Chuck Wagon Chili

Is it a chili? Is it a steamer? Is it Chuck Norris? None of the above. And All of the above. 

It has beans and ground beef like a chili. So it is a chili. But its not really because...

It is more like a steamer (In south central PA, that is what we call a sloppy joe), because it is meaty, not so much soupy like a chili can be. It is the texture of a thick, meaty sloppy joe.  It is like Chuck Norris cause it is just that AWESOME!  :)  Whatever you call it, whatever you classify it as... it is good and you should make it!

Click Here for free printable recipe!

Grab:

1/2 pound bacon cut into pieces

3 pounds ground beef (I used 93/7)

2 finely chopped onions (I used 1 small and one large)

1 cup finely chopped celery

2 beef bullion cubes (I didn't have bullion so I used omitted the water and used 2/3 cup beef stock)

2/3 cups boiling water

1.5 cups of ketchup

3 TBSP Mustard

1.5 tsp salt

1/2 tsp pepper

2 -29oz can molasses style Baked Beans

3 TBSP Brown Sugar

Go:

Preheat oven to 375.

In a Dutch oven (or large, heavy oven safe pot) fry bacon until crisp, set aside.

Drain most of the fat.

Cook and stir beef, onion, celery until brown and tender (over medium heat).

Dissolve bullion in boiling water.

Add to meat mixture along with all other ingredients including bacon.

bake one hour and 15 minutes with lid off. 

I served mine with a lettuce bed and yellow pepper, sour cream, tortilla chips and Homestyle Grands biscuits. It was divine. And it makes a ton.  

 See the spoon in the corner where I stole a bite. Yeah, that's how I roll.

So good! 

Roasted Brussel Sprouts

Need I say it again? 

Green is my favorite color. 

I will eat anything Green. 

Except for Jello. 

( I don't know what to do with it. Chew? Liquify? Swallow whole?)

And I don't really do pudding. 

So no pistachio pudding for me.

But Green veggies? 

I am in!

My favorites? 

Brussel Sprouts and Asparagus. 

Here are some yummy brussel sprouts! Enjoy!

I usually just boil the heck out of my brussel sprouts with a chicken bullion cube. I love them like that. I don't even care if I over boil and they are mushy. I just love those little baby cabbages. (Well, that is what they look like at least.) 

Once in a while, I will roast the sprouts. If I feel like cutting them up and waiting for them to roast. It totally changes the flavor. It gives it a nutty flavor. Really good and not mushy :)

Grab:

Some FRESH brussel sprouts

Some oil (EVOO or canola)

Salt and Pepper

onion- (optional)

-or-

slivered almonds (optional)

Go:

Cut brussel sprouts in half lengthwise. (I also cut the bottom off, but you don't have to)

Throw on a baking sheet and drizzle with oil. 

Sprinkle with S&P

You can add thick slices of onions if you want. 

Place in preheated oven at 400 degrees. Give the sprouts a stir every 8 minutes. So they roast evenly. 

Add almonds if you desire halfway through ( about the 12 minute mark)

My sprouts are done after about 25 minutes. 

Green and good for you! Happy me! :) 

Black Magic Cake

Black Magic Cake

I found this recipe via pinterest. Anything with coffee and chocolate is at the top of my "Must Make" list. So I gave it a whirl today. Disclosure: I am picky about cake. I don't want anything to do with any kind of dry cake. This is not at all dry. Moist, light, yummy. It is a keeper. It will be my go-to chocolate cake recipe!

Here is where you can find the original recipe.
But I copied it for ya! :)

1 3/4 c	all purpose flour
2 c	sugar
3/4 c	cocoa powder
2 tsp	baking soda
1 tsp	baking powder
1 tsp	salt
2	eggs
1 c	strong black coffee, cooled
1 c	buttermilk
1/2 c	vegetable oil
1 tsp	real vanilla extract
CHOCOLATE FROSTING
1/2 c	margarine, softened
2 oz	melted unsweetened chocolate, cooled
3 c	powdered sugar
3 Tbsp	milk
2 tsp	real vanilla extract

Directions

1

 Combine flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder, and salt in a large mixing bowl or stand mixer.

2

 Add eggs, coffee, buttermilk, oil, and vanilla.

3

 Beat at medium speed for two minutes. Batter will be thin.

