This is a recipe I stumbled across and it completely intrigued me. I wanted to try it instantly, and boy, it was delicious! It can be done various ways. You don’t have to make this “version” of chili, you can actually just make the topping and use you’re own left over chili. It’s easy to make and takes only 20 minutes!

Ingredients:

• 1lb Italian sausage (sweet or hot)
• 2 TSP chili powder
• 1 15ounce can of Kidney Beans, drained
• 1 14.5ounce can of diced tomatoes, drained
• 3/4 cup of jarred salsa (your choice!)
• 1 box of corn bread mix
• 1 large egg
• 1/3 cup of milk
• 1 cup shredded cheddar

The How To Part:

1. Remove the casings from the sausage and discard.
2. Pre-heat oven to 400degrees.
3. In a large skillet, crumble sausage and cook until there is no more pink showing.
4. Drain off the fat.
5. Add the chili powder and continue to stir for about 1 minute.
6. Add the beans, tomatoes, and salsa and let simmer for about 3 minutes.
7. Meanwhile, in a bowl combine the corn bread mix, egg and milk. Whisk together until the corn bread badder forms.
8. Add the cheese. (now, if you know anything about me or read this blog often, you’ll know I don’t measure cheese…so put however much you like in there, or follow the recipe.)
9. Stir badder until cheese is mixed thoroughly.
10. Transfer the chili into a 9X9inch or 11X7inch baking dish.*
11. Top the chili in the baking dish with the corn bread mixture. You’ll need a spatula or spoon to spread it around across the chili.
12. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes or until golden brown on top. 
13. Enjoy!

*I added a layer of cheese in-between the chili. I spread 1/2 of the chili mixture in the dish then topped with cheese then added the rest of the chili before topping with corn bread. It was delicious!

See, told you it was super simple! This is an easy quick meal night when you don’t have a lot of time. When the pie had finished baking, I also topped it with some more cheese and put it back in the oven for 5 minutes. (I told you, I love cheese! I don’t follow suggestions when it comes to cheese!)

Hope you enjoy this recipe!

eat well, live well.

This past weekend I managed to find some time to bake two loaves of delicious, wholesome Banana Bread. It’s a tradition after all, it’s fall, baking season has just begun (among many many other things) so I needed to find time to start my Fall Baking List To Do. It’s a good thing since the start of October I’ve managed to mark 2 of the giant growing list out of the way. This year, however I decided to go outside my shell of the recipe I’ve always known from Grandma, and I made something completely new. Whole Wheat Banana Bread with NO Sugar. That’s right, this delicious loaf is has no sugar outside of what’s in the other ingredients. I found this recipe highly attractive in nature because it didn’t require me to dump a large amount of white sugar or brown sugar for that matter into a bowl. Maybe I’m just weird, but that was appealing to me. Ok, I’m weird.

Anyways, over all review of this new recipe = Delicious & Appetizing. Compared to Grandma’s Recipe = it can’t compare. Then again, can anything compare to the way Grandmas or Moms make traditional recipes? Probably not.

The Ingredients:

• 1/3 cup Vegetable Oil
• 1/2 cup Honey
• 1 TSP Vanilla Extract
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup mashed bananas (throw your intuition to the winds and use MUCH MORE banana than one cup, trust me)
• 1 3/4 cups whole wheat flour
• 1/2 TSP salt
• 1 TSP Baking Soda
• 1/4 cup Hot Water
• 1/2 cup Chopped Walnuts (completely optional)

The How To Part:

1. Pre-heat your oven to 325 degrees.
2. In a large bowl, beat oil and honey together until well blended.
3. Add both eggs and stir generously.
4. Stir in the mashed bananas and the vanilla. Blend until smooth.
5. Stir in flour and salt, mix until a smooth batter forms.
6. In a smaller bowl, add baking soda to hot water and whisk together. (The water must be hot, not cold, or luke warm, allow you sink enough time to give you hot water).
7. Pour baking soda and water mixture into larger bowl with batter and mix generously.
8. Add nuts (if you like) and stir into batter.
9. Pour batter into a greased 9X5 inch bread loaf pan.
10. Bake 55 - 60 minutes or until heated through with the “tooth pick test”

**note: this recipe only makes 1 loaf of bread. To make 2 loaves of bread, you will need to double everything on the ingredient list and pour equal amounts of batter into two different loaf pans**

I hope you greatly enjoy this, I thought it was marvelous.

Tonight = Pumpkin Cookies

eat well live well.

I woke up this morning and racked my brain for breakfast. I wanted something hearty, something delicious, and yet filling for the day a head. After all, it’s best to get your energy loaded in the morning so you’re ready for a full and concentrated day of tasks, even if that’s just relaxing. So, I thought pancakes…but oh crap, I’ve got no mix, which is what the typical would say, correct?

Hold still people, I bring you, old fashion pancakes - before the mix came along. That’s right, solid ingredients with a solid taste. The morning was fantastic.

