Chili!!!!!

So I have finally come up with my best chili recipe yet, or I think so anyway. It is made with ground turkey but you could substitute with ground beef too if you want. I have been feeling so crappy with this pregnancy and pretty much want to throw up every second of every day so anything easy is good with me. Here it is, enjoy!!!!

Turkey Chili

2 796ml cans of diced tomatoes (blended into juice)
2lbs cooked ground turkey
1 can dark red kidney beans (rinsed and drained)
1 can regular chili beans (I use pinto)
1 chopped onion
1 chopped pepper (whatever color you wish)
1 tbsp chili powder
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp salt
Any veggies you desire (I use celery, cauliflower, mushrooms)

Cook the turkey, drain then put in pot. Add everything else and simmer on stove until veggies are cooked to your desired texture, we prefer them a little crunchy. Veggies are optional so you could also make it without.

I have tried making a lot of chili as my kids love it and this it the combo that they have liked the most. ENJOY!!!!!

jill

Phew!!!

Ok so my creative genius is lacking at the moment, hmmmm I wonder if it's because I found out a couple hours ago that we are having baby #6!!!!!!! Wow what a shocker! I have been feeling HORRIBLE but thought it was due to this cold/flu thing I have had forever. This morning it hit me when I was making eggs for the kids and needed to stop and find a bucket. Hmmm the last time this happened to me with eggs was when I was pregnant. For whatever reason I always had a hard time cooking eggs when pregnant, I also cannot eat them yucky. I guess I am going to have to do a lot more fritatta and baked egg recipes to get me through. Once I feel a bit better I will post an amazing recipe I have made, for now here is a recipe Kristjan my eldest son made up and the kids love!

Kristjan's egg pie.

8 eggs
1/2 cup salsa
1/2 tsp salt 1/4 tsp pepper
1/2 cup cheese
1/4 cup almond milk or coconut milk

Mix it all together and put it in a greased pan in the oven at 375 until the eggs are set. Enjoy!!!!!

It's the weekend!!!!

Yay it's the weekend!!!! I absolutely love having the whole family home, weekends are the best. I think this will just be a recouping weekend as we have almost all been hit with a nasty cold but are on the mend. John got it the worst of everyone but his fever finally broke this morning so I am so happy!!!! I am actually going out tonight for dinner, my friend Liz is in visiting from BC and so we are going to go out. I love going out to eat, Jim doesn't like it because he doesn't know what they have done to the food but I love not having to do a thing and someone cleaning up after me lol. Other than that we have Church tomorrow then back to the old grind on Monday.
I have been in a rut cooking the same old things over and over again but this week am gonna step it up and find some new things to share. The one ingredient that I have discovered is coconut secret!!!! It is the best thing since soya sauce. I love soya sauce but all the sodium and the fact that it is made from soy we don't use it or like it, even braggs aminos we don't use anymore because it is made with soy. As you can see we are not fans of soy for multiple reasons so we do not use it. Coconut secret is to me an alternative to soya sauce but it tastes even better and a little goes a long way. We substitute coconut secret any place we would use soya sauce or braggs. I bought it online at upapaya naturals and got a gallon jug. I highly recommend it. I have been making a lot of stirfry lately and that is all I use on it.
Well off to do something productive, well maybe not ;). I wish you all an amazing weekend!

Jill

Mmmmmm Crockpot Mexican Chicken Chili

So I am addicted to reading food blogs lol!!! I was looking for an easy chicken recipe and found this one. I changed only a couple things in it, haven't tried it yet but it looks and smells yummy.
http://hobsonhomestead.blogspot.com/2010/12/crockpot-mexican-chicken-chili.html

That is the link to the recipe but here it is below with what changes I made.


Crockpot Mexican Chicken Chili

Ingredients:

• 1 cup salsa verde (Insead I used 1 cup of regular salsa I had made since I haven't ever seen salsa verde)
• 2 celery stalks, chopped
• 1 can Rotel tomatoes (I used 1 946ml can of organic diced tomatoes)
• 1 onion, diced
• 1 tsp chili powder (I doubled this)
• 1 tsp cumin (I doubled this)
• 1 pound boneless chicken breasts, trimmed and halved (I added a couple extra)
• Optional toppings: shredded cheese, sour cream, chives

1. In crockpot, add salsa verde, celery, Rotel, onion, chili powder and cumin. On a whim, I bough Pace Salsa Verde at the store earlier this week. Sure, I'd love to create my own version, but another trip to the store wasn't worth it to me. Here's a good recipe for Salsa Verde in case you're interested in what's in it.
2. Turn crockpot on high and place chicken breast halves on top of mixture. Be sure to push them down a bit in the mixture so that they're basted with liquid.
3. After 3 or 4 hours, check to make sure chicken is cooked. Then shred halves with a fork and serve.


