Chili with Cornbread Waffles

This idea has been floating about the internet for a while and I finally decided to give it a try last month.  I loved it!  And my family gave it 2 thumbs up.  Essentially, instead of making cornbread muffins to go with your chili, you make cornbread waffles and serve them with the chili on top.  It's a very filling and satisfying meal.  In fact, I found I couldn't eat an entire waffle - instead I only used 2 quarter sections for my serving.

You can use your own chili recipe or the simple one I've shared below.

CHILI

1 lb. ground beef
1/2 cup diced onion
1 (14.5 oz) can diced tomatoes
2 (8 oz each) cans tomato sauce
1 (7 oz) can diced green chiles
1 (15 oz) can kidney beans
1 (15 oz) can black beans
1 (15 oz) can pinto beans
2-3 Tbsp. chili powder (to taste)
2 tsp. cumin
salt & pepper

Toppings, optional:
Shredded cheese
sour cream
green onions

In a large pot, brown the ground beef with the onions; drain.  Add all remaining ingredients except salt and pepper and bring to a boil; reduce heat, cover, and simmer for 1-2 hours, stirring occasionally.  Season with salt and pepper, to taste, before serving.  Alternatively, after browning beef with onions, transfer to a slow cooker with remaining ingredients and cook on low for 8-10 hours.  Can be topped with cheese, sour cream, and sliced green onions.

CORNBREAD WAFFLES
from TastesBetterFromScratch

1 cup cornmeal
1 cup flour
4 tsp. baking powder
1/4 cup sugar
1 tsp. salt
2 eggs
1 cup milk
1/4 cup vegetable oil

Preheat waffle iron.  In a large bowl, combine corn meal, flour, baking powder, sugar, and salt.  Add eggs, milk, and oil and stir just until smooth.  Pour batter into hot waffle iron and bake in batches.  Makes 4 7-inch waffles.  Spoon warm chili over waffles or waffle sections.  Garnish with toppings.

Chili Cheese Tot Casserole

Okay.  I never, ever, ever in my life thought I would be endorsing canned chili, yet here I am.  Some nights you just want something quick, easy, and hot and this casserole delivers.  And it tastes good!  When my hubby reheated some leftovers at work, people were commenting on how good it smelled.  My daughter ate every last bite on her plate.

This recipe is adapted from one I found on LoveBakesGoodCakes.  If you are simply disgusted by the thought of using canned chili, you can make your own following the original recipe.  As for me and my house, we are okay with using canned chili a couple of times a year for the sake of saving time and energy.  Especially since, for me, making good homemade chili is a several hour affair.  And I looked at the ingredients list of the Hormel brand and it wasn't terrifying like I thought it would be.  Totally normal stuff!  Not a single ingredient you couldn't pronounce or wouldn't use otherwise.  And it's cheap.

CHILI CHEESE TOT CASSEROLE
adapted from LoveBakesGoodCakes

1 (32 oz) bag frozen tater tots
3 (15 oz, each) cans chili, with or without beans
2 cups shredded sharp cheddar cheese
2 green onions, sliced for garnish, optional
sour cream, optional

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Place tater tots in a 9x13 casserole dish and bake for 25 minutes.

While tots are baking, heat chili in a pot over the stove or in a microwave-safe bowl.  Spoon chili evenly over baked tots and sprinkle with cheese.  Return to oven for 10-15 minutes or until cheese is melted and casserole is heated through.  Sprinkle servings with green onions and dollop with sour cream, if desired.

Pre-Cooking and Freezing Ground Beef and Chicken

So I'm finally getting around to starting a new section of my blog:  Tips & Tricks.  This will kind of be like a "Cooking 101" class combined with posts about time and money savers in the kitchen.  You'll find the Tips & Tricks link at the top of the page, next to the Recipe Index.

Today I wanted to share something I picked up from my mother-in-law.  You know all those recipes that call for browned ground beef or cooked chicken?  How many times does that mean you have to defrost a pound of raw ground beef, then cook it up, or defrost some frozen chicken breasts, cook them, then shred or chop - all before you can get started on your recipe?  I did that for years.  Until my mother-in-law introduced me to a better way.  Pre-cooking large batches, THEN freezing!  And not only does this save you time by getting it all done at once, it saves you time with defrosting as well.  Cooked ground beef and chicken have a lot less water content than raw and defrosts in a fraction of the time.

