White Chili With Chicken

The perfect food on a cold, winter day? Oh yeah!
This chili is such a nice change from the acidic, cramp inducing, regular red chili. Ok I really didn't mean to make it sound so bad, lets just say that I prefer this to regular chili any day.
With only a few simple ingredients, this is the perfect meal for a busy day. Throw it in the crock pot in the morning and it is done in time for lunch.
This chili tastes best, served with corn chips, cheese and sour cream.

White Chili with Chicken

1- 16 oz. bag of dry great northern beans
1 chicken breast w/rib meat
1 -32 oz. carton of chicken broth
1-7 oz. can of green chilies
1-12 oz. can of evaporated milk
1 Tbs. of minced onion (unless your husband lets you cook with real onion, then by all means use real onion. Jason never seems to notice if I use minced, but don't tell him I said that)
1/4 tsp. of cumin
1/2 tsp. garlic powder
1/8 tsp. of white pepper
1- 8 oz. brick of cream cheese

Method:

Soak beans in water overnight, or 10 hours. Simmer chicken breast in chicken broth until meat can shred easily with fork. While chicken is simmering, put softened beans into crock pot along with the chilies, milk, onion, cumin, garlic powder, and white pepper.
When chicken is ready to shred, remove from broth, (add that broth to the crock pot too) shred with a fork and add to crock pot. Cook on high for about 4-5 hours, stirring every hour. 10 minutes before serving, add cream cheese, (cut into 3 or 4 chunks) stir a couple times before serving.
Top with shredded Mexican cheese, sour cream and corn chips.

You can also cut down on your prep time if you use pre-cooked, great northern beans from a jar, and canned chicken. I've never made it that way, but it might turn out just fine. Let me know, because I'm a very busy woman, and cutting down an hour of prep in the morning would allow me to sleep in later!

Enjoy!

Christmas Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ok so not much is really changed, but the 2 things that are changed, make this cookie delicious and totally addicting!
I only make them around the Christmas season, I don't know why. I should make them year round. They are so good!
These are basically standard, chocolate chip cookies but with rum extract instead of vanilla, and maraschino cherry bits added. Yes it makes that much of a difference.
And then as if they weren't sweet enough, I drizzle white chocolate over them.
I believe that presentation is everything, so it is very hard for me to just make a boring looking cookie.

Recipe


2 sticks salted butter, softened
3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 tsp. rum extract
1 lg. egg
1/2 tsp. baking soda
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups chocolate chips
10 oz (? I don't remember what size! Duh! Sorry.)
jar of stemless maraschino cherries, diced and patted dry


Method
Preheat oven to 375.
Beat butter and sugars until smooth. Beat in extract, egg and baking soda. Stir in floour until blended. Stir in chips and cherries.
Drop mixture by rounded tablespoons, 2" apart on ungreased baking sheets.
Bake 10 minutes or until edges are golden.
Remove to wire racks and cool completely.

Enjoy!

My New Apron!

I have been drooling over this apron on this site for so long, and my sweet, wonderful husband finally broke down and bought it for me! I want to wear it all the time, even when I'm not cooking!

I think it makes my cooking taste better. ~wink~

Fall Desserts

Spice cake with an apple, raisin, nut filling, and cream cheese frosting, topped with colored, white, and brown chocolate leaves.

Spiced, apple pear pie.

My Favorite Salsa

Since I don't make my own salsa, I have to resort to store bought. I have tried so many different kinds and they range from "ok" to "gag", so the day I tried Herdez, was one of the happiest days of my life. I can sit and eat chips and salsa till my stomach hurts. Literally. I have kind of a sensitive stomach and anything tomato-y kind of makes it sour. (milk to the rescue! Seriously, do people really eat chips & salsa with a cold a glass of milk? Isn't it usually pop?)

Anyway, I love this stuff! It is made deep in the heart of Mexico, where I believe anything "Mexican" should be made. It is so fresh tasting! I have to buy mild because my kids love chips and salsa too. Can you imagine my sweet little, 2 year old Annabelle asking for "tips and sawsa" ?
It warms my heart!
I just had to get this off my chest. Okay, I feel better now.
Notice in the picture the jar is empty? I need to buy this stuff by the case.

I Love My Kids!

The pictures aren't in order of birth. Sorry. I'm still working on figuring that out.
I just love my kids. Here are some various pictures of them.


Isaac, being himself.

Isaac, being sweet.

Our sweet Seth.

There's just something about that middle child.

