Chili

I love my chili recipe. It is easy, it can last a few meals, and it is healthy. I leave my boyfriend with this as leftovers almost every time I leave his home after the week. It really is delicious. I use a little bit of hamburger meat for flavor but it could easily be a vegetarian recipe.

Ingredients

1 can of each of the following

Black Beans

Chili Beans

Refried Beans

Kidney Beans

(I usually use all Bush's Beans)

Stewed Tomatoes

(Tomato paste if you need to thicken your chili)

1/3-1/2 pound of Hamburger Meat

Garlic Salt

Chili Powder

Tabasco

1 onion

1 Red Pepper

I poor all 5 cans of chili into a large pot and let them simmer on low while I'm cooking everything else. I also chop up the stewed tomatoes into smaller pieces. Also, poor out some of the juice in the kidney bean and refried bean cans to make the chili less runny.

I then cook the hamburger in a separate pan adding a little chili powder. Once it is cooked I add it to the pot of chili simmering. 

I then dice up half of an onion and a small red pepper. I then grill them with olive oil in the same pan as I cooked the meat in; adding, chili powder, pepper, and garlic salt. After grilling it for a few minutes I add that to the entire pot. Add more chili powder and garlic salt to taste. I then add a lot of tabasco for a little kick. 

Lastly let it simmer for a little longer to allow it to thicken up a little. 

This amount allows for about 4-5 bowls. It is perfect for the two of us to have leftovers. I double the recipe or just add a few extra cans of beans if others are joining us.

Energy Balls

This is my favorite quick healthy and super easy dessert. I make these when ever I want a treat, but I still am being somewhat health conscious. They are delicious and taste like cookie dough, yet are much better for you than cookie dough. My boyfriend has me make them for him every time I'm staying at his house.

Ingredients 

1 1/4 cup oatmeal
1 cup coconut flakes
1/2 cup honey
1/2 cup peanut butter
1/2 cup chocolate chips
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp cinnamon

You through these in a bowl. Mix them up. Roll them into balls and then through them into the freezer to make them extra good. 

Almost anything can be substituted and you can add anything you like. I like them with a little less honey and peanut butter. It makes them a lot harder to roll up but they taste pretty similar and are much healthier that way. You can also add flaxseed, bran, or anything else to it.

These are the best because you can always have the ingredients on hand, as well as they last a really long time in the freezer.

ENJOY!

Carrot Cake

This is one of the best carrot cakes I've had. My sister made it for me for my birthday. It was delicious and super moist. It is impossible to stop eating once you start.

Ingredients

For the Cake

• unsalted butter and all-purpose flour for the pans
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 4 large eggs, room temperature
• 1-3/4 cups sugar
• ¼ cup light brown sugar, lightly packed
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 cup canola oil
• 2 cups freshly shredded carrots
• one 8-ounce can crushed pineapple in its own juice, well-drained

For the Frosting

• 16 ounce cream cheese
• 3/4 cup unsalted butter
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• pinch of salt
• 3 cups confectioner's sugar
• 2 cups toasted, cooled, and chopped walnuts

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Butter two 9-inch cake pans, line the bottoms with parchment rounds, butter the paper and lightly sprinkle with flour. Tap out the excess flour and set pans aside. In a bowl, sift together (a fine mesh strainer is fine) the flour, baking powder, pumpkin pie spice, cinnamon and salt and set aside. In a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the eggs and the sugars and beat on medium-high until slightly thick and pale in color, about 2 minutes. Beat in the vanilla. With the mixer on low, slowly add the oil in a thin stream and mix until combined. With the mixer still on low, add in the flour mixture and mix until just combined. Add in the carrots and pineapple and mix until just combined.
2. Evenly divide the batter between the prepared pans and bake until the tops are golden and a cake tester comes out clean, about 30 to 35 minutes. Allow the cakes to cool in the pans on wire racks for 10 minutes before turning out onto the racks to cool completely.
3. Make the frosting: In a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the cream cheese and butter until smooth, occasionally scraping down the bowl with a rubber spatula. Beat in the vanilla and salt. With the mixer on medium, gradually add in the confectioner’s sugar and mix until frosting is smooth.
4. Place one cake layer on a cake stand or plate. Spread a thick layer of the frosting evenly over the cake. Top with the second cake layer. Spread the remaining frosting evenly over the sides and top of the cake. Sprinkle the walnuts over the top of the cake.