This can also save you money - if you wait for ground beef or chicken to go on sale before purchasing as much as you can fit in your freezer and use within 6 months.  I have a teeny freezer, so I have to do this more often than I'd like, but it still saves me time in the kitchen so I keep doing it.  Here's how it works:

1.  Buy the ground beef or chicken when it goes on sale.  The last time I did this I bought 6 pounds of 95% lean ground beef for $2.77/lb (best price I can get in Phoenix).  When it comes to chicken, sometimes I can get bone-in split chicken breasts for as little as $0.88/lb. (but that is rare).  Most of the time I get boneless, skinless chicken breasts for about $1.67/lb.

2.  Cook it up.  I have a big wok-style pan that I use to brown the ground beef:

It can just barely hold the 6 pounds!  If you have to, do multiple batches.

It can take time and patience, but it WILL brown.  Once it does, drain it and let it cool.  You don't want to put hot beef in the freezer - ice crystals will form from the trapped steam and cause freezer burn. 

When it comes to chicken, I prefer to cook it in a slow cooker.  I find it tastes better than boiling, plus you can leave it for 4 hours and do something else.  If using bone-in chicken, I place the breasts skin side down after sprinkling them with salt and pepper:

 

I also add 1/2 cup of water.  I usually cook them on HIGH for 3-4 hours, because I usually stuff as many breasts in there as I can (unlike the above photo).  Basically, you cook 'em till they're done, like so:

 

 At this point, the meat just falls off the bone.  

I like to chop my chicken, but if you prefer to shred it, go for it.  If you want another shortcut, you can shred the chicken in a stand mixer.  I like to add about 1/4 - 1/2 cup of the broth back into the chopped chicken.  It adds flavor and keeps the chicken moist.  You can reserve the rest of the broth and put it in the fridge.  Once the fat solidifies at the top, you can scoop it off and then freeze the broth for future use.

3.  Bag it up.  I use quart-size Ziploc freezer bags to store my ground beef and chicken.  I've found that 2 1/2 cups of ground beef or chicken is roughly equal to 1 pound.  So, I divide up the 1 pound portions, squeeze out the air as best I can, then spread the bags flat for storing, like so:

You can label them if you want, but it's not hard to guess what's in there.  If you are worried about using it in time, you can certainly add the date it was cooked.  This can help if you end up doing another batch before using up what's left in the freezer. 

4.  Freeze it.  Here's what my teeny freezer looks like:

Believe it or not, there's more stuff behind what you can see.  I'm all about organization in there (not necessarily in the rest of my house...).  As you can see on the left, once something is frozen flat, you can stack it vertically!  It's a lot easier to pull things out when they are stored this way - less risk of dropping frozen food on your foot.  The ground beef wasn't frozen yet, so I set some already frozen bags down for the beef to rest on until it froze.  Then I could rearrange it vertically again.

Obviously there are other things in there besides the cooked chicken and beef, but we'll get to those in another post.  As I mentioned before, you want to use it up within 6 months.  

5.  Defrost it and use it!  Now that your ground beef and chicken are cooked, you have them ready whenever they are called for in a recipe.  Just defrost it in the microwave - I promise, it only takes a couple of minutes at most.  Sometimes I don't even bother defrosting it - I just plop the frozen ground beef in my spaghetti sauce and let the stove do the work.

Mexican Casserole

 

Some recipes you can just tell will be good.  When I saw this one on BlogChef.net, I knew it was going into rotation at our house.  This one-dish wonder was popular with the hubby and kiddo.  I served mine with a big ol' dollop of sour cream.  Just watch it on the Fritos - if you use the whole bag it will be too salty*.

MEXICAN CASSEROLE

slightly adapted from BlogChef.net

1 lb. ground beef

1 packet (or 1/4 cup) taco seasoning

1 (15 oz) can refried beans

1 cup salsa (or 1 [10 oz] can Rotel, drained)

2 1/2 cups shredded Monterey or Colby Jack cheese, divided

1 (10.25 oz) bag original Fritos corn chips*

1 can sliced olives

1 tomato, chopped

2 green onions, sliced

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  In a large skillet, brown the ground beef and drain.  Add taco seasoning and 3/4 cup water; simmer until thickened.

