No Beef, No Beans, but still a Chili!

I'm no longer gonna try to do this by week.  If I pull it off wahoo, but i'm not going to try for it anymore.

Anyway this time I went for a more autumn It's-getting-cold-out-there recipe. It's Chili! That warm thick stew-like soup that goes with several things including hot dogs.

Well onto the recipe...

Chili (Seriously that's all its called...maybe I'll try to think of a better title)

1 28 oz. can of crushed tomatoes
1/4 c sweet white onion
3 cloves Garlic Minced
1/4 c fresh cilantro
1 Pkg Old El Paso chili mix
1/4 c  Grapeseed oil or Extra Virgin Olive oil
1 Jalapeno pepper(sliced fine)
1 Serano pepper (sliced fine)

1) In a large saucepan over low heat add oil, garlic, onion, tomatoes, and cilantro. Cook for about 15-20 minutes.

2) Add Chili mix and blend well. Cook for an additional 15-20 minutes.

3) Remove from Heat serve and enjoy!

The changes I made to this recipe were mainly based upon my desires and likes concerning certain ingredients. First, I got two 15 oz cans of diced tomatoes preferring taking an immersion blender to smooth out the texture cand add some extra body to the chili. I got just a whole onion instead of measuring it, and just finely diced it up in my Ninja Food processor.(This thing is my god I use it for soo much stuff!) I did the same thing to my peppers that I got. ( 2 Fresno Chili peppers instead of the ones mentioned above) The final change I made was to omit the Cilantro I can't stand the ingredient and even then i think 1/4 cup would be too much anyway.

The recipe is Wonderful! i've made it before to the letter but it was too spicy by just a little. The new choice in peppers fixed that up nicely. It still had that nice full body texture and taste to it but it didn't start to be too spicy to eat when you were down to the last 5 or so bites. The Diced tomatoes as i used that added a happy and surprising chunks now and then, but it was never chunks that were too big to feel out of place.


Well that's it for now...look forward(or don't) to my next curious recipe!

Pumpkins and Oranges...Who Knew?

Two for One sale!...Post 3!...

Seeing as I hadn't posted last week(I have a good reason, I promise!) I have two recipes for you all! 

That's what I'd like to say but i'd be lying, it was really one recipe that used another recipe inside of it. but the result was a mixed basket. As much as i want to blame the recipe I need to blame myself as well. 

Well onto the recipes!(you're still getting two even if one is in the other)

First...

Pumpkin Cream Parfait

2 4-Serving packages Jell-O instant vanilla pudding

1 15 ounce can of pumpkin

1 cup liquid nondairy creamer

1 tablespoon pumpkin pie spice

1 teaspoon finely grated orange zest

3 cups Cool Whip nondairy whipped topping

"Caramelized graham cracker topping"

1. In a large bowl, using a wire whisk or electric mixer, mix, pudding mix, pumpkin, nondairy creamer, pumpkin pie spice and orange zest until creamy and thickened, about 1 min.

2.Thoroughly mix in Cool Whip. Refrigerate.

3.To serve layer the Pumpkin cream on top of and below a layer of the graham cracker topping

And Now...

Caramelized Graham Cracker Topping

6 full sheets store bought honey graham crackers

6 tablespoons of butter

1/4 cup packed brown sugar

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Line a baking sheet with graham crackers placed side-by-side so no space remains between them.

2.a small sauce pan, melt butter with sugar. Bring to a simmer over medium heat and continue cooking for about 2 min.

3. spoon butter sugar mixture over crackers trying to cover them fairly, completely. Bake for 10 min. Let cool

4. The crackers in a plastic bag and crush.

And now that all that is done. I can get on the body of what I do here. the replacements that I've made to either recipe are as follows. To the first recipe for pumpkin cream parfait, I replace the orange zest with half the amount of orange extract. I also replaced the Cool Whip with a free version.( have to watch the amount of sugar I eat don't I?) For the second recipe, with three ingredients it's hard to make a drastic change to it. What I did do, keeping in mind my diabetes, I replaced the regular brown sugar with a Splenda blend.

