Chili Mac
With a 16th birthday and house remodeling taking up most of my time I have been absent from the blog for too long. Though luckily during all the remodeling I have been working on smaller projects too like DIY photography boards for my food photography. Plus, a list of recipes, including chili mac, that would look delicious here on the blog. It also helps if the family likes them.
Five people in one house can make it difficult to choose a recipe that everyone will try or enjoys. My oldest son does not like cheese. There is a few dishes that he will eat “certain” cheeses with like mozzarella. On the other hand, my daughter eats cheese but is not the biggest fan. My middle son, myself, and the other half all enjoy plenty of different cheeses. This is just a tiny dilemma since many dishes have cheese but it is super easy to remove it. Below is one dish I have found that the entire family will eat that does not come straight from mixing boxed food with canned food.
Mmm… Good comfort food. Chili Mac!
Hearty meat, fresh spices, and comfort pasta make this dish so appeasing not only to adults but children too. Top it with cheese and onions for even more flavor. My son likes to add sour cream but I like mine with cheese and red onion. For extra heat the other half adds cayenne pepper over his after it is served.
Back to the DIY photography boards. Tell me these boards are not just super pretty? I just love playing with colors and leaving some natural. I am thinking about a post on how to make DIY photography boards with cheap acrylic paint, Elmer’s glue, and plywood. Just curious if any of my readers would be interesting in reading a detailed post about this?
Here’s the recipe for Chili Mac :)
Ingredients
Instructions
In a medium pot, fill with water and add in salt with olive oil. Bring to a boil and add pasta. Cook pasta according to directions on the box. Drain and set aside.
In a large pot, add ground beef, white onion, and red peppers along with beef broth. Cook until meat is browned. Add in cumin, paprika, chili powder, and cayenne pepper; stir well. Add in crushed tomatoes and turn down the heat to low. Bring the sauce to a slow, low boil and add in pasta. Do not let sauce burn, watch it closely! Stir in pasta lightly until covered with sauce and cook for about a minute allowing the sauce to soak into pasta.
Serve topped with cheese, sour cream, and/or red onions.
http://mooshujenne.com/chili-mac/
Plněná paprika polévka – Stuffed pepper soup
This plnena paprika polevka also know as stuffed pepper soup has been lurking in my folder for about two weeks now. I held off on it to finish the boards to photograph it on and once I finally photographed it I realized I left thick soup all along the edge and it looks horrible; well to me it looks horrible. The plan to remake the soup continued to be put off since the weather is considerably hot here for this time of year. It probably just best to go ahead and share it. If we end up with another cold and rainy day I can always remake the soup and get some gorgeous shots.
Czechs generally make stuffed bell peppers a bit different then Italians do. My other half and I figured that out the first time we decided to make stuffed peppers together. He is full blooded Czech and well I’m Italian with other heritage but more prone to the Italian as I was raised with that cuisine and values. Czech stuffed peppers are simmered on a stove with paprika, rice, and ground beef while Italian stuffed pepper are baked in the oven without paprika and a small amount of tomato sauce. This stuffed pepper soup is a rendition of Czech stuffed peppers turned inside out to make a soup. Love Czech stuffed peppers with dumplings also known as knedliky. We just had garlic bread at the time but it would have been nice to pair them with this soup.
The board turned out nice in the photograph. I am working on several others and thinking about a DIY post. Anyone that would be interested? The boards I am working on are going to be chalkboard, crackled, and stained. Most of them will be painted with basic cheap acrylic paints you can pick up at any hobby store. Hoping to get the rest of them cut tonight so I can work on them over the next few days. Also in some serious need for heavy poster board. Looks like another run to the Dollar Tree.
Ingredients
Instructions
In a large pot, on medium high heat, add in diced onion, garlic, and peppers. Add in two tablespoons of olive oil and saute for about 2 minutes. Add in ground beef and cook with vegetables until meat is browned.
Add paprika to the beef once browned and stir well incorporating all of the paprika. Add in the rice, stewed tomatoes, and tomato sauce. Using the tomato cans put in a little water to clean off sides and add that water to the pot. Bring the heat to low and cook for about 15 minutes. Add salt and pepper to taste.
If you would like the soup thinner just add any broth of choice. Garnish soup with parsley, dumplings, and fresh bell pepper.
http://mooshujenne.com/plnena-paprika-polevka-stuffed-pepper-soup/And now I am off to cut those boards… well make the other half do it while I eat fresh tortillas with salsa and butter. Guilty pleasure!