Alaina's Apple Pie

This is my favorite Apple Pie Recipe,

thanks to my roommate Alaina and Betty Crocker.

I really don't like how apple's are always mushy in apple pie. This recipe is great because it seems so much more fresh. Even though it isn't apple pie season really, this is one of my favorite pies. We always  make it with our friends apples from his orchard, but Granny Smith are a great option if you don't have local apples from a farmers market.

This picture is before the apple pie was baked. It will look a little more browned.

Pie Filling Ingredients

6 medium apples sliced

2 Tbs flour

3/4 sugar

1 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp nutmeg

1 tsp salt

Mix

Pie Crust Ingredients

2 cups flour

2/3 cup butter

5-7 Tbs cold water

To make the pie crust you mix the ingredients and split it into two balls. Roll them separately: one is for the top crust and one is for the bottom.

Put pie filling in the bottom crust and place 3-4 small gobs of butter. Then cover with top crust and connect the two crusts.

Bake at 400 degrees for 50 minutes

Depending on the oven (if it is a hotter one) it might be useful to cover with aluminum foil for the first 30 minutes and then uncover to brown the crust.

Red Velvet Valentines Cake

Happy Valentines Day!

In honor of Valentines Day I made my boyfriend a Valentines cake. I used a bundt cake recipe that I was trying out for the first time. I decided to do a red velvet cake with cream cheese frosting.

The cake turned out perfect! I'm not the best at frosting a cake so if you are like me you might want to add milk to the frosting to allow you to poor it on.

Ingredients

2 1/2 cups flour

2 cups sugar

1 cup vegetable oil

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

3 tablespoons cocoa powder

1 tablespoon white vinegar

1 teaspoon vanilla 

2 eggs

1 cup buttermilk (1 cup milk and 1 T vinegar)

Red Food Coloring (Use more than you think)

Bake at 325 degrees for 40-50 minutes depending on thickness of pan used. Mix wet and dry ingredients separately and then combine together, and poor into bundt pan or whatever pan you choose. Spray pan well with cooking spray.  

I had extra batter leftover so I used it in these cute little heart baking dishes. Since I used a bundt cake recipe I wanted these to turn out fluffier than the main cake so I added a pinch of baking powder and half a cup of hot water. They turned out so delicious! They were moist and fluffy, but still had a density to them some how. I may have like how they turned out better than the real cake! They were so so good!

Use with a Cream Cheese Frosting Recipe, and pinch of red food coloring for the pink color. 

Cream Cheese Frosting

Cream Cheese Frosting

Ingredients

8 oz. package cream cheese

1/2 cup butter

4 cups confectioners' sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

If you want it to be more runny so that you can poor in smoothly over your cake, add

1/4 cup milk

I usually make 1 1/2 of this recipe so that everything can have a lot of extra frosting on it!

I added a little red food color in honor of Valentines day.

This recipe is great with Red Velvet Cake or Spice Cake

Peach Berry Cobbler

This is perfect for all your leftover fruit that is going bad, as well as perfect for a lighter desert.

INGREDIENTS

1 Tbsp cornstarch

1/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup cold water
2 cups sugared sliced fresh peaches
1 cup fresh blueberries
1 Tbsp butter
1 Tbsp lemon juice
1 cup sifted all-purpose flour
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup milk
1/4 cup soft butter
Ice cream

INSTRUCTIONS

Mix cornstarch, brown sugar, water, and fruits. Cook and stir in saucepan until it thickens.
Add 1 tablespoon butter and lemon juice. Pour into oven safe dish.

Add dry ingredients, milk and butter into bowl and beat smooth. Pour over fruit. Sprinkle sugar and nutmeg over batter.

Bake 350 degrees for 30 minutes.

Serve with ice cream!

Thanks Better Homes and Gardens for this delicious recipe.