Snow Day!

I woke up on Saturday and looked out my window and all I could think was Snow Day! Being from East Tennessee where any decent amount of snow sticking to the ground shuts everything down, I thought for sure we were stuck inside all day.  I immediately thought it would be a great day for Chili, a fire and some good movies! As soon as we took the dogs out, I realized we were in Columbus, Ohio.  Columbus is prepared for the snow, so a few inches is nothing to keep anyone inside. It ended up being a beautiful day, but  I already had my mind on Chili. So for our "not so stuck in the house snow day" that is what we had...

 

Ground Turkey Chili w/ Honey Cornbread Muffins

 Ground Turkey Chili 

I have to admit, I really have no recipe.  I can tell you what I threw in the crock pot.  I have to add that about every 30 minutes I would walk by and throw in some extra seasoning of some kind.  Not helpful when trying to relay a recipe.  So I can tell you what to start with and then you can season to your liking.

*Ground Turkey, brown in pan with chili powder, salt & pepper. 
* 1 can of chili beans, drained
* 1 14 oz can of diced tomatoes, with juice
* 1 onion, diced 
* 1 cup of spicy chunky salsa 
* 3 garlic cloves, minced
* salt, pepper, paprika, chili powder to taste
*2 Tablespoon of hot sauce (if you like some heat) 
*1 Tablespoon olive oil


1) In saute pan heat olive oil over medium heat, add ground turkey and cook until it is just browned (don't over cook since you will be adding it to the slow cooker as well).  While browning, sprinkle with a dash of salt, pepper and chili powder.  Once brown, throw in crock pot. Without cleaning pan, add diced onion and saute over medium heat until soft, mix in minced garlic for the last minute and then throw onions and garlic in crock pot.

2) Pour beans (drained) and tomatoes (not drained) in crock pot.  Add salsa and spices. Add hot sauce now if you choose.  Once you stir it up really good, if you feel you need a little more "juice"  you have several options.  I have known some to use tomato soup, other's spaghetti sauce or vegetable broth.  We decided to add about 3/4 a cup of V8 to give it a little more liquid.  

3) Stir well and cover crock pot.  Set it on low to medium heat for about 2 hours.  Ready to eat once it is warm, but the longer it heats the better the flavors will taste! 

Honey Cornbread Muffins

* 1 cup White Cornmeal                                            * 1 cup all-purpose flour

* 1 Tablespoon baking powder                                  * 1/4 cup of sugar in the raw

* 1/4 cup of brown sugar                                           * 1 teaspoon of salt

* 1 cup of buttermilk                                                  * 2 eggs

* 2 Tablespoons of butter                                           * 1/4 cup of honey

1) Preheat oven to 400

2) Mix flour, salt, baking powder and cornmeal in a small bowl and set aside.

3) Beat eggs, sugar, sugar in the raw, brown sugar, honey, butter and buttermilk in a large mixing bowl. 

4) Stir dry mix into wet mix and stir until mixed very well. 

5) Pour batter into large muffin tin.  Should make 12 large muffins.

6) Bake for 14-18 minutes, or until golden brown.  Every over is different so you might want to check on them at 14 minutes!

Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

Now these may not be a healthy option but what can I say? Sometimes, you just have a sweet tooth.  I spent the whole day cooking and trying to clean up the after the holidays mess.  The whole time, all I could think about was having something sweet.  Not being prepared, I had to adapt a few different recipes to make it work with what I had on hand.  Luckily, it was a success and I was able to satisfy my craving!

Mackenzie's Oatmeal

Chocolate Chip Cookies

What you Need:

1/2 c. vegetable shortening.
1&1/2 cups of brown sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp. Vanilla extract
1&1/4 cups all purpose flour
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
1&1/2 cups of oats
1 cup of chocolate chips
1/2 cup of coconut

Directions:
1) Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
2) In a large bowl, cream together shortening, brown sugar, eggs & vanilla extract.
3) In a small bowl mix together flour, salt, baking soda.
4) Slowly stir the dry ingredients into the creamed mixture.  Once mixed, fold in oats, chocolate chips and coconut.
5) Drop by rounded spoon fulls onto a cookie sheet.
6) Bake about 12 minutes or until golden brown.

Healthy Breakfast Caserole

Mantle Ideas

One of my favorite things about moving is decorating a new space.  I am starting to develop my own style and learn how to do DIY projects.  Getting the mantle together was exciting as it is the centerpiece of the room.  I had a hard time committing to what would go up there but finally got it done!

Getting ready for the holidays

Cute idea for gift wrapping...

Wrap gifts with plain brown paper, get big ribbon of your choosing, letter stickers were 1.49$ @ Marshall's! They look great under the tree and you can avoid having to deal with name tags. 

Decorating with Christmas Ornaments...

 

Great Winter Soup....

 

 

Butternut Squash Soup w/ Beet Slaw

 

I recently relocated from Nashville to Columbus, Ohio.  The change from a mild winter to a cold winter has me craving all different kinds of soup.  I decided I wanted to get creative and make a nice winter soup for my friends.  I came across this recipe for Beet Slaw which proved to be a great addition to the soup. 

You can find the recipe for the slaw here: Beet Slaw Recipe 

    *notes -- next time I make this I will cut in half as this recipe creates a large amount of slaw. Additionally, I will only use the zest from 1/4 an orange as I thought the taste, at times, was overpowering. 

What you Need:

* 1 medium butternut squash

* 1 Tablespoon fresh ginger grated

* 2 Teaspoons ground cinnamon (I really like cinnamon, can reduce to 1 tsp if desired)

* salt to taste

* 1.5 cups almond milk (can also use coconut milk, I just had almond (full fat) on hand).  

* 3.5 cups vegetable broth

Directions:

1. Preheat over to 375 degrees.  Cut squash in half length wise and clean out seeds.  Drizzle with olive oil and salt.  Lay face down onto baking sheet and cook for an hour or until flesh is very soft.

2. Scoop flesh out of squash and mix with all other ingredients.  You have several options here.  I placed all ingredients in a pot and used an immersion blender to create the soup.  You can also place all ingredients in a blender or a food processor as well.  Once you reach desired texture move soup to a pot and bring to a boil.  Reduce to simmer until ready to serve. Keep in mind you may have to add more almond milk or broth depending on the size of your squash. 

3.  To serve, place desired amount of soup in bowl.  Top with beet slaw and a sprinkle of almond milk. 

A Holiday Treat...

If you need a great appetizer that will score you points in any area (i.e. appearance, taste, healthy, festive) then Pea Pesto is the way to go! I know what you are thinking, peas, really?  I have to insert here that  aside from this recipe, I do not enjoy peas. Thanks to Giada De Laurentiis, I can rave about this easy and tasty treat! All you need in your kitchen is a bag of frozen peas, Parmesan cheese, olive oil, garlic, salt and pepper.  Whip all of this up in the food processor and serve on Crostini with a slice of tomato! 

 

I have to give credit where it is due... I don't think I could ever come up with this on my own. As someone who is not a big fan of peas, I must say this is a great addition to your cookbook! Recipe provided below:

Giada's Pea Pesto