Our last baby, :( Madeline.

Precious, little Madeline.

Annabelle, being delightful.

Princess Annabelle. Our first girl.

So absolutely precious.

Thanksgiving Thoughts ( out loud )

Thanksgiving is almost here! What to cook...what to cook? I think we may have 2 different family Thanksgiving feasts, this year. The first one (on Thanksgiving day) will be at my sister's clubhouse, and is for our family and any friends who want to come. Anybody else want to come? The second, (the one that may or may not be happening) will be with my husband's family.
I am going to make my Nonna's (Italian for Grandma) traditional beef roast with potatoes. 2 whole garlic bulbs ( okay, maybe not 2 whole. Maybe 1 1/2) and like 2 whole sticks of butter. I wish you could taste it! The meat is soft and tender, has the most delicious flavor, and the potatoes melt in your mouth. ( probably from all the butter) The potatoes are so soft that you can mash them down with the greatest of ease, and pour gravy all over them. For our Thanksgiving feast, my Nonna would make a beef roast and a huge bowl of ziti and sauce. I'm drooling just thinking of the the flavors and textures combining in my mouth.
I'm also going to make a from scratch, pumpkin/spice torte with cream cheese frosting and an apple walnut filling. I can't wait! I'm so excited about it. I'll post pics and recipes if it turns out well.

What special traditions or dishes do you have every year?

Chicken Florentine

Me and my family love spinach. Raw, cooked, in anything. Well, ok not anything.
We just love spinach, and I use it at least twice a week, in different ways. Salads, omelets, in soups, casseroles. Last night I made my own version of chicken Florentine. Here is the recipe:

Chicken Florentine

4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
2 TBS. butter
salt and pepper
2 cups fresh baby spinach
1 1/2 cup cheese ( you can use whatever you want, I used a blend that I had on hand)
1 tomato diced

Melt butter in non stick pan over medium heat. Season chicken with salt and pepper, or your favorite chicken seasoning.
Saute chicken with lid on, flipping occasionally, until juices run clear. (about 10-15 minutes)
Turn heat to low, put spinach over cooked chicken, top with cheese. Put lid on and let spinach wilt and cheese melt. Put on plates and top with freshly diced tomatoes.

Enjoy!

Why I Don't Play in the Leaves Anymore!

Madeline's 1st Birthday

Our last little baby turned 1 this past week!

Why are all my words underlined? I don't know. But this has taken so long that I don't care.

I can't fix it so...maybe you can live with it? Ok good. :)

Anyway, like I was saying, our last child turned 1!!
Here are some of the pictures of her party.


First of all here is a picture that was taken a year ago. She was only 3 days old. What an adorable little face! She was (is) an angel. She has always been a very easy going, happy baby. Which for our 4th child, and all of the others being under the age of 6, it was a real blessing!
When i found out I was pregnant with her, I was not very happy. I was quite content with 3 children, just getting my figure back, and really looking forward to just raising 3 children.
I fretted and pouted around the whole 9 months, but when she was born, she just took our breath away. And she has ever since. She is such a happy, lively, SMART, little girl. God has truly blessed us with her. We wouldn't trade her for the world!
But needless to say, we did take measures to prevent anymore little "surprises" :) "Whew"!

The little 'princess's' cake.
Deep, dark, moist, dense, almost black chocolate cake.
My favorite recipe. I will have it on the end of this post.
Hey! The underlining disappeared! Yay!

She was such a neat little eater, it was almost a little disappointing. :)

Our third little angel, Annabelle.
Such a sweet smile.

Sweet little Seth, our second born. Trying to go cross eyed.

Isaac, our firstborn. (can't you tell) Definitely too much cake in his system.

Opening presents. She really got the hang of it fast!

My sister Sarah, and the cousins.

My mommy, Karen.

My mountain man, father in law, Ken.
I'm going to tease him till he shaves it off. I know, I'm such a brat.

My camera happy mother in law, Judy. I say that in love, Judy! :)

I love our computer! It's a Mac, Teresa. :) We had an awesome slide show, set to music going during the whole party. Every picture we took of Madeline from the past year was on it.

The birthday sign, in case people forgot why they were at our house, eating cake.

The spread. I know, look at the pickle bowl! Only 2 left! The guests descended upon them, and were gone within the first 5 minutes.

The party room.

There were so many more pictures, but it takes a while to upload them, plus I don't want to seem like one of those mom's that worship the dirty (and sometimes poopy ground [clears throat] like today. Don't ask) that their kids walk on.

