Turkey Chili Redeemed

Well I learned a valuable lesson during my chili making experience. I had never made chili before and only did so to be supportive of my 11 yr. old daughter who wants to enter a local chili contest in July. Anyway I learned that every spice isn't interchangeable.
When I gotten all my ingredients together, or so I thought I noticed I didn't have chili powder. How do you make chili without chili powder??? But me being the quick thinker I am figured that chili powder must just add the heat so I will just substitute cayenne pepper for the chili powder, yea that's right cayenne. By the time it was done I couldn't even go into my kitchen without the smell from my crockpot burning my eyes.
My husband bless his heart ate all of the chili I made even though I told him over and over again that he didn't have to. ( It was a little bit comical and great deal painful watching him shovel the spicy concoction into his mouth like he was in an eating contest where swallowing without much chewing was the winning technique all the while telling me how good it is)
So I decided to give it a go one more time before totally giving up on homemade chili and going back to my favorite canned brand. And this time I still only got a little bit but because I couldn't keep my husband and kids out of it. (It actually could have used a little bit more heat, but it turned out mild enough for my kids to eat.)

Turkey Chili

3 tbs. oil
1 large onion
3 cloves, garlic
1 lb ground turkey
3 c. water
1 (30oz) can tomato sauce
1/8 tsp. cayenne
1 tsp. cumin
1 small bay leaf
2 tbs. chili powder
1/4 tsp. basil
1 1/2 salt
2 (15 oz) cans red kidney beans
1 (15 oz) can great northern or white beans

• Heat the olive oil in a large skillet, add onion and garlic saute until golden brown.
• Add turkey and brown
• Add the remaining ingredients, except the beans and cooked turkey to crockpot.
• Stir to mix and cook on high 15 mins.
• Reduce heat and simmer, covered until the sauce is as thick as desired.
• Add the beans and heat through.

* you can add black beans (if you prefer) and more cayenne for more heat. Enjoy!!

Meatless Monday Dinner

So I have decided that we are going to try to have Meatless Mondays. I watched Oprah on Earth Day and of course when I got done I felt all empowered "to be the change I want to see" and so I did take a few things away from the show that I am going to try Meatless Mondays being one of them I wrote a little bit more about it on my But Mommy..... blog but for this page I wanted to include our 1st meatless Monday dinner recipe.


I found this recipe online at cooksrecipes.com and then tweaked it to my liking, I am going to type the portions they have but I didn't really measure i just pour till it looks good :)



So we had Bean and Cheese Enchiladas and Spanish Rice



Bean and Cheese Enchiladas


2 cups colby/jack cheese blend


1 cup sharp cheddar cheese


1 can (16 oz) refried beans


1 jar mild taco sauce


1/4 c. salsa


1/2 tsp. cumin


12 flour tortillas


Sliced ripe olives, optional


Sour cream, optional

• In a medium bowl mix all of the cheeses


• In another bowl, combine beans, 1/4c. salsa, 1 1/2 c. cheese mixture and cumin


• Spread 1 cup taco sauce into the bottom of a 13x9x2 inch baking dish


• Spoon a heaping 1/4 c. bean mixture down the center of each tortilla. Place tortillas seam side down on taco sauce. Top with taco sauce and remaining cheese.


• Bake at 350 F. for 30 mins. or until heated through


• Serve with sliced ripe olives, green onions and sour cream if desired.

Spanish Rice

2 tbs. oil

2 cloves garlic, minced

4 oz. tomato sauce

1/2 tsp. salt

1 c. rice

1 tbs. onion powder

2 c. cold water

2 tbs. chicken bouillon

• Coat bottom of saucepan with oil and saute rice until golden brown
• Add garlic to rice and saute for 1 min.
• Add tomato sauce, water, salt, onion powder, and chicken bouillon and stir well to mix ingredients.
• Bring to a boil, stirring occasionally. Lower the heat to simmer. Cover and simmer for 25 mins.

Wednesday, January 28, 2009

World's Largest Cheesecake Baked in Mexico
Our affinity for World's Largest items knows no bounds, obviously and now we have a new item to tack onto the already "huge" (GET IT?) group of bizarrely big things: cheesecake.
But the world's biggest cheesecake isn't coming from where you would think, like New York. It was baked in Mexico. And it's quite large.
Chef Miguel Angel Quezada says 55 cooks spent 60 hours making the world's biggest cheesecake — a 2-ton calorie bomb topped with strawberries.
The monster cake used nearly a ton of cream cheese, the same amount of yogurt, 350 kilograms (772 pounds) of pastry, 250 kilograms (551 pounds) of sugar and 150 kilograms (331 pounds) of butter.
And, lest you question it, Guiness has already certified it as the record holder for World's Biggest Cheesecake. It's the first attempt at this record, of course, but, before you try and make a run at the record, remember: TWO TONS of cheesecake. TWO TONS. That's not exactly something you can just whip together on a Sunday afternoon.
Posted by Brinson at 9:36 AM

Cheesecake of the Month

Banana Cream Cheesecake

So today was the first day that I made this one and I think it turned out pretty good it was kind of an ode to one of my good friends who really likes banana cream pie, the thing is I am not a big fan of banana cream pie, cheesecake however I do love so I figured a banana cream cheesecake would be a wonderful combination of our tastes. My best friend refered to it as deliciously different I do believe that meant she liked it. My husband and daughter also gave it the seal of approval.

Banana Cream Cheesecake:

1 Nilla Wafer Pie Crust

1/2 c. Sugar

1 tbs. cornstarch

2 eggs

1 1/2 med. bananas, mashed

1/3 c. whipped topping

1 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract*

* I used 1 tsp. vanilla extract and 1/2 tsp. banana extract

Beat cream cheese in large bowl with electric mixer at medium speed until creamy. Add sugar and constarch; beat until blended. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in bananas, whipped topping and vanilla. Pour cream cheese mixture into prepared crust. Place pan on cookie sheet and bake 15 minutes.

Reduce oven temperature to 200 degrees F and continue baking about 55 minutes or until center is almost set. Refrigerate, uncovered, 6 hours or overnight.

I also added more whip cream on top.