The first recipe is great. It reminds me of a pumpkin moose recipe that my family has every thanksgiving. The pumpkin part of the parfait is WONDERFUL! I could eat tons of that stuff. I don't know if the effect is different with orange extract versus orange zest but something about the citrus-y fruit really smoothed out the pumpkin and pumpkin pie spice flavor. My issue with the pumpkin pie moose my family has at thanksgiving is the spice, it just gets to me after a while.(i think it's the nutmeg or cinnamon that gets to me) This pumpkin cream doesn't have that issue and I have no doubt it's because of the orange extract.

The second recipe, not so great. Though i can really see the potential for it. The reason I have to say no is mainly because I burnt the crackers in the baking step. Just the edges fortunately, cutting those away and the center was fine-ish.(it still had a bit of the burnt taste to it) I wasn't a fan of the flavor to much, but keeping in mind that I messed up and burnt the stuff I feel I need to retry the recipe before i can really pass judgement.

Combining the two returned them to great status.  I must confess adding a few more things to the final product too. Instead of just combining the two recipes as instructions would tell you to. I add a few blackberries and rasberries to the middle layer. that gave a nice pop of flavor in between all the pumpkin and graham cracker flavor.

Well that's it for now...look forward(or don't) to my next curious recipe!

Don't Look Now....But there's Brussels in That Recipe!

And it begins for real!

This recipe I added an ingredient and replaced an ingredient. I did this because as I'm sure you're aware my first post had a recipe that hadn't been altered at all. So I guess this is my way of making up for it. All and all I think it turned out well!

The offical name of this recipe was "Asian-Style Broccoli and Baby Bok Choy."  Through subsititutions and additions the name changes, but only slightly to "Asian-Style Broccoli and Brussel Sprouts" The new title doesn't mention it but I also added Cauliflower to the mix .

Here's the recipe:

2 Cups Broccoli Florets
1 Cup Cauliflower Florets
3-4 Cups Brussel Sprouts Halved or Quartered
3/4 Cups Water
3 Tbs Canola oil
1 tsp ginger grated*
1 medium clove garlic minced
1 Tbs Soy Sauce

*Due to lack of ginger(and desire to have any significant amount of ginger in the kitchen.) I used a Thai ginger salt

Like the first recipe this is real simple to do

1) In a large skillet over medium heat, put the cauliflower and water in the pan to start steaming the florets. After about 2 minutes add the broccoli and let the broccoli and cauliflower steam for another 5-7 minutes
2)Drain the water and add Oil, Ginger, Sprouts and Garlic to the pan stirring occasionally. for about 8-10 minutes
3)Stir in soy sauce and serve hot!

As for the result I liked it. To my two lucky guinea pig friends who got to sample this with me I hope you liked it and weren't saying you did because it was free food.

It wasn't great but the flavor kinda grew on you. It was very green too which stood out brightly against the neon green plates i eat off of and with the brown rice that accompanied the meal.  My favorite of the three big pieces that went into the recipe was the brussels but overall the dish needed more of a kick to it, more garlic or perhaps soy sauce(sarache to the rescue?). To be perfectly honest I'm really glad I had the last minute thought to add brown rice to accompany the recipe the two went really well together.

Well that's it for now...look forward(or don't) to my next curious recipe!

In the Beginning....there were carrots...

The first recipe I'll ever talk about on this site is not altered at all.  This is not the norm, most of my posts will be about recipes that I've altered in some way or another.  Even if it's altered to avoid an ingredient or add a similar ingredient.*

Well onto the main topic!!

The recipe in question is called Honey Apple Glazed Carrots.

It's as simple as it is delicious. I won't give a recipe for it because I don't really want to type it out because it's not an altered recipe. Normally I will give the recipe, especially if I like it as much as I like this food

The simplest i can describe this food is steamed carrots  with an apple flavored honey drizzled on top. But don't let that be what you think of this food. It's much more complex than that. for one the carrots are never steamed.     The carrots are...boiled?(braised?...I'll look it up...maybe) in a sauce made of honey and apple juice.

The carrots can be done chewy or harder(Do you use al-dente with veggies?) I prefer the chewier version.  That way I can use the carrots to swipe up the sauce that is created by this dish. The sauce, by the way, is just as good as the carrots but the two of them are best together....^-^

Well that's it for now...look forward(or don't) to my next curious recipe!

*something I plan to do for the first altered recipe I'll talk about.