Hershey's "Especially Dark" Chocolate Cake

Ingredients:

2 cups sugar
1 3/4 cups all purpose flour
3/4 cup Hershey's Special Dark Cocoa
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1 1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
2 eggs
1 cup milk
1/2 cup veg. oil
2 tsp. vanilla
1 cup boiling water

Method:

Heat oven to 350. Grease and flour 2, 9" round cake pans.
Stir together sugar, flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt in large bowl. Add eggs, milk, oil, and vanilla; beat on medium speed of mixer for 2 minutes. Stir in boiling water ( batter will be thin) Pour batter into prepared pans. Bake 30 to 35 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes; remove from pans to wire racks. Cool completely.

Enjoy!

Fried Mashed Potatoes

My favorite way to use up leftover mashed potatoes, is to fry them.
Put them in a hot, non-stick pan (trust me, I learned the hard way) with a healthy amount of butter. Ok that didn't sound right. Healthy and butter do not belong in the same sentence. Ahem. Use a good amount of butter, smash em down a little with a turner, and let them fry a good 5 minutes before turning. The trick is to get them crispy on the outside and mushy on the inside. Mmmmm I can hear them sizzling. Sprinkle season salt and pepper on them, turn them, fry another 5 minutes, and slide them onto your plate. If they don't slide well, you didn't use enough butter. :)

I know, they kind of look like fried fish fillets, or chicken breasts. If you don't want them that brown, don't cook them as long, they just won't be nice and crispy.
Goes great with eggs and bacon, or whatever you like to eat in the morning.

Enjoy!

First Snow

Today it came. The first snow. Swiftly and silently. Cold and beautiful.

I hated it and loved all at the same time. Of course it didn't stay long, the first fall never does. It left as quickly as it came.

The few snowflakes clung desperately on, until they finally melted into tiny pools, their unique shape and structure all but forgotten.
And so begins our winter, ( in Fall ) the long 6 or so months that seems will never end.
This year will be different. Every bitter cold, day will be lived out to the fullest. Every week there will be adventures in the snow, hot cocoa in my favorite Christmas mug, new recipes for baked goods that will keep my kitchen warm and cozy.
I am determined to enjoy winter this year. With my children, and my new snow pants & boots, and snow tires on my van.
So, to winter, I raise my (cocoa/tea) mug high. Come with your diamond like flakes, and your cold, biting wind. I will be ready.

Beautiful, Gold And Diamond, Rose Ring Giveaway, Through Wexford Jewelers!

How would you like to own this beautiful, hand crafted, 10k gold and diamond ring?
No, this isn't a joke, Wexford Jewelers is giving away this gorgeous piece of wearable art. You may choose either a yellow gold, rose gold, or white gold ring to suit your style.
All you have to do is find us ( Wexford Jewelers ) on Facebook, add us as a friend, and you can enter to win!
Pretty easy for something so unique.


Good luck!

Apple Cinnamon Raisin Bread

I just can't get enough of baking this fall!
I made this bread last week, and just thought I'd share the recipe.

Made with apples, raisins, cinnamon and brown sugar, it is a delicious treat.
Almost like a cinnamon roll, but a bread.

If there is any left the next day, ( I made 3 loaves and was planning to give 2 away, but never got around to it) it makes great French toast!

Recipe

Bread dough:

1 1/4 cups warm water
3 Tbs. softened butter
4 Tbs. sugar
1 tsp. salt
2 1/2 cups bread flour
1 cup wheat flour
1 Tbs. + 1/2 tsp. yeast

Filling:

1 large apple, diced
1 cup raisins
3/4 cup chopped pecans
cinnamon ( sorry, I didn't measure! Just use your judgment)
1 cup brown sugar
a few Tbs. softened butter

Method:

Add bread dough ingredients to bread maker pan, in the order given above.
Set bread maker to dough setting. Mine takes an hour and 20 minutes.
When the dough is ready, remove from pan and set on floured surface. Roll into a large rectangle.( sorry, didn't measure it! I really need to get better at this! :) Maybe a 30"X 12")
Spread dough with softened butter. Sprinkle generously with cinnamon, and other filling ingredients. Roll into a long ( 30" ? ) log. moisten seam with water and pinch together. Cut into 3 loaves. Put into greased bread pans. Cover and let rise in warm area for 1 hour. Brush tops lightly with beaten eggs, if desired. ( makes them nice and shiny!) Bake at 420. for 30 minutes, or until nicely browned.