Pinto Bean Chili
Pinto bean chili is one of the simplest dishes that will feed a crowd. It will keep and keep! That just reminded me of cook on the movie Atlantis where he goes on about the beans and everyone thinks UGH because they are tired of them. He literally says “They will keep and keep!” We used to watch that movie all the time when my kids were younger. I need to obtain that movie on Blu ray. *Runs off to search and check food in oven*
I’m back! Does not look like they have it for Blu ray with a quick search. Might have to do a extended search to see what I can find and add Hotel Transylvania to the check out too! Anyway, back to the pinto bean chili! Does that cornbread just look delish!
Love how this comes together as just slow cooked beans and you can have them completely vegetarian or with bacon or ground beef. I am not a huge fan of ground beef so I always go to my favorite meat which is bacon. It adds a smokey flavor. It is also easy to add carrots, celery, or even stewed tomatoes. If you want to add vegetables then it is best to do them at the beginning when sauteing the onion, peppers, and garlic. If you want to add stewed tomatoes it is best to stir them in about 30 minutes before serving. My recipe is the basic recipe that allows you to add whatever you would like to it along with controlling the heat. If you want it hotter add more peppers and if you want it cooler then add less peppers. Mine is a tad spicy for the little ones but great for the teens and adults without setting mouths ablaze.
Ingredients
Instructions
In a large pot, add minced onion, garlic, and jalapeno peppers. Saute on medium heat for about three minutes. Add in cumin, paprika, cayenne pepper, salt, and pepper; stir well. Add rinsed beans and stir to mix the beans with vegetables. Add container of stock and bacon halves to pot. Fill the rest of the pot to the top with water. Turn heat up to high and bring to a boil. Once at a boil lower to a medium heat. Cook for about 5 hours until the beans are soft and liquid has thickened; stir often. Serve with cornbread or topped with cheese, sour cream, and cilantro.
http://mooshujenne.com/pinto-bean-chili/Today, Food Network and a group of bloggers are featuring Chili (for #Superbowl) for this week’s Comfort Food Feast event. Please stop by and see what everyone made:
Jeanette’s Healthy Living: Crock Pot Cincinnati Chicken Chili
The Heritage Cook: Gluten-Free Green Chile and Chicken Taco Bowls
The Cultural Dish: Crock-Pot Chili
Big Girls, Small Kitchen: Healthy Chicken Chili With Barley
What’s Gaby Cooking: Smoky Chipotle Chicken Chili
Feed Me Phoebe: Chicken and White Bean Chili
Dishin & Dishes: Lean Mean Game-Day Chili
The Lemon Bowl: Beef Chili With Black Beans
Devour: 4 Twists on Chili for the Super Bowl
Thursday Night Dinner: 3 Most Favorite Chili Recipes
FN Dish: 7 Chili Recipes for the Big Game
Shepherd’s Hand Pies
Yes, I love pie! Oddly enough I prefer cherry or meat pies. These Shepherd’s Hand Pies feature shepherd’s pie in a handmade pie crust. The can be made with beef, chicken or just vegetarian. Creativity with this recipe is your friends. The more intricate the ingredients the richer the flavors. I make these with beef and onion as the flavors just fall together. For vegetarians mushrooms, carrots, potatoes, onion, celery, and corn make a pie. For the gravy just use cooked carrots and blend them in a blender with a bit of heavy whipping cream. They make a fantastic gravy that is full of color and nutrients. If your a chicken fan you can do chicken with a chicken gravy and matching vegetables. If you really want to jump out of the box you can use crawfish or crab meat to make a seafood rendition.
Hand pies are delicious fresh or they can be frozen to heat up later on another occasion. This makes them perfect for movie night or for weeknight TV shows you don’t want to miss; such as Supernatural, Vampire Diaries, Haven, Grimm, and Once Upon a Time. Hmm… did I leave one out? Oh! Of course our beloved The Walking Dead. Do have to say I have been waiting for them to kill off the annoying blonde and the governor. Just not a fan of nut jobs.
Speaking of Vampire Diaries, is anyone else tired of the poor Elena thing? I am. Let’s get on with it. Damon and Elena should be together. Let Tyler hook up with the wolf chic from Secret Circle, and the judgmental Stefan and Caroline should end up together. Maybe spin off some weird love relationship with Klaus and Bonnie as they will both soon hate the new professor in town.
