Cincinnati Chili

This recipe popped up in my Food Network magazine this month. Back when we had cable and I watched Food Network constantly I would see them talk about Cincinnati chili from time to time. It always looked delicious, and the idea of chili over pasta intrigued me. I hope I'm not betraying my Texas roots, where chili is heavy on the chili powder and you might be excommunicated for putting beans in it. I still love Texas chili, but I wanted to branch out and give this a try. I really liked it! The unique spices made it different, and it was great comfort food on a chilly (pun intended) night.

Cincinnati Chili
From Food Network Magazine

Note: I only made half.

4 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 sweet onions, finely chopped, plus more for topping
2 pounds ground beef chuck
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 15 oz. can tomato sauce
2 medium tomatoes, diced
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
1/4 cup chili powder
2 tablespoons paprika
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 pound spaghetti, cooked
Pinto beans and grated cheddar cheese, for topping (I threw the beans into the chili while it cooked)
Oyster crackers, for serving (optional)

Heat the olive oil in a large, heavy pot over medium-high heat. Add the onions and cook, stirring, until translucent, about 5 minutes. Transfer to a plate. Add the ground beef to the pot, sprinkle with 1/2 teaspoon each salt and black pepper and cook, breaking up the meat with a wooden spoon, until no longer pink, about 4 minutes. Remove from the heat and return the cooked onions to the pot; stir in the garlic.

Combine the tomato sauce, diced tomatoes, vinegar, chili powder, paprika, cinnamon, cumin, allspice, cloves and cayenne in a bowl; add to the pot along with 1 cup water and stir to combine. Bring to a simmer over medium-low heat and cook until the chili is slightly thickened, about 1 hour, 30 minutes.

Serve the chili over the spaghetti; top with chopped onion, pinto beans and grated cheddar and serve with oyster crackers on the side. 

Chocolate Chip Cream Cheese Cookies

Once again I have Pinterest and MOPS to thank for this yummy recipe.  Pinterest for the inspiration, and MOPS for the excuse to bake.  These are the perfect amount of sweetness.  Enough to satisfy a craving, but not so sweet that you feel bad about eating them.  These are good any time of day, but especially for breakfast/brunch.

Chocolate Chip Cream Cheese Cookies
From Cookies and Cups

1 can crescent rolls (seamless, if you can find it)
1 8 oz. package cream cheese, room temperature
1/4 cup sugar (I used powdered)
2 teaspoons vanilla
1/2 cup chocolate chips (I used the mini ones)

Beat cream cheese, sugar and vanilla until well mixed and creamy.  Set aside.

Unroll crescent rolls into a flat sheet.  Use your hands to pinch the seams together (if not seamless) and press it out to enlarge the rectangle just a bit.

Spread cream cheese mixture evenly over crescent dough.  Sprinkle with chocolate chips.  Roll up the crescent dough and wrap in plastic wrap.  Refrigerate 2 hours or overnight.

Unwrap roll of dough.  Slice into 1/4" slices and place on parchment lined cookie sheet.  Bake at 350 for 10-12 minutes.     

Shredded Beef Burritos

This is one of my mama's specialties.  Doesn't food always taste better when someone who loves you cooks it?  But mine turned out pretty fantastic cooking them all on my own.  You should definitely give these a try.

And can I take a moment to step on my soap box and talk about one of my food pet peeves?  Burritos are made with flour tortillas.  Enchiladas are made with corn tortillas.  Know the difference, people!  Especially if you call yourself a Texan.

Shredded Beef Burritos
From Joanna Knox via Jackie Adams

2-3 lbs. beef chuck roast
1 cup water
2 tablespoons chili powder
2 teaspoons oregano
1/8 teaspoon pepper
2 cloves garlic, minced (or about 1 teaspoon garlic powder)
1 1/2 tablespoon vinegar
1 teaspoon salt (optional)
1 teaspoon cumin
1 can Rotel tomatoes
burrito-size flour tortillas
cheddar cheese, grated
1 can enchilada sauce

Brown meat in dutch oven.  Add water, tomatoes, vinegar and spices.  Cook (covered) until meat begins to fall apart (about 3 hours).  Remove lid and let the water cook out, stirring occasionally (about 30 min - 1 hr).  Shred meat with forks.  Stir meat back into the dutch oven with the remaining juices and seasonings (don't let that good flavor go to waste!).  Wrap meat and a little cheese in tortillas.  Place burritos in a greased baking dish.  Cover with enchilada sauce and sprinkle with more cheese.  Bake at 350 until hot and bubbly.   

