almost completely gone at the end of the game and people even enjoyed it on the sandwiches. I even just grabbed some Sloppy Joes (not on a bun) and then drizzled some of this dip over it and ate it with tortilla chips. I did really like it with carrot slices.

Other dishes that were brought to share included Oreo ball truffles, salsa, spinach dip, party potatoes (similar recipe) roasted cauliflower and lots of drinks.

Did you know in some states Party Potatoes are called Funeral Potatoes?? How odd! Party Potatoes is a much nicer name!

I made a fire in my fireplace to increase the ambiance and it was a nice touch! I love my fireplace, even though I only burn Duraflame-type logs in it. 

And we were even visited by two puppies - my friend Chris brought them over and the youngest is a lover of all things lap related. They were both very well behaved and helped bring that Packer win.

The next time the Packers play is on January 11 at noon. I'm not sure I'll be hosting as I have a work obligation that morning. But you better believe I will be watching it somewhere and eating some great tasting food!

Crockpot Cashew Chicken

I would love to say that this recipe is my own, but I am not creative enough to think this up. Besides Sesame Chicken and Chicken Lo Mein, Cashew Chicken is my next go-to item when I order take out Chinese food. I have had it with a white sauce before and then with a more soy based sauce and prefer that version.

So when I found this recipe on Pinterest, I knew I had to try it. And seeing as my boyfriend will eat just about anything, I have a great test subject for recipes now :)

I found it interesting that the sauce called for ketchup and in the future, I might omit this item. I think more soy and a little more teriyaki flavor would help the meal.

 You need to flour coat and saute all the chicken pieces first and then add them to the crockpot or slow cooker. It was in this stage that I realized a few pieces were probably larger than ideal, but we would make it work.

 I added some green onions for additional flavor.

 And some cilantro and celery pieces. I figured this couldn't hurt and I like seeing a little green in all my dishes.

 Then you coat everything with sauce and let the crockpot do the rest of the work.

 I stirred things up after a hour and a half on low and realized that the 3-4 hours was going to be closer to 4.5. So we bumped it up to high to speed up the process :) Tim added some chopped mushrooms at this point too.

 And Voila - add the cashews at the end, stir and you have cashew chicken. Tim made some white rice on the side and we opened a can of pineapple for a sweet touch.

Finished product was delicious but the ketchup I think left a tang I didn't feel was very Chinese-influenced! The chicken fell right apart, so even though some pieces were too large, they cut with a fork just fine. The celery, even after cooking for 3 hours, still had nice crunch. The mushrooms were lost in the flavor, so I would add them right at the end or leave them in larger pieces.

I definitely recommend this recipe and I would make it again, with some modifications to the sauce. But for a nice easy slow cooker meal, this is on my go-to list now.

BlogPal: Weekend Activities

Fall is upon us in Wisconsin - fields are changing color, leaves aren't looking as vibrant of a green and getting ready to turn orange/red and drop from the branches, and pumpkins have arrived at some of the stores. This is my favorite time of year as I feel mother nature is at her prime. Days are warm for a tee (long or short-sleeved) and jeans and evenings are cool for fleece jackets and bonfires.

My BlogPal and I decided to focus on Weekend Activities for this next posting because there are just so many things that we can do on the weekends. 

I also think that there is a ton to do in Fall on weekends. Maybe this is something more exclusive to Wisconsin because we know our evil winter of snow, rain, sleet, freezing rain, bitter winds and below zero temps is coming too soon, so we try to get out and use up every ounce of daylight we can.

Some of my favorite things to do in Fall on the weekend are:

Local Farmer's Markets (Here is a county-wide guide) - These usually go thru October and squash are plentiful and cheap. I love making soup with Butternut Squash and I can't wait to make it by the gallons and freeze it this year for all winter-long enjoyment. (Speaking of Butternut Squash - I did buy a few store brands of soup to compare to mine and see what different flavors those provide, but I'm really digging my Butternut Squash Apple soup.) 

Pumpkin Picking - Soon enough the hay wagons will be out and it will be time to pick your pumpkins and begin carving them for Halloween. These trips are best done on weekends, when there is no rushing around and you can enjoy yourself in the field and really pick out your favorite pumpkin.