In a medium-sized, microwave-safe bowl, combine the refried beans, salsa or Rotel, and 1 cup of cheese.  Cover and microwave on HIGH for 2 minutes; stir.  Continue to microwave until cheese melts and mixture is smooth.

In a 2-quart or 8x8 casserole dish, sprinkle enough Fritos to cover the bottom of the dish.  Spread bean mixture, then beef evenly over chips.  Sprinkle about 1 cup of Fritos over beef, followed by the rest of the cheese and olives.  Bake for 15 minutes or until cheese is melted and casserole is heated through.  Sprinkle with tomatoes and green onions before serving.

Easy Swedish Meatballs

Have you been to Ikea?  My daughter pretty much equates Ikea with a trip to Disneyland - yummy food, fun activities for kids, you need a map to find your way around....  Luckily Ikea is much cheaper than Disney and much closer.  Every time we go, we eat at their cafeteria and my daughter always, always, always orders the Swedish meatballs.  Believe it or not, I've never ordered them and have no clue what they taste like.  They look and smell good, but for some reason I've always ordered something else off the menu. 

I like to buy the big bag of Kirkland brand frozen meatballs at Costco and then divide them up between 4 or 5 quart-size Ziploc bags.  I'll pull out a bag when making spaghetti with meatballs, or barbecue meatballs, or this time I decided to try Swedish meatballs.  I found a simple recipe for the gravy and used one of my bags of frozen meatballs.  I think traditionally Swedish meatballs are served with mashed potatoes, but I kept things simple and just steamed some white rice.  The gravy has great flavor and was a hit with my family (and myself).

EASY SWEDISH MEATBALLS
slightly adapted from allrecipes.com

1 cup beef broth
1 cup heavy cream*
3 Tbsp. flour
1 tsp. soy sauce
1/2 tsp. black pepper
1/2 tsp. dried rosemary
dash of nutmeg
dash of allspice
half of a (32 oz) package of frozen meatballs
chopped fresh parsley for garnish, optional

In a large saucepan, whisk the broth, cream, flour, soy sauce, black pepper, rosemary, nutmeg, and allspice until smooth.  Cook and stir over low heat until thickened (about 10-15 minutes).  Stir in frozen meatballs and heat through.  Serve over mashed potatoes, cooked egg noodles, or steamed rice.  Garnish with chopped parsley, if desired.  Serves 4 (you can add more meatballs to serve more people - you'll just have a little less sauce).

*You can substitute 1/2 cup of milk + 1/2 cup of sour cream

Baked Spasagna

I saw this recipe on Pinterest; the pin was from the blog Plain Chicken, who got the recipe from Food.com, where the recipe is touted as a copycat for an entree at Cheddar's restaurants.  Got that?  Lol.

Anyway, I really like this recipe because it's like a lazy man's lasagna: all the lasagna taste without all the work.  Easy and yummy?  Sold.  That said, I've tweaked the recipe because the original was a little excessive on the amounts of ingredients.  And even with my changes this still fills up a 9x13 and should be enough to feed a family of 6 or more.

BAKED SPASAGNA
adapted from recipe on Plain Chicken

16 oz (1 lb.) uncooked spaghetti
16 oz (2 cups) shredded mozzarella
8 ounces (1 cup) ricotta cheese
1/2 cup sour cream
1 cup half-and-half (fat-free is fine), or milk
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese, divided, plus more for garnish
1/2 tsp. oregano
1/2 tsp. basil
1/2 tsp. pepper
1 tsp. minced garlic
1/2 tsp. salt
1 jar (26 oz) spaghetti sauce*
1 lb. Italian sausage or ground beef

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Spray a 9x13 baking dish with cooking spray and set aside.

Cook pasta according to package directions; drain.

In a large bowl, stir together sour cream, ricotta, half-and-half or milk, mozzarella, oregano, basil, pepper, garlic, salt, and half the Parmesan cheese.  Add spaghetti and toss until well coated.  Pour mixture into prepared pan and press even.  Sprinkle with remaining 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese.