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups flour (I used whole wheat flour, but all-purpose white works too)
• 3 1/2 TSP baking powder (you cannot substitute baking soda)
• 1 TSP salt
• 1 1/4 cup milk
• 1 egg
• 3 TBSP melted butter

The How To Part:

1. Combine the first 3 ingredients together and sift thoroughly.
2. Add in the last 3 ingredients and mix generously until smooth.
3. Hit pancake griddle or frying pan over medium heat, and well, I assume you know the rest…

They tasted great, and they definitely were a hearty choice for breakfast. I enjoyed it! And, the awesome thing about this recipe, it’s totally changeable. You can blueberries, pumpkin, apple sauce, chocolate chips, smashed bananas, etc. You can nearly change it however you like, or add to it to give it a smash of flavor. I am excited for the annual fall pancakes! :)

eat well live well.

Probably the most purest form of comfort foods. Something we all know and love, especially in American. Whether it comes from the blue box or a white box, uses powdered cheese or cheese from a bag, no one can resist the cheesy goodness of a childhood staple, Mac N Cheese. (a home made rendition)

Ingredients:

• 4 cups dried macaroni (basically a pound)
• 1/4 cups (1/2 stick or 4 TBSP) butter
• 1 whole egg beaten in a separate bowl
• 1/4 cups All-purpose flour
• 2 1/2 cups milk (recipe suggest whole milk for a creamier sauce, but its not necessary)
• 2 TSP dry mustard, or more if you like the taste
• 1 pound grated cheese (I prefer sharp cheddar!)
• Salt
• Pepper

The How To Part:

1. Pre-heat oven to 350degrees
2. Cook macaroni until very firm. Macaroni should be too firm to eat right out of the pot. Drain.
3. In a small bowl, beat the egg.
4. In a large pot, melt butter and sprinkle in the flour whisking together over medium-low heat. Cook this mixture for about 5 minutes, whisking consistently, do not let it burn!
5. Pour in the milk and add the mustard, wisk until very smooth. Cook for five minutes until very thick and reduce heat to low.
6. (this is a suggestion of how to add the egg) Take 1/4 cup of the sauce and slowly pour into the beaten egg, whisking constantly to avoid scrambling or cooking the egg. Mix together until smooth. Then pour the egg mixture back into the sauce pan. (I have found if you do not want to do this separate step, simply pouring the egg in the sauce pan very slow and whisking the mixture together at the same time also prevents the egg from cooking, the choice is yours.)
7. Add in cheese and stir to melt.
8. Add salt and pepper, to taste. (you can also explore with other spices here if you like)
9. Pour in the drained cooked macaroni noodles and mix to coat evenly.
10. Dump the mixed macaroni and cheese into a buttered/greased baking dish. Top with some extra cheese and bake 20 to 25 minutes until golden brown or bubbly.

eat well, live well.

Ok. So I make most of my dishes by taste, rather than complete recipe. Especially when I am creating something out of my mind, rather than anything I’ve seen before. Not to say it hasn’t been done before or it’s not an idea out of my distant memories, but when I create, it’s all by taste. Thus I bring you, Garlic Chicken Spaghetti!

Ingreidents:

• 2 raw chicken breasts, no bones, diced in cubes
• 4 cloves of garlic, minced (larger or smaller depending on your liking)
• Oregano
• Italian Seasonings
• Garlic Salt
• Pepper
• Butter
• Mozzarella cheese
• Spaghetti Noodles (I always use Whole Grain)
• Spaghetti Sauce (your choice, I prefer Kroger’s 6 Cheese)
• Basil Leaves

The How To Part:

1. Mince the garlic into whatever size you like. I prefer big enough pieces to see/taste when you bit into. You can also use more than 4 cloves of garlic, if you like.
2. Cut the 2 chicken breasts into cubes
3. In a large skillet melt the butter over medium high heat
4. Add the garlic and let caramelize/brown just a bit. (You don’t want the garlic to caramelize and brown all the way)
5. Add the chicken, some pepper and some oregano and cook fully until all of the liquid is absorbed. (This includes the excess butter, no one said this dish was super healthy, and the liquid that comes from when you cook chicken)
6. Meanwhile, heat water to boil the pasta.
7. When the chicken garlic butter mix is done, dump it into the sauce and let the sauce heat on low while the noodles boil.
8. Here is where you can play around with your spices. I choose Italian Seasonings, Basil Leaves, Oregano and Garlic Salt. I added them until I felt like there was enough, in cooking to me, there really is no right or wrong amount. It’s typically all trial and error. Feel free to experiment with your own seasonings.
9. When the water has reached a boiling point, add the noodles and cook to the package directions.
10. Drain the noodles when they are finished cooking, removed the heated sauce from the stove and pour the noodles in. Mix the two together well.
11. Add a bit of mozzarella to the spaghetti and stir well to coat.
12. Serve!

Personally, I thought it was a delicious creation! So did my friend who stopped by for dinner. It was tasted, flavorful and definitely could go in other directions. Like more garlic, or bigger cloves, etc. I love experimenting in the Kitchen.

Till Then.

eat well, live well.