BBQ Pot Roast

I've had this recipe pinned for a long time.  What was I waiting for?  This was delicious!  I really loved the BBQ sauce.  Perfectly sweet and tangy.  This came from one of my fave food blogs - Plain Chicken.  She served this with cheddar ranch grits.  That sounds pretty fantastic to me, but Aaron isn't a fan of grits, so I opted for cheddar ranch mashed potatoes instead.  I don't have a recipe for that.  I just mashed potatoes with butter (duh!), sour cream, ranch dressing mix and grated cheddar.

BBQ Pot Roast
From Plain Chicken

garlic powder
salt
pepper
1 4-5 lb. roast
1 12 oz. can of Coke
1 12 oz. bottle of chili sauce
2 tablespoons worcestershire sauce
2 tablespoons hot sauce (I used chipotle flavored)
3 tablespoons cornstarch    
1/4 cup milk

Place roast in slow cooker and sprinkle with garlic powder, salt and pepper.  Combine Coke, chili sauce, worcestershire sauce and hot sauce in a bowl.  Pour sauce over roast.  Cook on high for 5-6 hours or low for 8-9 hours.

Remove roast from slow cooker, reserving juices in slow cooker.  Cover roast with foil to keep warm.

Dissolve corn starch in milk.  Stir mixture into reserved juices in slow cooker.  Cook on high for 15 minutes or until thickened, stirring occasionally.  Serve sauce over roast.   

Sour Cream Noodle Bake

My first ever Pioneer Woman recipe!  Probably not as good as her famous cinnamon rolls, but probably not near as bad for you either.  This recipe looked delicious in her pics and it looked easy to make.  Win, win!  It made for a quick supper and was pretty tasty to boot.

Sour Cream Noodle Bake
Adapted very slightly from The Pioneer Woman

1 lb. ground beef
1 onion, chopped
1 15-oz. can tomato sauce
1 can diced tomato (I used fire roasted)
8 oz. egg noodles
1/2 cup sour cream (I use light)
1 1/4 cups cottage cheese (I use light)
1 cup grated cheddar cheese

Brown beef with the onion.  Drain off the fat.  Add tomato sauce and diced tomato to the beef.  Add salt, pepper and whatever other spices you like as well.  Stir well.  Simmer while you prepare the noodles.  Cook the noodles according to package directions.  Combine sour cream and cottage cheese.  Mix sour cream mixture into the noodles once cooked and drained.  Layer 1/2 of the noodles in a greased casserole dish.  Top with 1/2 the meat mixture and 1/2 the cheese.  Repeat layers.  Bake at 350 for about 20 minutes.

Breakfast Cookies

Here's another Pinterest success story!  Ezra has decided to go on strike against oatmeal.  Well, he never ate real oatmeal, just baby oatmeal.  I tried stirring a few spoonfuls of my regular oatmeal into his, hoping that the idea would catch on.  Instead he decided he wouldn't have any of it.  So I decided to go ahead and try this recipe that I pinned a while back.  Thankfully he loved these and can't get enough! 

Breakfast Cookies
Adapted from Watching What I Eat

2 ripe bananas, mashed (or pureed in the food processor - easier!)
1/3 cup peanut butter, creamy or chunky
2/3 cup unsweetened applesauce
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/2 cups quick oatmeal, uncooked
1/4 cup chopped nuts
1/4 cup chocolate chips
1/4 cup dried cranberries

Mix the banana and peanut butter until completely combined.  Add the applesauce and vanilla and mix again.  Stir in the remaining ingredients.  Let dough rest for 10 minutes.  Drop dough by spoonfuls onto parchment paper-lined cookie sheet.  Flatten cookies a little bit.  Bake at 350 for about 20 minutes, give or take depending on how done you'd like them.  Allow to cool 5 minutes before removing.  Store in an air-tight container.

Note: One of the comments on the original recipe said you could use a can of pure pumpkin instead of banana.  You may need to add a little more oats.  Also, try adding some cinnamon or pumpkin pie spice.    

Honey Balsamic Roasted Carrots

I saw this idea on Pinterest and thought I would try it out with my lunch today.  I was hopeful that Ezra would like them since they look very similar to sweet potato fries, which he loves, but he wouldn't try them.  Boo.  I'll try again later.

Honey Balsamic Roasted Carrots

I'm not going to give measurements because it's really all to your own taste and depends on how much you want to make.

carrots
olive oil
salt
balsamic vinegar
honey

Toss carrots in oil and salt.  Place on baking sheet.  Roast at 400 for 20 minutes, shaking the pan once or twice so they don't stick and all sides roast evenly.  Remove from oven and drizzle with vinegar and honey.  Stir to coat evenly.  Return to the oven for about 5 minutes.