Beef and Beer Chili

What a great long weekend! I wish everyone could have had Monday off, its so great to have MLK Day off because it really helps to break up the dull after Christmas. Anyways the weather was a bit chilly outside so we decided to stay home and what's better to curl up with on a cold day than a bowl full of chili? This is a new recipe that I tried and I think it turned out really great. Its a different spin on chili, it's not a red chili but it's not a white chili either. It's more of a broth chili, is that even a type? Anyways it was great and I think it would taste great finished with cilantro and monterry jack cheese but I didn't have either of those and it wasn't called for in the ingredients though. But trust me add these to your bowl!

Picture and recipe from CookingLight.com

Beef and Beer Chili

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups chopped red onion (about 1 medium)
• 1 cup chopped red bell pepper (about 1 small) *I didn't have one so I omitted this
  
• 8 ounces extralean ground beef *substituted venison
  
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 1/2 tablespoons chili powder
• 2 teaspoons ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1 (19-ounce) can red kidney beans, drained *I used pinto instead
  
• 1 (14.5-ounce) can no-salt-added diced tomatoes, undrained
• 1 (14-ounce) can low-sodium beef broth
• 1 (12-ounce) bottle beer (such as Budweiser)
• 1 tablespoon yellow cornmeal
• 1 tablespoon fresh lime juice

Combine first 4 ingredients in a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Cook 5 minutes or until beef is browned, stirring to crumble. Stir in chili powder, cumin, sugar, and salt; cook 1 minute. Add oregano and next 4 ingredients (through beer) to pan; bring to a boil. Reduce heat, and simmer 15 minutes. Stir in cornmeal; cook 5 minutes. Stir in juice.

Crockpot Chicken & Dumplings

Paula Deen is the queen of home cooking and our week just wouldn't be right without a recipe from her. I seriously thought about doing our favorite "Lady & Son's Chicken Pot Pie" but that's not a crockpot recipe and I really needed something I could just walk away from today since it's gonna be super hectic at work. So I decided to grab her stove top dumpling recipe and change it to cook in the crockpot. Oh and because I'm too lazy to make dumplings from scratch we're using store bought biscuits.

Menu: Crockpot Chicken & Dumplings and cinnamon apples (I know it wasn't on the list but I'm adding it)

Crockpot Chicken & Dumplings

Ingredients:

1 (2 1/2-pound) chicken, cut into 8 pieces (we're using the leftovers from my "Already Married Chicken")
3 ribs celery, chopped
1 large onion, chopped
2 bay leaves
2 chicken bouillon cubes
1 teaspoon House Seasoning, recipe follows
1 (10 3/4-ounce) can condensed cream of celery or cream of chicken soup


Set crockpot to low, either 6 to 8 hours depending on your time needs.

1. Place the chicken, celery, onion, bay leaves, bouillon, cream of celery and House Seasoning in the crockpot.
   
2. Add 4 quarts of water (might want to add a little less than this if your pot isn't that big).
   
3. About 30 minutes prior to serving take your biscuits, cut them in half and place in the pot.

Cook's Note: If the chicken stew is too thin it can be thickened before the dumplings are added. Simply mix together 2 tablespoons cornstarch and 1/4 cup of water then whisk this mixture into the stew.

House Seasoning:
1 cup salt
1/4 cup black pepper
1/4 cup garlic powder

Mix ingredients together and store in an airtight container for up to 6 months.

Yield: 1 1/2 cups

Recipe and photo courtesy of FoodNetwork

Boston Market's Cinnamon Apples

Ingredients:
3 each Apple golden delicious
2/3 cup of water
1/2 tbsp of flour
1 tsp of cornstarch
2 teaspoon Butter crumbled
1/2 cup Brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon Cinnamon
1 dash Salt

1. Preheat the oven to 350?F / 180?C.

2. Peel and core the apples. Cut each one into 16 slices and arrange the slices in an 8"x 8" baking dish.

3. In a small bowl, combine the water with the flour, cornstarch, and Butter Buds and stir until the dry ingredients are dissolved and not lumpy. Add the brown sugar and cinnamon and stir until smooth.

4. Pour the cinnamon mixture over the apple slices, cover the dish with foil, and bake for 40 minutes. Stir the apples every 10 minutes.

Oh now we've got a meal "that'll make you slap your mama", just kidding but it will make your mouth water and your mind take you bake to those family gatherings when you were a kid. So eat up and enjoy!

Crockpot Vegetable Minestrone

I like to make Monday dinners ahead of time because we all know how hectic Monday mornings are and by the time 5 o'clock rolls around I'm beat and don't want to deal with cooking. So last night I whipped this little goody up, well actually all I did was open and pour, open and pour, open and pour, ok you get the picture.

Menu: Crockpot Vegetable Minestrone and garlic bread sticks

Crockpot Vegetable Minestrone

Ingredients:
1 bag of frozen mixed vegetables or you can do what I did and use up all the leftover bags of various veggies in you freezer, I had corn, peas and carrots. I added a can of lima beans also.
1 can of diced tomatoes
1 box of beef broth
1 packet of onion soup mix
2 cups of pasta shells

1. Set your crockpot to a quick time like 4 to 6 hours because this really doesn't need to cook, you're just warming everything up.
2. Pour your frozen veggies, tomatoes (juice and all), beef broth and soup mix in the crockpot. Stir together and allow to cook.
3. 45 minutes prior to serving, add your pasta. Keep a close eye on your pasta shells, you don't want them to overcook.
4. When you're ready to serve pop the frozen bread sticks in the oven for about 8 minutes. When they're crispy, serve with your soup.

Super easy, simple supper. If you want you could even add some ground hamburger to make this even more hearty and filling.