Warm up with some yummy vegetarian chili

With snow looming on the horizon today it seems like the perfect day for some warm spicy chili. This has become one my favorites. Today I'm starting a new "feature", the JK rating system for how my husband and  I like the recipes. Enjoy!

Vegetarian Chili
Recipe adapted from: Joy of Cooking
by Irma S. Rombauer, Ethan Becker, Marion Rombauer Becker

What you need:

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 cup chopped peeled carrots--chopped very finely
1 cup chopped red bell peppers
1 cup chopped green bell peppers
1 cup chopped onions
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 to 2 fresh or frozen green chili peppers-leave seeds in
1 tablespoon ground hot chili pepper
1 tablespoon ground cumin
1 28-ounce can dice tomatoes, with juice
One 16-ounce can red kidney beans, rinsed and drained
One 16-ounce can chili beans, with sauce
Two 16-ounce can black beans, rinsed and drained
1 16 oz can tomato sauce
Salt to taste

What to do:

1. Heat olive oil in a large saucepan over medium heat.
2. Add carrots, bell peppers, onions, and garlic. Cook, stirring, until the onions are golden, 12 to 15 minutes.
   
   
   
3. Add chili peppers and cumin. Cook, stirring, for 2 minutes.
4. Stir in tomatoes, beans, tomato juice, and salt to taste. Bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer, uncovered, stirring occasionally, until the flavors are blended, adding more tomato juice or water as needed, about 45 minutes.
   
   
   
5. Enjoy!
   
   Notes:
   *the longer you cook it the thicker and better the flavors blend
   *To bring down the spice add some shredded cheddar cheese (yum!)
   *Works great re-heated for lunches, makes quite a few leftovers
   Rating: 4.5/5 stars
   
   

Cheddar Potato Soup

Cheddar Potato Soup

What you'll need:
1/3 cup chopped onion
2 tablespoons butter
4 cups diced peeled potatoes
3 cups vegetable broth
2 cups (8 ounces) shredded cheddar cheese (add more to taste I sometimes add up to 3 cups also thickens the soup)
2 cups milk
1/4 teaspoon pepper
Dash paprika

What to do:
1. In a large saucepan, saute onion in butter until tender.
2. Add potatoes and broth; bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 10-15 minutes or until potatoes are tender.
3. Puree in small batches in a blender until smooth; return to the pan.
4. Stir in the cheese, milk, pepper and paprika. Cook and stir over low heat until the cheese is melted. 

Makes about 8 servings.

Notes:
Be very careful when blending the hot soup. Make sure to secure your lid before you go and keep a hand on it. I divide the soup into two batches to blend.

My newest cooking "project"

I watched the movie Julie and Julia recently and inspiration struck me! I wanted to do something similar because:
*I love to cook and try new things
*I want to expand my cooking skills
*I want to try new things I may have never thought of before
So I decided to start by working my way through the cookbook Joy of Cooking by Irma S. Rombauer, Ethan Becker, Marion Rombauer Becker
As I've been working I've decided to not conform to a weekly recipe count but to keep making my way through this book when I want to try new things. I've been doing pretty well and discovered some new amazing food. But as with many projects I'm not going to force myself to eat and make food I'm not interested in. So it is a very flexable project. Look for lots of recipes from the Joy of Cooking book.
Thanks to my brother and sister-in-law for giving it to me as my first vegetarian cookbook :)

Ciabatta overflow

I love to bake, especially during the cold long winter month.
Since last Christmas I have been experimenting with ciabatta bread. I love the texture and taste especially for sandwiches. In my last trial I had a bit of a over rising/ not enough space in the bowl problem...

Never fear even messes like this can turn out some great bread. (and some good stories too!)

Still tasting great one headache of a mess in my oven later :)

No bake rockie road

I have a friend at my office who can't have gluten. I like to create and/or adapt things that taste just as good with out gluten so all my co-works can enjoy the same thing. Here is my latest adaption. Gluten free or not these bars rock and are super simple. I'd recommend them for your next quick treat!


No bake rockie road bars


What you'll need:
1/2  cup Butter
2  Cups milk chocolate chips
1 1/2  cup peanut butter
4  Cups Post coco pebbles
3  cups miniature marshmallows


What to do:

 1.Combine butter, chocolate chips  4-quart saucepan. Cook over low heat, stirring constantly, until melted (4 to 6 minutes). Stir in peanut butter until well mixed.

2.Remove from heat. Add cereal and marshmallows; toss until well coated.

3.Press mixture onto bottom of buttered 13x9-inch baking pan. Refrigerate until firm (about 30 minutes). 

4.Cut into bars. Store refrigerated. Makes about 48 bars

Notes: 

This recipe has been adapted by me :)

Original recipe from http://www.landolakes.com/mealideas/ViewRecipe.cfm?RecipeID=5506 

Chocolate angel food cake made simple

Growing up my birthday cake was always angel food cake. One year when I was about 10 I wanted it to be chocolate so I found a recipe and learned how to make it from scratch. Eventually I took that cake to the county fair, and won a purple ribbon plus the change to take it to the state fair. At the state fair I got a blue ribbon. Yum! Its a lot of work to make an angel food cake from scratch so after that I searched for a faster way to get that chocolate taste. After much experimenting with cake brands and cocoa powder brands I came upon the correct solution. I am not a "brand loyalty" person for many things, however, for this cake you must use these brands to get it to work correctly and taste great!

What you'll need:

1 box Betty Crocker white angel food cake mix

1/2 cup Hershey's cocoa powder

water (as directed on box)

What to do:

1. Mix cake mix with water according to package directions. (hint start with a little water and little mix and work your way up to all of it being added this will give you maximum cake "lift")

2. Add in 1/2 cup cocoa powder. Mix your cake until it holds a stiff peak (this is hard to get with box kinds, do your best so that if you lift a bit of the batter up it makes a "mountain")

3. Pour into un-greased angel food cake pan. "cut" through with a knife to ensure no air bubbles. Tape lighly on the counter to make the top even.

4. Bake according to package directions.

homemade vegetable broth

Buying vegetable broth can get expensive when you cook a lot. A few years ago my husband decided to research and figure out how to make it. It turns out that it is really simple and really inexpensive to do and it tastes so much better then store boughten stuff. A lot of things I've been making latley require broth so I thought it would be a good time to share how to make it.

What you'll need:
A large ziplock bag of vegetable parts such as carrot peels, potatoe, peels, onion skins, pepper tops, etc
           -note I often gather my veggies in a Ziploc and freeze them until I have enough or need to make broth














Water
Something to strain the broth with when you are done such as cheese cloth

What to do:
1. You'll have to gage the amount of water verious how much vegetable "parts" you have. I reccommend 3 cups of vegetables to about 8 cups of water

2. Heat your water and vegetable parts on the stove until you reach just below a boil.

3. Let the vetables and water soak at just under a boil for about an hour or until broth starts to change to a carmel color and vegetables lose most of their color

4. Store broth in the refridgerator for 3-4 days or in the freezer 6-7 months

(sorry this doesn't look very appetizing I am trying to show more the color you are going for, it tastes good in things promise!)

notes:
storage you will want to very based on how you use the broth. I typically store in a cleaned out 1/2 gallon milk container or in 1-2 cup portions in ziplock bags.