Homestyle in the New Year, and maybe a bit before!

It's been a bit since I first signed on! I have had some time off and been able to do a little more cooking than usual  than I take time to do regularly! I have found a couple of great recipes for Chicken Noodle Soup and Chili.

I made Chicken Noodle Soup on Monday, Dec 30. I used the recipe below from Simply Sherryl and it was AWESOME and super simple!

I did make one minor change, instead of using a rotisserie chicken, I boiled 1 pound of chicken (I had some chicken breasts frozen, you could use, thighs, breast tenderloins, whatever chicken parts you wanted), then I shredded it and added it. Also I only made half of the recipe and that gave me I think about 6 servings. One thing I will probably do next time is make my own chicken broth, but to make things as easy and quick as the recipe the rotisserie chicken and already made broth is the way to go!

So last night I got into the homemade craving again, but this time with the crockpot! My mind immediately went to chili as it was a little bit chilly outside, not too mention the Hubs loves chili! I went to Pinterest and searched, easy crockpot chili. After reading like 5 10 different recipes I decided I had the basic jist and headed off to the store.

*I am prefacing this part of the story and future stories with the Hubs is a very picky eater! He eats like a 6 year old, meat and potatoes and no vegetables! Well mostly no vegetables, there are some he will eat, but not many!*

I came back with 80/20 ground beef (it weighed in at 1.64 lbs and it said it was for chili so I went with it...I would usually get 93/7), more cans of tomatos (2-14.5 oz diced, and 2-8 oz sauce, as if I needed anymore), beans (pinto and kidney, again as if needed anymore...but I am a fan of always being prepared, so if I used the ones in the cabinet and didn't replace them, then when I needed them I wouldn't have them!), and a packet of McCormicks Mild Reduced Sodium Chili seasoning. 

I then started in on making the chili when I got home, I added 3 minced cloves of garlic and 1/2 of a red onion (slices, so the Hubs can pick them out) to some olive oil and let the pan heat up, then I added the ground beef and browned it. While the browning was happening, I added the 2-8 oz cans of sauce to the crockpot (I used the sauce not the diced because Hubs doesn't like "tomato chunks" in the chili), I also added the pintos and the kidneys, once the meat was browned, I took out all the onion slices, separated the meat and grease, then added all the meat to the crockpot. Last step was adding the chili seasoning, then turning that crockpot to high and letting it sit for about 6 hours. I served it with Tostitos (crunched up on the bottom of the bowl) and shredded cheese for the Hubs, mine however had no Tostitos, light sour cream, avocado slices and little bit of cheese! Tasty!!

Well I am hosting craft night this evening, so get ready for some craft pictures with good friends, food, and some wine!

Test One Two, Test One Two !?

Hello all, my name is Betina and to start things off, I spend A LOT of time on Pinterest. Which means I click on all sorts of links to all types of blogs. After reading through all these so many times, I thought why not give it a try?! So here is to trying something new, can't wait to start this new adventure :)

¡Salud!
Betina