Night 2 of cleaning out the freezer a success, and a cookie recipe:)

Helllllo readers!  Today is a special day, as it is Melissa's bday - make sure to stop by and wish her the best of days!

It was sunny again today, we got pre-approved and can start looking for houses, it's our 10 month (wow, huh?;)) wedding anniversary, and night 2 of cleaning out the freezer was an even bigger success!  Leftover frozen hamburg, spaghetti sauce we already had in the fridge, can of red kidney beans, and a chili seasoning packet (yes, I know, I can make it from my own seasonings at home quite easily, next time!) = easy!  Topped with avocado and a side of homemade cornbread and nachos with cheese, and we were good and happy, eating away our Mexican food, laughing at Seinfeld, and talking house business:)

Chili:  you need -

• 1 lb hamburg
• 1 15 oz can red kidney beans, drained
• 1 packet of chili seasoning
• 20 oz of spaghetti marinara
• 1 cup water
• 1 avocado

Brown hamburg over medium high heat until cooked thru.  Once cooked thru, put into small medium sized pot.  Add chili seasoning, the spaghetti marinara, the drained kidney beans, and 1 cup of water.  Stir together and bring to a boil.

Once boiling, reduce heat to medium low and let cook for 9-11 minutes, stirring occasionally, until all ingredients have mixed together and are cooked thru.  So easy, and a great way to use stuff you already, most likely, have!

Now onto the good stuff - cookies!  All I do is follow the  Tollhouse recipe and add a cup of coconut flakes - that simple!  You just have to make sure not to use too much coconut, as it cooks faster and sometimes makes it more difficult for the dough to stay together.

Off to hopefully read some blogs and watch a DVR'd Project Runway before sleep:)  I hope my old boss, who we're having a surprise birthday party for tomorrow at work, is so surprised and happy!  And I know my co-workers all love these cookies, so I hope they are happy with them:)  

Tomorrow night - a meal recipe/photos for, oops, not so Wicked Cheap Wednesday!  See you tomorrow!

Thursday night = time to try a new chili recipe!

Happy Thursday everyone!  I'm trying to keep myself up to watch figure skating online starting at 10:30pm...I don't know if I can make it!!  But I must see Sasha Cohen and if she can still skate!

Okay - back on topic - dinner tonight!  Dinner tonight was a recipe I adapted from this lovely website.  Overall, I'd give it an 8 - the husband ate it up and really enjoyed it - I think I just happened to get a piece that wasn't as spicy/Mexican tasting as his, and I wasn't thrilled with the cornbread on top - I think I prefer mine on the side, and a little sweeter.  Here is what I made, how I did it, and what I would do next time:)  Don't forget to check out my pork recipe from yesterday too!

Chili Cornbread Casserole:

What you'll need for the chili:

• 1 lb ground hamburg, cooked in a fry pan and drained of any oil
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 medium white onion, sliced or diced to your liking
• 1 tbsp, or more, again to your liking, chili powder
• 1 tbsp CRP
• 1 can diced tomatoes with chiles
• 8 oz of marinara sauce
• 2 15 oz cans of kidney beans, drained
• salt to taste

 This is quite the time-consuming/multi-tasker recipe!  I had the pan with the ground beef, the pot with the other chili stuff, and another pot with some stuff for the cornbread going simultaneously, plus some stuff going on the counter - phew! 

First of all, preheat oven to 400.  In a fry pan, cook your ground beef as you normally would, chopping it into smaller pieces. 

While the meat is cooking, in another medium to large pot, heat the olive oil over medium heat.  Once heated, add the onion.  Stir and cook for 2 minutes, or until onions start becoming translucent.  Add the chili powder, crushed red pepper, and a 1/2 tsp salt to this, and stir it up until the onions are coated.

Pour the canned diced tomatoes with chiles into the pot and stir well.  Add the marinara/tomato sauce, and stir again.  Don't forget about the hamburg cooking - make sure to stir that too!  Simmer the chili combo for about 10 minutes, and then add the kidney beans.  Continue to simmer over medium low heat for 5-10 minutes, stirring occasionally.  At this point, I added more chili powder just to give it an extra kick.   Turn the heat to low while you're waiting for the hamburg, if it's not done yet, and/or while you're making the cornbread, unless made the cornbread while the chili was simmering, like I did:)

For the cornbread, you will need:

• 6 tbsp water
• 2 tbsp flax seed meal
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1 cup soy milk
• 3/4 tsp sea salt
• 4 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 cup mango peach juice - you read that right - or you can use agave nectar, or anything else sweet tasting, even sugar
• 1 cup cornmeal
• 1 cup flour

Bring the water to a boil in a small saucepan.  When the water is boiling, add the flax seed meal - stir continuously for 3-4 minutes, reducing the heat to medium low; stir until the mixture becomes gooey.   Remove from heat

While I was waiting for the water to boil, I combined the flour, cornmeal, baking powder, and salt in a large mixing bowl.  To this I added the mango peach juice, oil, milk, and flax mixture (once it got gooey) - stir all of this until just combined.

 

Now you're ready to combine everything and bake!  Pour your chili mixture into a 9x13 baking pan, covering the chili mixure with the cooked hamburg.  Spoon the cornbread mixture over the chili/hamburg mixture, spreading it as much as you can to cover the entire casserole **I did not cover the entire casserole, just in case I wanted a few bites with just the chili and no cornbread**

 

 

Bake at 400 degrees for 25-30 minutes, or until a toothpick goes thru the cornbread and comes out clean.  This is the husband's plate:

First of all, I guess it's time to put away the Christmas tablecloth:(

But, overall, the recipe was quite good - like I said, I think the piece I had didn't have as much spice as I would've liked, but the husband said his 2 pieces did.  I would've like a little more sweetness to the cornbread, so I think I'd try a different cornbread recipe next time, or just add some sugar to this one possibly.  I would also add some cheese into the casserole (the husband added some to his plate) and definitely some avocado on top once it comes out of the oven.  I would definitely try it again, just with some changes:) 

Last night I had dreams over and over about making guacamole!  Any recommendations on recipes for this or meals to make it with?  My body is telling me I have to make it next week I think!

I'm off to start planning next week's meals...9:42pm...getting tired...don't know if I'm going to make it for skating...working all day is tiring!  ;)  See you tomorrow night:)