Chili Beans and some helpful tips

Fall is almost here so Chili Beans are on the menu for tonight’s supper. We call dinner supper in the South. :)
When we have Chili Beans dh always insist we have cornbread and slaw. I just made the slaw and that reminded me of the times I’ve accidentally added too much vinegar or lemon juice, mayonnaise or sugar. To salvage my slaw I’ve poured half or all of my slaw into a strainer and rinsed it briefly with water. I let it drain and start over.
For the cornbread I’m just making it from Jiffy Corn Muffin Mix. Dh and the boys like it better than homemade (I like homemade) but I’m out of buttermilk and I don’t like to substitute it by mixing vinegar or lemon juice in milk. If you’ve read any of my recipes you’ll notice that I improvise a lot! I had about 2 tablespoons of sour cream in the fridge so I just added that to my cornbread mix along with the milk and eggs. No sense in wasting it. When I’m making cornbread from a mix I double it and pour it in a baking sheet that I sprayed with oil or Pam. It bakes faster and everyone likes that they get more crunchy bites. I cut my cornbread into serving pieces and store it in my cake keeper. I take the crumbs that are left and pour that into my pot of Chili Beans. Why waste it? It helps to thicken the Chili Beans too.
For the meat I use ground chuck. But sometimes I’ll use ground Sirloin. Food Lion has a sale several times a year on Sirloin Tips. When they’re on sale it’s much cheaper than ground beef or ground chuck. Most people don’t realize that your butcher will grind it for you. They will cut it into roast, cube steak, grind, or cut it into stew beef. Most of the time I have him cut half for a roast and grind the rest. If they have any roast on sale sometimes it’s cheaper than the ground beef and I’ll have that ground. I’ve also cut up roast into beef stew because it was cheaper. Substitute half or all of the meat with TVP (textured vegetable protein) for a healthier and cheaper meal.
For the Chili Beans I have no certain recipe. I usually soak 2 pounds of pinto beans with about a teaspoon of baking soda for about 8 hours. I always check the beans for dirt or any foreign objects then I rinse several times before I soak. I pour off the water I soaked them in and rinse again and pour fresh water back into my pot of beans. I bring my beans to a boil and turn down the burner to about medium. Depending on the age of the beans but it takes several hours. I brown the ground chuck with fresh diced or dried minced onions and drain. I pour that into my beans along with 2 cans of tomato sauce. Today I used a pack of tomato sauce from the freezer that I made last month. I’ve used chopped tomatoes in place of the sauce before. Canned or fresh will work. For the spices I use Chili Powder, Turmeric, Cayenne Pepper, Curry powder, Clove powder, salt, and black pepper. But I have a secret ingredient. It’s chocolate! Well I think now days most of you have heard of that. Use just a few small pieces of any chocolate, dark, Hershey’s kisses, or even cocoa powder. It really enhances the flavor. This is one meal that everybody in the house loves. Another tip! LOL Mama adds a big scoop of peanut butter to her pinto beans. I would say about 1/3 cup. You can add about ¼ cup or more in your Chili Beans for another level of flavor. And no it doesn't make it taste like peanut butter!
Fall is my favorite time of the year. Right now it’s cool out and softly raining. I was able to cook a meal for my family today and get a little cleaning done. I am blessed.

Mix & Match Salad

photo courtesy of Oprah.com

I was going to post my list of mix & match salad ideas, But when I googled it, pages and pages popped up including one from Oprah here.
One of my favorite salads is Logan's Roadhouse Anything & Everything Salad with
Romaine lettuce, hard-boiled egg, bacon, bleu cheese, tomatoes, toasted walnuts, dried cranberries, & mesquite wood-grilled chicken. Served with Balsamic Vinaigrette. I always ask for sharp shredded cheddar cheese in place of the bleu cheese. Several years ago they changed it up to chicken pieces instead of strips, toasted walnuts in place of glazed walnuts. Less dried cranberries. Less and cheaper made but still a price increase. Before they changed it I could eat half now and save half for later. I still eat part of it there and save some for later. For my next days lunch I just add more greens and whatever I have on hand.

My son Josh brought home a salad from Outback last week. It was wonderful! Everything was fresh. You can taste the difference when a salad is freshly made or premixed.. The croutons had been tossed in fresh garlic. I never thought of doing that before instead of adding garlic or garlic powder before you bake them. I'll be experimenting with garlic on my next batch of croutons! :) The Thousand Island dressing must be made there also. It was the best I've tasted ever!