Anywho! Back to the pies.
Ingredients
Instructions
Roll out pie crust on a large floured surface. Use biscuit cutter to cut the dough and set aside. Repeat until all dough is cut out. Place round crust cutout on floured surface and roll to spread out the circle. Set aside.
In a large skillet, place diced onion, garlic, olive oil, and beef in skillet. Heat to medium high heat. Add salt and pepper. Add in carrots and potato and cook until meat is done. Drain can of corn and add to skillet. Add in gravy and stir well. You may add the mixture to a bowl if you would like before adding in the gravy.
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
Fill rolled out crust circles with about a tablespoon and a half with dough and seal around edges with a fork. Continue until all the dough is used. Beat egg in small bowl and coat over crust. Place on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and bake for 30 to 40 minutes until crust is a golden color.
Serve with mashed potatoes or by themselves as an appetizer.
http://mooshujenne.com/shepherds-hand-pies/Fried Chicken Jalapeno Bacon Fettuccine Alfredo
Fried chicken jalapeno bacon fettuccine alfredo recipe is below but first a little story. Yesterday we went to see the final edition to the Twilight Saga Breaking Dawn Part II. I was not so sure how well it would match the book prior to watching the movie. The movie literally hit the nail on the head in comparison to the book. There was plenty rumors that movie is not as good as it’s predecessors. To be honest, it was one of my two favorites, the other being New Moon. If your a vampire or wolf fan let me know what you thought of the movie in the comments. No spoilers! No whining about sparkling vampires either 
On to the food! Below the food is the giveaway for Devo’s Jalapeno Fettuccine!
Big thank you to Devo Olive Oil for sending out a package of jalapeno fettuccine. It was absolutely delicious! The fettuccine is a perfect pair with my bacon alfredo sauce. I still cannot wait to try the pumpkin fettuccine and chocolate fettuccine. These are perfect for customized culinary gift baskets.
The jalapeno fettuccine has just enough kick to add the right spice to this meal. There is no burn for me although I can eat pretty spicy food. It was more like a tickle and I think that is just perfect for a pasta dish. The pasta would pair well with Cajun dishes featuring shrimp, crab, or crawfish.
Ingredients
Instructions
In large frying pan, heat oil to medium-high heat. Preheat oven to 200 degrees F.
In a small bowl, add eggs and beat. In a medium bowl add breadcrumbs. Dip chicken filet in egg and then toss in breadcrumbs covering the entire filet. Set aside on dish. Repeat with the remainder of the chicken.
Fry chicken for 2 to 3 minutes each side until cooked. Set cooked chicken in a casserole dish in the oven when done frying to keep warm. While chicken is frying you may start the sauce.
In a sauce pan or deep saute pan, add in bacon and cook on medium heat until it is crisp but not fully cooked. Add in onions and garlic and cook until onions are caramelized. Melt butter over bacon, onions, and garlic. Add in heavy whipping cream and cook on medium low heat for about 15 minutes until heavy whipping cream begins to thicken and coats the back of a spoon; stirring frequently. Salt and pepper the sauce.
Meanwhile, in a large pot, bring water with one tablespoon olive oil to a boil. Salt the water.
The chicken should be finished frying and the pasta should be boiling. Go back to the sauce and add in Parmesan cheese little by little, stirring frequently, until all cheese is added. Turn sauce down to low.
Remove the noodles and drain. Plate noodles with one piece of fried chicken and top with alfredo sauce.
http://mooshujenne.com/fried-chicken-jalapeno-bacon-fettuccine-alfredo/Devo Olive Oil was please to offer one of my readers a chance to win and test out the jalapeno fettuccine I used in this recipe!
To enter the giveaway fill out the rafflecopter below.
*Disclosure: Devo Olive Oil is providing one package of jalapeno fettuccine. I was not reimbursed for writing this post and all opinions expressed are my own.
Tuscan Chicken
Everyone needs an easy weeknight dinner that you can pop into the oven and ignore while you work on everything else. Tuscan chicken is a simple oven dish. You may use fresh herbs to top it when cooking or if you get heartburn from them like I do, then no herbs is just fine too!