Hiking - Beautiful leaves on scenic trails make the Fall one of the best times in Wisconsin to go on hikes. And trails are a plenty in this area. This Friday, my boyfriend and I are going to walk on the Fox River boardwalk. The boardwalk isn't extremely long, but it does walk you over the Fox River in Waukesha and you get to see nature in it's natural environment.

Homecooked Meals - I have time on the weekends to usually go into a bit more of an elaborate production of a meal than on weeknights. Sometimes I'll even let the crockpot do the work so I can still run errands and such on the weekends, but making a large pot of chili, lasagna, beef stew or something nice and filling is what I do on the weekends.

Tomorrow I hope to share with you my recipe for Crockpot Cashew Chicken. It's pretty simple and really flavorful. I modified a recipe that I found from a fellow blogger.

Watching Football - Yep I'm a CHEESEHEAD from Wisconsin and a large part of my Sunday is dedicated to watching my boys, The Green Bay Packers, cream their opponent. I'm sure some of you root for other teams and I'm sorry (jk jk) but isn't a lazy Sunday and football on the tube a perfect way to end the weekend? And last year, I was lucky enough to see my boys play live at Lambeau and I hope to have the chance to do that again this year.

Catching Up

Sometimes I am on top of all things regarding my blog (and life), and sometimes I fall a bit behind. It's one of those behind times now. I don't have a good excuse as to why I haven't stayed up on the blog as I have cooked and eaten plenty lately :) But here is what will be coming up on blog in the next few weeks:

Another amazing beer dinner at Bernie's Tap Room - can't wait to pick Brooke's brain later this month for a chef feature!

 Sweet potato muffins - to die for!

Copycat Reese's peanut butter cup bars

My Lucky Leprechaun book and nail polish swap!

My trip to the Harley Museum

Virtual Run for Alzheimer's #Race2Remember

Lobster rolls from Key Westconsin

Energy Balls :)

Spending more time at Energize Zone and invite you to this event!

Easiest crockpot meal so far - chicken based! 

Prepping for the Lucky Leprechaun 7k with my ProCompression socks!

Training for the 7k continues in the snow - dedicated!!!!

Cooking with Click, black beans and spinach for brownies - say what??

 

Amazing chicken taquitos from Burp! Blog

Chicken Fontina pasta from Duo of Chefs

And some wine...

Wine...

Wine...

Wine...

and more wine! :) It's what pumps my veins lately

From the Books Thursday: Pork Burritos

Each Thursday, Sweet Bella Roos blog features her favorites recipes/crafts from the previous week's Pin-It Thursday party. I have been featured before in her party for my meatballs  :) and so I love seeing what the features are each week.

A few Thursdays ago, I gave Matt the option of picking one of the five features and I would make it for him. He eliminated the pasta because he isn't the biggest fan of chopped tomatoes. He really wanted a dessert and an entree but I made him choose for the time being as I already had an idea for dessert. (mock Reese's PB Cups).

He decided on the pork burritos and they seemed simple enough to make on a Sunday and reheat at his place on Monday night.

My mom helped me pick out a nice piece of pork for the meal. (I cut the recipe in half and bought a 2 pound pork rib roast.)

I browned each side of the pork roast after liberally salt and peppering it. My mom said I only needed to brown the big sides, but I wanted a nice light char all the way around.

Then you place the roast in the crockpot and add up to the oregano in the recipe.

Then because I used a smaller roast, I cut the crock-time to 3.5 hrs. I checked it at 3 and it was at temperature but wasn't pulling apart yet. I gave it another half hour and it was perfect!

I pulled the roast out and it almost fell apart while I was using two forks to shred it - easiest shredding ever!

I put all the shredded pork back into the crock and added the sour cream/flour mixture to the meat and stirred. 30 minutes later, the house smelt spectacular and I couldn't stop stealing bites.

I let it cool down in the crockpot and then packaged it up to take to Matt's. It reheated perfectly and we had refried beans, guacamole, plain greek yogurt and rice on the side. Matt picked up some margaritas and we dug into the dinner.

The burritos were spectacular. I'm sorry I forgot to take the final image, but we were enjoying it too much to stop to take a picture. And the PB bars were a really good replica cup and I'll post about those soon!