White Chicken Chili with Tomato Garnish

A friend from High School posted this recipe to her blog. Now, before I list the ingredients and directions I need to put on record that I am a picky eater. One of the things I do not like is uncooked tomatoes. I also have never been a fan of white chili, mainly because I don't like white beans. My husband is not a picky eater, but he has never liked white chili and was skeptical and slightly disappointed when I told him that this dish was on the menu. With that said, we both LOVED this chili. After this picture was taken, we both crushed up some tortilla chips and added it in. YUM.

Jean's White Chili with Tomato Garnish

Soup:

3 cans white navy beans, drained and rinsed

1 white onion, diced

6 cups chicken broth

4 cups chicken breast, cooked and cubed

7 oz can diced green chiles

4 tsp cumin

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper

2 tsp dried oregano

1 cup sour cream

3 cups Monterey Jack cheese, shredded

In a large pot, slightly saute onion until tender. Add beans and broth. Cook until onions and beans are tender. Add chicken, chiles, and seasonings; continue to simmer until the sauce is thickened. (Approx. 30 min. - 1 hour). Take the pot off the heat and add the sour cream and cheese. Stir until the cheese melts. Serve with tomato garnish.

Garnish: (there are no measurements, it's to your taste.)

tomatoes, chopped

cilantro, chopped

sweet and sour dressing

Sweet and Sour Dressing:

1/2 cup sugar

1/4 cup apple cider vinegar

juice from 1 lemon

1 tsp dried onion powder

1 tsp salt

1 tsp paprika

1/3 cup vegetable oil

2 tsp celery seed (optional, and I opted not to use it)

In a small saucepan, combine the sugar and vinegar and bring to a boil, stirring until sugar is dissolved. In a dressing container, combine lemon juice and seasonings. Add vinegar mixture and then add oil. shake to combine. Dressing will keep up to a week n the refrigerator. Add only enough to coat the tomatoes and cilantro.

Lettuce Wraps

I have a chopper that I use to chop up my veggies. You will need 3 mushrooms, I use 1/2 of the medium bag of carrots, 3 celery stocks, and 2 cans of water chestnuts.

You will need 1 can of chicken broth to a pot. Add celery, water chestnuts, carrots and mushrooms. Cover and simmer for about 20 minutes or until most of the broth is gone.

Meanwhile cook 2 breasts of chicken and then dice. Also make your 2 cups of rice. Once your chicken, rice and veggies are done. Combine them together. Add Soy Sauce and Peanut Sauce to taste. The peanut sauce is spicy so depending on your level of spiciness.

Spicy Buffalo Chicken Wings

1/2 Cup butter

1/2 Cup Louisiana Hot Sauce

2 pkg Dry Italian Dressing

2 TBSP Lemon juice

4 lb bag of chicken wings and thighs

I like my wings to be extra crispy. I just deep fried my wings one time and when I bit into it. It was still raw. It totally grossed me out so I bake my chicken on a cookie sheet at 400 degrees until they are a light brown. Then I deep fry them to get the crispiness. Add the ingredients above in a sauce pan on low heat. Dip chicken in sauce. I usually let it sit in the sauce for about 5 minutes then put them on a plate to eat.

Food Network

I think most of us are aware of The Pioneer Woman. If you aren't, you need to check her out, you will be a big fan in no time.

I was reading her blog today and was so excited to see that she's doing an episode of Throwdown with Bobby Flay. I'm mostly just excited to see her ranch and the Lodge where she cooks and entertains. Just a heads up for those of you who are interested. You can read her blog post here.

Wednesday, November 17th at 9PM (8 central).

Oh why don't I have cable? Will someone please DVR it for me?

Creamy Ham and Potato Soup

3 1/2 Cups peeled and diced potatoes

1/3 Cup diced celery

1/3 Cup finely chopped onion

1/2 Cup diced carrots

1 Cup diced cooked ham

3 1/4 Cup chicken broth

1/2 Teaspoon salt

1 Teaspoon pepper

5 Tablespoon butter

5 Tablespoon flour

2 Cups milk

Combine all the vegetables (I actually put in a little bit more of the veggies than what was called) ham and broth in a stockpot (because I added a little more veggies, I also added a little water to the stockpot.) Bring to a boil and cook over med heat until potatoes are tender (about 10-15 min.)

In a separate saucepan, melt butter. Whisk in flour with a fork, and cook, stirring constantly until thick. Slowly add in milk so lumps don't form. Continue stirring over med-low heat until thick, 4-5 minutes.

Stir in milk mixture to stock pot, cook until heated through.

Top with shredded cheese, green onion, and bacon, if desired.

Menu Planning

I already sent out an email to some of you, but since I don't have everyone's email I thought I would post on here as well.

I saw this great menu calendar craft online and in my attempt to find a clear acrylic 12x12 calendar sheet found the best deal at oriental trading which means I now have 16 sheets. I only need a few, but I bought them anyway. If any of you are interested in making one or want some sheets for your own projects, let me know (it works out to $0.75 apiece). I'll also be purchasing the magnetic paint - enough for about 20 frames - so if you want to paint your frame at my house we can split the cost of that, too.

Pumpkin Doughnut Muffins

Kristen asked me to post this recipe, so here you go, dear friend! :) I saw the recipe on The Picky Apple and knew I had to try it. They are quite yummy and I'm always willing to try a new way to bake pumpkin. Next time I make them I will bake them in a mini-muffin pan so that they are more like doughnut holes. Mmmm.

Pumpkin Doughnut Muffins

from Everyday Food, November 2010

Makes 12

For the Batter:

• 10 tablespoons (1 1/4 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature, plus more for pan
• 3 cups all-purpose flour (spooned and leveled), plus more for pan
• 2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon coarse salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/4 teaspoon ground allspice (I didn't have any on hand, so I used pumpkin pie spice in place of the nutmeg and allspice)
  
• 1/3 cup buttermilk
• 1 1/4 cups pure pumpkin puree
• 3/4 cup light-brown sugar (I only had dark-brown and it turned out fine)
  
• 2 large eggs

For the Sugar Coating:

• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 2 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, melted

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Butter and flour 12 standard muffin cups. Make batter. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, nutmeg, and allspice. In a small bowl, whisk together buttermilk and pumpkin puree. In a large bowl, using an electric mixer, beat butter and brown sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs, one at a time, scraping down bowl as needed. With mixer on low, add flour mixture in three additions, alternating with two additions pumpkin mixture and beat to combine.

Spoon 1/3 cup batter into each muffin cup and bake until a toothpick inserted in center of a muffin comes out clean, 30 minutes. Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, combine granulated sugar and cinnamon. Let muffins cool 10 minutes in pan on a wire rack. Working with one at a time, remove muffins from pan, brush all over with butter, then toss to coat in sugar mixture. Let muffins cool completely on a wire rack.