I prefer just fresh basil in mine. Some people like thyme, bay leaf, or rosemary. The taste of roasted tomatoes and the buttery flavor of the fingerling potatoes make a merry match.
Ingredients
Instructions
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
In a large baking dish, place chicken and two cans of fire roasted tomatoes. Add salt, pepper, and fresh herbs. Cover with foil and place in oven. Cook for about an hour and a half until chicken is done.
In a additional small baker, add washed potatoes and top with butter. Make sure to place some butter under potatoes to keep from sticking. Add salt and pepper and cover with foil. Place in oven next to chicken or on another rack. Cook until potatoes are done. Usually done the same time as the chicken.
http://mooshujenne.com/tuscan-chicken/Honey Bacon Potato Pops
Today is our gathering of the communal table for Thanksgiving for the FN Dish on Food Network. Please take a moment when you are done reading this post to visit the other links below and enjoy other dishes at our communal table. To follow along on Twitter please use the hashtag #PullUpAChair. You may also join in by having a look at our communal table on Pinterest. My recipe for Honey Bacon Potato Pops is below.
Thanksgiving is a time of togetherness, family, and the season that prepares us for Christmas. Fall is my favorite season of the year! The trees change colors, everyone is cooking or baking, and the air is busy with cheer. The pumpkin, which is a super squash, decorates yards with a multitude of colors and scarecrows dance in the wind! Most of all, I love the Macy’s Day Parade! I love picking out my favorites and feeling like a kid again with my teenagers. It is very important to always have a bit of kid left in you.
I hope you will all #PullUpAChair and enjoy my appetizer recipe for Honey Bacon Potato Pops. These are perfect to munch on while waiting on the turkey. Please feel free to leave me a link in the comments to your favorite Thanksgiving dish.
Ingredients
Instructions
Preheat oven to 350F degrees. Soak bacon in honey and wrap over potatoes. Secure bacon with toothpicks.
Bake until potatoes are tender and bacon is cooked. Pull them from the oven and remove toothpick; add lollipop stick. Careful not to break potato. Drizzle potatoes with honey and serve warm.
http://mooshujenne.com/honey-bacon-potato-pops/
Cocktails, Appetizers, Salads and Breads:
- Haute Apple Pie: Apple Jack
- Cooking With Books: Spiced Couscous and Walnut Salad
- Mooshu Jenne: Honey Bacon Potato Pops (pictured above)
- Food For My Family: Roasted Beet and Lacinato Kale Salad With Lemon Vinaigrette
- Big Girls, Small Kitchen: Super Seeded Cornbread
Main:
Sides:
- Feed Me Phoebe: Cornbread and Wild Rice Stuffing With Hazelnuts and Cranberries
- Napa Farmhouse 1885: Chorizo, Cornbread and Tortilla Dressing
- Sweet Life: Apple Chorizo Cornbread Stuffing
- And Love It, Too: Paleo Green Bean Casserole
- Jeanette’s Healthy Living: Sweet Spiced Winter Squash Casserole
- Red or Green?: Corn, Peppers and Onion Saute
- Simple Bites: Honey Pomegranate Glazed Brussels Sprouts
- Virtually Homemade: Fresh Orange and Cranberry Sauce With Toasted Walnuts
- What’s Gaby Cooking: Sweet Potato Gratin
- The Heritage Cook: Cauliflower Gratin
- Creative Culinary: Creamy Mushroom Bake With Parmesan and Panko
- Bacon and Souffle: Spicy Carnival Squash
Desserts:
- I Am Baker: Pumpkin Bars in a Jar
- Add a Pinch: Caramel Pie
- Chez Us: Pumpkin Cheesecake With Chocolate Swirls
Baked Potato Soup
I have two favorite soups. Minestrone and baked potato soup! Just love all the toppings you can add to baked potato soup 
One week till the last Twilight Saga film Breaking Dawn Part II. How many of you plan to go see it? I’m definitely NOT doing the midnight showing. Might be a Saturday morning flick. It’s the start of Thanksgiving vacation and I am just counting the days till that week gets here.
I thought this might help warm up those that are freezing on the East coast. I feel for you all.
Next week I have a Fall festival to attend and I plan to bring 48 cupcakes and 2- 3 dozen cookies. Any suggestions?