Sounds soooo yummy!!!!

Have any of my kids been this BUSY!!!!!!

Wow is all I can say, John is the busiest kid EVER!!!! I may have said that about other babies previous lol but I don't remember this. He will get into anything and everything! If you turn around for one second he has climbed into the fireplace and is covered in soot or he has the toilet bowl brush out and scrubbing things with it. His favorite obsession is trying to get into the washer and dryer, so we have to keep that door closed. He loves to play with Cassie our dog, well if that means dumping all her food into her water dish or just plain dumping her water all over his own head, or stepping in it and squishing the water everywhere. Phew I seriously can't look away for one minute, although I love every minute of it because he is so darn cute!!!!! Sometimes I want to get mad at him but then he gives you this little look and says hi mommy and then it's over all I say is awwww. Well I wonder what he is into now so I better run.

Jill

MMMmmm Meatloaf!!!

Ok so I have always been trying to come up with a meatloaf recipe that I liked and I have found one!!!!
Here it is!

Turkey Meatloaf (you can use beef if you want or ground chicken)

1lb ground turkey
1 cup of tomato liquified (I put crushed tomatoes in the magic bullet and turn it into a liquid)
1 cup blanched almond flour
1 egg
1/2 cup chopped onion
1/4 to 1/2 tsp sea salt
1/4 tsp pepper

Mix all together and put in a loaf pan or an 8 X 8 pyrex dish
Bake at 350 for approximately 1 hour

Enjoy!!!!

Gluten Free Version of Tempura Veggies (you can use cooked meat as well)

So we were craving chinese food so badly but knew we couldn't have it so I looked around for recipes that looked like something that would taste good and I modified it so we could eat it!!!!! The original recipe came from: http://www.celiac.com/articles/22211/1/Tempura-Vegetables-Gluten-Free/Page1.html but here is how I made it! And honestly it was better than I ever imagined!!

This seriously was so yummy!!!!!

Tempura Vegetables (Gluten-Free)
 Tempura Ingredients:

2 cups rice flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

¼ teaspoon sea salt

2 cups cold carbonated water

Vegetable Ideas:

Sweet Potato

Yams

broccoli

carrots

cauliflower

asparagus

mushrooms

zucchini

eggplant

bell peppers

Yummy Dipping Sauce

Ingredients:
(yummy sauce that I served on the chicken and veggie tempura)

¼ cup gluten-free vegetable stock

1 Tablespoon coconut sugar

¼ cup coconut secret (you can use braggs or gluten free tamari also)

1 Tablespoon Rice Vinegar


¼ cup Water

Heat all the sauce ingredients in a small pan until the sugar is dissolved. Set aside to cool.

Note: The thicker the vegetable, the longer it will take to cook. You may want to blanch thicker vegetable like sweet potato before frying. Softer vegetables like mushrooms and eggplant do not require blanching. Also, try to cook like-sized pieces to avoid over or under cooking. I cut my vegetables into approximately 1 inch pieces in length, and ¼ inch in width. Avoid overcrowding your veggies and leave plenty of room to keep them from sticking together. Also if you use meat, be sure your meat is cooking thoroughly before dipping in the batter.

When you drop a batter coated veggie in, little pieces of batter will explode off the veggie outward like tempura fireworks. These pieces indicate that your batter is hot enough. The veggies should cook for 40 seconds to 1 minute and feel crispy when you knock them around. You don’t need them to be golden brown, so don’t wait for that.

To make:

Preheat coconut oil in your pan till it’s about medium heat, you want the veggies to sizzle when they hit the pan. You want to make sure that there is enough oil in the pan so they don’t stick to the bottom.

Combine the dry ingredients in a medium size mixing bowl.

Add the carbonated water and whisk until smooth.

Lightly dip ingredients in the batter (the batter is pretty thick but you want to make sure there is some all over the veggies, you may find you like them with either more or less batter on them) and immediately fry them until crispy.

Drain tempura on a rack or paper towels.

Tempura is best served fresh and hot. It cools really quickly I find!