Cover dish with foil and bake for 40 minutes.

While pasta is baking, prepare meat sauce: brown sausage or ground beef in skillet; drain.  Add spaghetti sauce and simmer.

Remove pasta from oven; let stand about 10 minutes.  Cut pasta into squares and top with meat sauce.  Sprinkle more Parmesan for garnish, if desired.

*My favorite jarred spaghetti sauce is Prego's Italian Sausage and Garlic, but it only comes in a 23.5 oz jar, so I used that and added a 14.5 oz can of petite diced tomatoes.  Turned out good!

Slow Cooker Taco Pasta

Sorry it's been so long since my last post.  My daughter and I went out of town for 6 weeks to visit my family this summer and I'm just now getting back into the swing of things.

We ate a lot of chicken this week and I was hankering for something with ground beef.  Maybe Mexican?  But I didn't have any flour tortillas or taco shells on hand (or lettuce for that matter) so tacos and burritos were out.  I found a beef enchilada recipe I want to try but didn't have 3 of the necessary ingredients, so that was off the table.  Finally I thought of chili mac and figured there must be an easy Mexican-flavored twist to it.  So I Googled "taco pasta" and found a couple of recipes that sounded close to what I wanted.  I've sort of combined two of them here.

The nice thing about this recipe is you can fix it (well, most of it) and walk away.  It was very popular at dinner tonight, getting two thumbs up from everybody.  And I have to think this would be a great freezer meal!

SLOW COOKER TACO PASTA

1 lb. ground beef
1/2 an onion, chopped
1 (15 oz.) can tomato sauce
1 (14.5 oz.) can diced tomatoes
1 (7 oz.) can diced green chiles
1 (15 oz.) can kidney beans, rinsed and drained
1 pkg. (or 1/4 cup) taco seasoning
1-2 garlic cloves, minced
16 oz. uncooked mini pasta shells
shredded Mexican cheese blend
sour cream

In a large skillet, brown ground beef with onions; drain and let cool a little.  Combine beef and onion mixture, tomato sauce, diced tomatoes, green chiles, beans, taco seasoning, and garlic in the slow cooker.  Cover and cook on low for 4-6 hours.

Cook pasta according to package directions; rinse and drain.  Stir pasta into beef mixture and serve with cheese and sour cream.

Slow Cooker Meat Loaf

I am generally not a meatloaf fan, but I will eat the meatloaf my mother-in-law makes. For me it's all about the sauce. In fact, I double it when I make it just so there's extra to slather on my slice. Sorry that this looks like a photo of a bloody brain ... not my best work. I promise it doesn't taste like a bloody brain. I've probably just completely ruined this for you, huh?

SLOW COOKER MEATLOAF

2 lbs. ground beef
1 cup seasoned bread crumbs
1 1/4 cup milk
1 egg
1/4 cup dehydrated onion
1/2 tsp. pepper
1/2 tsp. ground mustard
1/2 tsp. ground sage
1/2 tsp. celery salt
1/2 tsp. garlic powder
1 Tbsp. Worchestershire sauce

Sauce:
1/2 cup ketchup
6 Tbsp. brown sugar
2 tsp. Dijon mustard
1/2 tsp. nutmeg

In a large bowl, combine ground beef, bread crumbs, milk, egg, onion, pepper, mustard, sage, celery salt, garlic powder, and Worchestershire sauce and mix well. Shape mixture into an oval and place in slow cooker:

Cook on low for 5-6 hours.

In a small bowl, whisk together ketchup, brown sugar, mustard, and nutmeg. Pour over meatloaf, recover and cook on high for 20-30 minutes longer.

Meatloaf can be served out of slow cooker or you can try to very carefully remove it to a platter.

Spaghetti and Meatballs

My daughter is a meatball fanatic. She loooves meatballs. She will even eat them with -heaven forbid- spaghetti sauce!

My problem with meatballs is ... well, they're just not my favorite. They can be too dry, too mushy, or just plain flavorless. Well, I think I finally figured out a meatball recipe that fixes all of those problems.