Ingredients
Instructions
Peel all potatoes and dice them into 1/2 inch cubes. Add them to a large pot and cover with water. Salt and pepper the water. Cook on medium/high heat to bring to a boil. Once boiling, lower to a simmer, and let cook for about 10 to 15 minutes until potatoes are tender. After potatoes are tender drain off water and reserve a small amount to add thickness to your soup.
Replace pot on stove and add 1 tablespoon of flour. Stir in flour and add two cups of chicken broth. On a low heat, mash potatoes, and add more chicken broth as the potatoes are being mashed. The soup should be a thick consistency. Add one large container of heavy whipping cream and bring to a boil. Lower to a simmer and cook for about ten to twenty minutes until soup thickens.
Once the soup has thickened it is ready to serve. Top with crumbled bacon, sharp cheddar cheese, and spring onions. Side with garlic bread.
http://mooshujenne.com/baked-potato-soup/Halloween Countdown – Day Four
Last weekend we had our Halloween party and I though I would share with you guys and gals as my Halloween countdown. Not very many people came out though we still had tons of fun. We had sinister cider with voodoo heads, buttered corn (popcorn), eyeball punch, caramel apples, and petrified pizza. Maybe a few late night tacos from Jack in the Crack (ie: Jack in the Box) for the drinkers; at least we had the sober driver go and get them
Today, I want to share with you a DIY project on how to make wood grave stones and a recipe for the classic caramel apples with bacon or with nuts. But first I want to scare the crap out of you
This would be my brother whom scared the piss out of the my teens and their friends at our Halloween party. He came through the house in the pitch dark while the movie was on and stood behind them. It’s was a class A scare!
This year I decided to go with a literary/science Halloween theme.The gravestones I crafted feature Poe, Tesla, and Shakespeare. What I seriously love about wood stones is they do NOT blow away in the wind. Just take a long piece of plywood and cut into three. Lowe’s will do this for you for free if you ask and don’t have a saw at home. Stencils are great for the lettering. I used spray paint in black, one to each slat, and acrylic white paint for the lettering. Used wood fencing pieces and adhered them to the back with screws and a drill to insert the stones in the ground to stand upright. These stones are better on the environment as you can use them year to year and they don’t blow away in the wind like the Styrofoam stones you can buy at the store.
Halloween can’t be without a treat! These were requested by the other half.
We chopped up our own nuts and added bacon to a few. I used Fuji apples.
Ingredients
Instructions
In a medium pot, heat caramels with two tablespoons of water on low heat.
Meanwhile, push lollipop sticks through the apples. It's fine if they pop out the bottom a little just slide them back up through.
Once the caramel is melted dip the apples and set on parchment paper. Drizzle chopped peanuts or cooked chopped bacon on the apples. Freeze for about 30 minutes to an hour.
Tip: I keep the apples frozen and pull them about an hour before they want to eat them as they last longer in the freeze!
http://mooshujenne.com/halloween-countdown-day-four/Four days until Halloween! What do you have planned?
Hearty Dinner: Chicken, Pepper & Potato Brown Rice Soup
This is an argument that my other half and I have constantly. He swears there is a difference n rice brands. I used to disagree; however, recently we’ve tried all sorts of difference brands and blends. His favorite is Uncle Ben’s. I was not sold until I tried the brown rice. It goes perfect with jalapeno’s and red onions. I prefer to serve it with fish or chicken.
Though last night was one of those what I have in my arsenal is what I’m cooking tonight. I had a bag of Uncle Ben’s whole grain brown rice and since I am horrible at cooking rice and usually make the other half do it, this stuff comes in handy. I like to add it to soups cause it make the soup more hearty and filling. Brown rice is a great protein which makes it perfect to add to soups with just vegetables or those with meat too. hearty dinners are just up my alley when the colder weather comes in and the teen boys think they need to bear up for the winter. Do you have any brown rice recipes?
Ingredients
Instructions
In a large pot, add in diced chicken, onion, bell peppers, and garlic. Add olive oil and fry till the chicken is cooked. Add a bit of salt and pepper. Add in potatoes. Add chicken broth and water till pot is three quarters full. Bring to a boil and lower to a slow simmer for about an hour until potatoes are soft.
After cooking for an hour, add in cooked brown rice per the package directions. Cook for 15 minutes. Serve with fresh French bread or garlic bread.
http://mooshujenne.com/hearty-dinner-chicken-pepper-potato-brown-rice-soup/
I make this soup with or without brown rice. I enjoy both!