Enjoy!

My First "Official" Taste of Fall

In my opinion, Fall cannot officially kick off until I have my first pumpkin pie. So today was the day! I made my first pumpkin pie (recipe below) of the season.
One regular pie, one small pie, and 24 mini pumpkin tarts.
The first taste was pure and utter bliss. Blueberry and pumpkin pies are my absolute favorites.
But this time of year, it has to be pumpkin!
This year I tried adding mace along with the usual cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger and cloves. It really added a wonderful, extra dimension to the flavor.

Maybe now I can start decorating for Fall.

Pumpkin Pie:
1- 29oz can of pumpkin
2- 12 oz cans of evaporated milk
2 eggs lightly beaten
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 Tbs flour
1 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp ginger
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp cloves
1/4 tsp mace
2 unbaked pie crusts

Whisk all ingredients (except pie crusts) together and pour into unbaked pie crusts.
Bake at 450 for 45-60 minutes, or until no longer jiggly in center.
Enjoy!

That's it??

Today I have come to the conclusion that it is only worth it to can your own applesauce if you either get your apples for free, or very, very cheap. Or if you use your apples right away and don't let them sit rotting on the counter for 3-4 weeks. (you end up throwing some away) My latest experience:
Paid- $8. for bushel of apples ( the kids ate a couple, I used a few for my apple/cranberry bread and rolls)
Time spent prepping (peeling, coring, chopping)- roughly 40 minutes
Amount of time stove was on- 40 min. for cooking, 30 minutes heating big pot of water and water bathing the jars.
Then all of the other things in between, stirring, mashing, pouring into jars, washing all of the big bowls and pots. (by hand because they're too big to fit in the dishwasher)
All in all I probably spent a good 3 1/2 or more hours on this and I only got 3 1/2 measly quarts of sauce.

The last time I did this it seemed much more profitable.
So needless to say, the next time I do this, I will have gotten a lot of free apples, Jason will help me, the kids will be in bed, and I will be buzzing on a couple cups of coffee.
Now I'm going to go take a nap.

My New kitchen Toys!

Ouch! That is sharp.

Put it on your pan, add cookies, barely any cleanup! No spraying greasy sprays.
Costs the same amount as 4 boxes of parchment paper, so if you bake as much as I do, it will really save money!

Please don't notice the store bought cookie dough.
Hey I got it very cheap! I can't bake cookies from scratch all the time!

Notice the difference? These two cookies were in the oven for the same exact amount of time. The browned one on the left was in a pan without Silpat, the scrumptious looking one on the right was baked on the Silpat. Which one would you rather have? Same here, the kids can have the other ones. :) They won't notice. Hey, I hear you judging me, don't tell me you haven't done the same.

I just LOVE getting new gadgets for my kitchen! And Jason knows that if I get something new, I want to use it. A lot. And that usually means lots of new yummy things. So he is always very obliging when I ask him if I can get something new. ( I try not to go overboard though :) )
The other day I was up in Traverse City and "just happen" to have a coupon for Bed Bath & Beyond, so I thought I would go in and "just see" if they had a micro plane zester, so I could throw my 8 year old, dull, dollar store mini shredder away. ( I have been struggling with that thing way too long!) They did have a very nice one, AND they had Silpat pads! I have been wanting one ever since Jason bought me the Martha Stewart Cookies book. There are a few recipes that I need one for and, they are just awesome all around, so I walked out (clutching them close) with one of those too.

It's The Little Things

Last year my friend Stephanie told me about a wonderful, little Amish store in Mc Bain. It is a grocery salvage store, and every few months I make the trip (such a long 15 minute drive) to see what goodies I can find.
Sometimes I'm pleasantly surprised, sometimes a little let down, it depends on the month.
My last trip was a good one. I love when I can get a $6. bottle of vinegar for .80!! Or the Better than Bullion jars for .60-.80!! Are you kidding me? Those things are normally, almost $4! The name truly says it all. Way better than the wrapped cubes of fat and salt ( that my kids always think must be candy since it's wrapped in such a pretty wrapper). They give such rich, meaty ( or veggie ) flavor to soups, stews, chilies, or gravies. If you don't have time to make your own stock, this stuff is wonderful! So you can imagine how I felt when I saw the prices on them. I bought them all and put them in my stock pile! Granted you have to check the expiration date on everything they sell, but usually the items are ok.
It's the little things that make me happy.