Most people have bouillon cubes or granules. My parents introduced me to beef (and chicken) base. It's essentially the same thing as bouillon but has a lot less salt. Because of this, you keep it in the fridge once you open it, but it still lasts a long time. This is the kind I get:

I know you can get it at Costco on the east coast. For some reason the Costco's in Arizona don't carry it (why is that?!) so you can order it online (never pay more than $9) or look in your local grocery.

Now why am I talking about beef base? Remember how I always found meatballs to be somewhat flavorless? I figured the best way to beef them up (pardon the pun) was too add more beef flavor. So that's what I did and I think it makes a big difference. Now, if you don't have base, you can use bouillon, but since it does have more salt, I'd leave out the dash of salt called for in the recipe.

You can use your favorite spaghetti sauce or the one I've included here.

SPAGHETTI AND MEATBALLS

Meatballs:
1 lb. ground beef
3/4 cup seasoned bread crumbs
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 egg
2/3 cup milk
1 tsp. beef base or bouillon or 1 bouillon cube
1/4 cup dehydrated onion
1 1/2 tsp. garlic powder
1 tsp. pepper
1 tsp. dried parsley
1/4 tsp. dried oregano
1/4 tsp. dried basil
dash of salt

Sauce:
2 (14.5 oz) cans diced tomatoes with basil and garlic (Italian style)
1 (14.5 oz) can petite diced tomatoes
1 (8 oz) can tomato sauce
1/2 cup finely chopped onion
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 Tbsp. olive oil
1 tsp. salt
2 tsp. sugar
1/2 tsp. pepper
1/2 tsp. fennel seed (optional)
1/4 tsp. thyme
1 tsp. oregano
1 tsp. basil

Pour 2 cans of Italian style tomatoes into a blender and puree.

In a large saucepan, heat olive oil over medium heat and saute onion and garlic until onion is tender. Add pureed tomatoes, petite diced tomatoes, and tomato sauce. Stir in salt, sugar, pepper, fennel, thyme, oregano, and basil and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer, uncovered, for 30-45 minutes stirring occasionally.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line a cookie sheet with aluminum foil and lightly coat with cooking spray. In a microwave-safe measuring cup or bowl, heat milk for 30 seconds or until warm. Add beef base or bouillon and stir until dissolved. In a large bowl, combine ground beef, bread crumbs, Parmesan, egg, milk mixture, dehydrated onion, garlic powder, pepper, parsley, oregano, basil, and dash of salt until thoroughly mixed (easiest to do with your hands). Roll into 2-inch balls and place on greased cookie sheet. Bake for 15 minutes or until browned. Add meatballs to sauce and simmer, covered, for 15 minutes.

Serve with 1 (16 oz) box of spaghetti; cooked, rinsed, and drained.

Honey-Garlic Glazed Meatballs

These are similar to the other meatball recipe I have on this site, but still very tasty. I used the full amount of garlic suggested in the recipe and there wasn't much of a garlic flavor - the ketchup can overpower it. So I'm recommending you use more garlic.

To save on clean-up, I lined my pan with foil and then sprayed the foil with cooking spray.

Following some reviews, I doubled the sauce. Totally unnecessary! Unless you want your meatballs drowning in sauce.

HONEY-GARLIC GLAZED MEATBALLS
adapted from Allrecipes.com

2 eggs
3/4 cup evaporated milk
1 cup breadcrumbs (Italian style is fine)
1 Tbsp minced dried onion
2 tsp. salt
1 1/2 tsp. garlic powder
2 lbs. ground beef

Sauce:
4-6 garlic cloves, minced
1 Tbsp. butter
3/4 cup ketcup
1/2 cup honey
3 Tbsp. soy sauce

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. In a large bowl combine eggs and milk. Add the bread crumbs, onion, salt, and garlic powder. Crumble beef over mixture and mix well. Shape into 1-inch balls. Place on greased jelly-roll pan and bake, uncovered, for 12-15 minutes or until meat is no longer pink.

Meanwhile, in a large saucepan, saute garlic in butter until tender. Stir in the ketchup, honey, and soy sauce. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 5 minutes. Drain meatballs, if necessary; add to sauce. Carefully stir to evenly coat. Cook for 5 - 10 minutes.