4

 Pour batter into a greased and floured 9x13 pan or two 9 inch cake pans.

5

 Bake at 350 degrees for 35-40 minutes for a 9x13, or 30-35 minutes for layer pans.

6

 Combine frosting ingredients and mix with a hand or stand mixer. Spread frosting on cooled cakes.

So what I loved about this cake... was it was light but moist. The frosting was really light. Almost whipped.  The only changes I made, were to use milk choco chips instead of unsweetend chocolate in the frosting, I added a TBSP of peanut butter to the chocolate to help it smooth out and used heavy cream for the milk. So good. So easy. Gotta go... shoving my face with cake. 

Freezer Breakfast Burritos- Low Carb!!!!

I saw this idea over at Mom on Time Out. She has some great ideas! I adjusted it a little bit according to my tastes and what I had on hand. :)  And people guess what!!!??!?!! They are LOW CARB!!! Warning: That does not mean good for you. These are BETTER for you than if you would use your regular flour tortilla, but they have a lot of meat in them... which equals a fair amount of fat. But still a good breakfast choice. :) Better than a Pop Tart for sure. ( I tried to type fo' sho' - but I sounded like a pretender. I am. Don't hate.)

Grab:

24 Medium Flour Tortillas

I used Mission Carb Balance. Confession: I am a carbaholic and this is one little way that I can get a lot of fiber without giving up any taste or texture. These are my all time favorite wraps. If they ever stop making them, I will mourn. I will wear a black. I will not eat any more Mexican food. Ever. Ok, I lied. I love Mexican food way too much to give it up indefinitely. But mourn, I will. For days. Just check out the nutrition info on these babies! 120 Cals, 6 Net carbs, 13 grams of fiber baby! Oh yeah! I feel thinner just thinking about it! :) Guilt free. 

Wow, that was a long tangent. Anyway...

24 Medium Flour Tortillas

1 pound of loose breakfast sausage

1 cup of cubed ham

1/2 pound of bacon (low sodium)

18 eggs

1/2 cup milk

1 orange bell pepper

About a cup of shredded cheese (eyeball it)

This is what I did:

I baked my bacon in a single layer on foil at 400 degrees for about 15 minutes. This varies, and you will have to watch your bacon closely after about the 10 minute mark.  Drained it and crumbled it. 

Cooked my sausage in the skillet, rinsed and drained. 

Chopped my bell pepper.

Heated some butter over low heat.

Threw in my bell pepper.

Cracked 18 eggs and mixed them with some S&P and the milk.

***TIP- when cracking an egg, hit is straight down onto the counter top. Do not tap it on the edge of the counter. This pushes the tiny pieces of shell into the egg. Hit it on the flat surface and you won't be digging shell out of your dish! :) ***

Threw my eggs in on top of my pepper. 

(Let your eggs cook slowly, sloshing them around the pan. It gives you a nice yellow, moist egg. Turn up the heat when the egg starts to coagulate.) Remove them from the heat when the are 85 percent cooked, then keep folding them over. They will finish cooking. Your eggs won't be dry.)

Then I mixed the bacon, sausage and ham into my eggs. 

When it cooled, I began the burrito wrapping process. 

This part is tricky to me... but you will soon be a master of burrito wrapping.

Lay out your tortilla. Now mine are not a perfect circle. Lay it out so the longest part is horizontal. Like this...

Sprinkle some cheese towards the bottom.

Then spoon meat on top. 

Like so.

Then, fold up the bottom and sides simultaneously. And roll. Squishing any egg mixture back inside as you go. Tuck in any little parts of the wrap that are not being cooperative. Lay seam side down on to baking sheet. 

Now, MOTO suggests that you flash freeze these in a single layer on a baking sheet for one hour before you wrap them. I guess this is so they stay together while you are wrapping them in saran wrap. However, I did not have the room in my freezer and was much too impatient. So I just wrapped them in the saran. I had NO problems at all. This was super simple, so I see no need to flash freeze them.

Last step was packing as many as I could into a gallon freezer bag labeled with directions:

According to MOTO:

Wrap burrito in damp paper towel and microwave at 50% power for 3 minutes. And she suggests you serve with salsa. YUM or in my house... mayo and ketchup! :)

I think this is a great idea for a quick breakfast. Low carb in this case! This would even make a great lunch! :) 

Thanks Mom on Time Out!