It's so disappointing when a restaurant uses short cuts. I can't be the only one that notices it. I'm not a picky eater. Really! I know they have to compete but I'd rather pay a little more than have them use inferior ingredients and prepackaged products.

I'll be posting later other ideas I have. Many times I'll come up with a great recipe or a good combination for a salad and forget to write it down. Well it's usually lost forever then. Always write it down when you find a good combination of ingredients for a recipe! Including a salad. Keep a file on your computer of recipes and make categories. I have one file named Mama's Cookbook. I put all of our favorite recipes in it. After you make the recipe always add a note at the end with the date you made it. Add anything you changed and if it improved it or was a bust.

Back to salads.Sorry I tend to wonder in my live conversations too! Print out Oprah's mix & match salad and laminate it to keep on hand. Or make up your own in chart form. You could glue a magnet strip on the back and post it on your refrigerator. I post a few of my "go to" recipes on the side of my refrigerator along with a chart for ingredient substitutes and measurement converter.

Bacon Cheeseburger Roll Up

This is an easy recipe that I make for the boys. It goes pretty fast and everyone likes it. The only thing different I do is start browning the beef with the onions and after a few minutes I add real bacon bits instead of the bacon slices. It has a pleasant bacon flavor and not as overwhelming as adding the raw bacon while browning the beef.
Bacon Cheeseburger Roll-Up

What You Need
1 lb. lean ground beef
4 slices OSCAR MAYER Bacon, chopped
1 small onion, chopped
1/2 lb. (8 oz.) VELVEETA®, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
1 pkg. (13.8 oz.) refrigerated pizza crust
Make It

HEAT oven to 400°F.

BROWN ground beef with bacon and onions in large skillet on medium-high heat; drain. Return meat mixture to skillet. Add VELVEETA; cook 5 min. or until melted, stirring frequently. Cool 10 min.

UNROLL dough onto baking sheet sprayed with cooking spray. Press into 15x8-inch rectangle; top with meat mixture. Roll up, starting at one long side. Rearrange if necessary so roll is seam-side down.

BAKE 20 to 25 min. or until golden brown. 6 servings

Kraft Kitchens Tips
Serving Suggestion
Balance this indulgent "cheeseburger" with a mixed green salad and fresh fruit.
Special Extra
Serve with your favorite condiments, such as CLAUSSEN Dill Burger Slices, mustard, ketchup, sliced tomatoes and/or TACO BELL® HOME ORIGINALS® Thick 'N Chunky Salsa.
Variation
Prepare using 2% Milk VELVEETA and substituting 1 can (7 oz.) chopped mushrooms, drained, for the bacon.
More Kraft Recipes

My soup pot runneth over!

I'm making beef vegetable stew tonight. I can never make a regular pot of soup. By the time I add all my ingredients I have a stock pot plus full of soup!

I don't have a recipe for my stew but I always start with my basic ingredients.
I start with tomato base:
Usually that is tomato juice. But I have also used V-8 Juice, several cans of tomato sauce or my favorite is tomatoes. I wash, core,and quarter (leave the skin on) a bunch of tomatoes. Put them in my soup pot and bring to a boil (stir to prevent scorching). Boil for about 20 minutes. Cool slightly and take your stick blender/wand and puree. It blends into a perfect tomato sauce skins and all!
I add several cans of beef broth or about a quart of water and several teaspoons of beef bouillon granules.
For the meat: I flour and brown beef stew or just browned ground chuck. I've also used leftover roast, beef stew. I've even added leftover Spaghetti sauce with meat! It all works.
For the vegetables:
medium or large finely chopped onion, a few finely chopped celery, 3 or more sliced carrots, 4 or 5 medium cubed potatoes, 2 cans of green beans, 2 cups of frozen or fresh corn. any leftover vegetables I have on hand
Seasoning Ideas:
pepper, onion powder, few shakes of nutmeg, about 1 teaspoon of Maggi Seasoning

I cook the beef,onions, and celery in my tomato and broth for several hours on medium heat. Then I add the carrots and cook about 20 minutes. Next I add the potatoes. When the potatoes are almost done I add the rest of my vegetables. I taste the stew every so often and add more water, salt, onion powder, Maggi, or pepper as needed. When your vegetables are tender it's done!
I've also added a handful of pasta toward the end of cooking. You can add spaghetti sticks broken into small pieces, alphabet pasta, or anything you have.
So there you go my no recipe stew! But that's the beauty of it. Kinda like Forest said, Mama always said life is like a box of chocolate...LOL You never know what your gonna get! :D