Chili Cornbread Casserole

I adapted this recipe from a box of Stove Top cornbread stuffing mix. I had made the original before and didn't quite like the outcome, so this time I adjusted it a bit. Now, in the recipe I'm posting, I suggest simmering the chili for at least 45 minutes. That's because I don't like chewy ground beef. Simmering it for a while softens the beef and makes it more palatable to me. It also reduces the liquid in the chili. You do not have to do the simmer - but understand that your casserole will be a little more gooey - which is not necessarily a bad thing! Also, you could sub 1 1/2 cups of salsa (for a total of 2 1/2 cups in the recipe) if you don't have the diced tomatoes and green chiles on hand.

This is a great recipe for a cold night!


CHILI CORNBREAD CASSEROLE

1 box (6 oz) cornbread stuffing mix
1 1/2 cups hot water
1 lb. ground beef
1/2 cup chopped onion
1 can kidney beans, undrained
1 can black beans, undrained
1 can (8 oz) tomato sauce
1 can (14.5 oz) diced tomatoes with green chiles
1 cup salsa
2 Tbsp. chili powder
2 tsp. cumin
pepper to taste

In a large skillet, brown ground beef with onions; drain. Add beans, tomato sauce, diced tomatoes, salsa, chili powder, cumin, and pepper. Bring to a boil; reduce heat and simmer, uncovered, for 45 minutes.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a medium bowl, pour hot water over stuffing and fluff with fork. Pour chili into 9x13 casserole dish. Top with stuffing. Bake for 30 minutes.

Serve with shredded cheddar cheese and sour cream.

Chili

I don't actually follow a recipe when I make chili. It's more like I dump stuff in the pot and hope it turns out good.

I made some for my in-laws to take to a get-together and apparently it was a hit. So, I'm writing a "recipe" of what I did that time around.


CHILI

3/4 - 1 lb. lean ground beef, browned and drained
1 (14.5 oz) can petite diced tomatoes
1 (14.5 oz) can diced tomatoes with green chiles
1 (4 oz) can diced green chilis
2 (8 oz) cans tomato sauce
1 can black beans, rinsed and drained
1 can kidney beans, rinsed and drained
1 can pinto beans, rinsed and drained
1 small onion, diced
1/4 cup chili powder
1 heaping Tbsp. ground cumin
1 1/2 tsp. garlic powder
salt and pepper to taste

Combine all ingredients in a slow cooker and cook on low for 5-6 hours.

Can also cook on the stove in a large pot - simmer, covered, for 2-3 hours.

Making Rice-a-Roni Go Farther

Just a few suggestions to get more out of your box of Rice-a-Roni. You can do one, some, or all of the following:

• Add 1/3 - 1/2 cup chopped onion while you saute the rice in butter.
• Add 1/4 cup sliced or slivered almonds while you saute the rice in butter.
• Add 2-3 stalks of celery, chopped, when you add water to the rice.
• Add 2 cups diced cooked chicken or browned ground beef when you add water to the rice.
• Add 1 cup fresh broccoli florets during the last five minutes of cooking.

You may have to adjust cooking time when adding the celery - sometimes I've found that it needs a couple more minutes to simmer.

I haven't tried adding carrots yet, but I bet if you chopped them small enough or shredded them it would work.

Please comment with any tricks you have used with the San Francisco Treat and I'll add them to this post so we can all benefit from your excellent wisdom!

************************************

My friend, Becky, suggested browning the rice minus the butter to save on calories. Good tip!

Barbecue Meatballs

This is one of Caralie's all-time favorites. Probably because ketchup is involved.


BARBECUE MEATBALLS

2 lbs lean ground beef
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1 cup quick cooking oats
7 oz. evaporated milk
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. black pepper
1 tsp. garlic powder
1 Tbsp. chili powder
1/4 cup dried minced onion

Sauce:
2 cups ketchup
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 tsp. garlic powder
2 Tbsp. liquid smoke

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl, mix beef, egg, oats, evap. milk, and spices. Form into 2 inch balls (I just use an ice cream scoop) and arrange in a single layer in a shallow baking dish (I usually need one 9x13 and one 8x8 glass baking dish). Bake in oven for 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, prepare sauce. Mix all ingredients in a small bowl. When meatballs are finished baking, pour sauce over meatballs. Return to oven for 15 more minutes.