Cheryl's Chili

I can't believe it's only 12:05 pm right now, because not only did I make the dog treats & the onion tart, I also made this pot of chili this morning.  It feels much later in the day.  I am taking care of a client's cat that needs insulin every 12 hours, so I had to leave for Eagle at 6:30 this morning.  I wanted to go back to bed, but decided to cook instead!  Anyway...  My friend, Cheryl G. made this chili recipe 1 or 2 years ago and I thought it was the best veggie chili I had ever had.  Yep, still is.  It is also a 10!!  I only made a few changes to the recipe: I added veggie beef, added 1 full onion instead of 1/2, I added and sauted some minced garlic with the onion & veggie beef, I used 1 can pinto beans & 1 can black beans (instead of 2 cans pinto), used 2 cans of diced tomatoes instead of 1 (because I love tomatoes), and the tomatoes were the Italian style, I skipped the cayenne pepper and the water.  I don't know how much chili powder I used, I just sprinkled it in.  Maybe an 1/8 of the container or maybe a 1/4.  I wasn't sure I was going to use the diced green Chile pepper (I am a wimp when it comes to spice), but I threw them in.  Glad I stuck with the recipe, the green chilies make it so good!  I forgot to buy the green onions for the top, but used the cheese and some left over sour cream from the onion tart.  This is so yummy!  I didn't think I would eat a whole bowl, but I've been munching on it while I've been on my blog, and I finished the bowl!  I would be so good on a menu teamed up with the onion tart (see last photo).  Thanks Cheryl for this amazing recipe!!  Since my dishes are all washed, maybe I'll go take a nap now!  

Honey-Roasted Onion Tart

I made this this morning, and when I took a bite, I must have said twenty "wow"s!  This is a 10!!!!!  I could not find creme fraiche (I never can), but I know you can substitute sour cream, so I did.  Also, I decided to use 1 onion instead of 2 because 2 seemed like too much (it would have been).  And I used veggie bacon (of course).  And I used red wine vinegar infused with pomegranate instead of red wine.  And after the stuffed squash I made at Thanksgiving, I realized I don't like thyme, so I didn't use any.  This would a great appetizer on a menu or with a side with a soup (see my next entry).  Love this onion tart!!  It was also the first time I had ever used puff pastry.  (P.S. I plan on making those brownies on the cover of the bon appetit magazine soon!)     

Apple Cinnamon Delights - Dog Treats

One of our clients at work was telling me about these great dog bones she made for her dog (the cutest schnauzer named Echo).  When I told her they sounded really good, she gave me this recipe.  They are from a dog magazine, but I'm not sure which one.  It says on the bottom of the page that it was originally taken from a book called "Doggy Desserts."  I tasted them and they are not too bad, but as a human treat only about a 7 1/2 - 8 1/2.  The dogs loved them though, so maybe they would give them a 9 or 10!  The last picture is Bailey enjoying a treat.  He about took my fingers off eating them.  I made dog bones, cat & dog shapes.

Julie's Bagel Bites

One of my favorite things for a quick & easy dinner after a long day at work is some bagel bites (in the frozen food section), but I always felt I could make better.  So I made these for my dinner last night.  They are very basic, and could use more of a kick.  There could be 100 different ways to change these up starting with cheeses and sauces.  Such a huge variety of toppings to try too.  This is just diced tomatoes with pineapple.  Ironically enough, I bought tomatoes with no sodium added, and it tasted like it needed salt!  These were an 8 1/2.  But only took 5 minutes (counting the 3 in the microwave) and I will most likely make them a lot for my dinners instead of buying frozen. 

Deep Dish Pear & Apple Pie

I did a bit of cooking this weekend.  Yeah!  I made this pie yesterday morning.  It is the first time I've gotten to use my new food processor (that I got for Christmas).  It came with a lot of great recipes & a demonstration CD of some of them, including this pie.  I also made it because my dad has high blood sugar and the only sugar in this pie is the raw sugar on the top crust.  I used canned pears instead of fresh just because I forgot to buy them and had the canned at home.  Also, instead of dried cranberries, I used craisins with a blueberry infusion.  And I added cinnamon to the crust and to the pie filling.  And I forgot to buy lemon juice, so I used orange juice.  Oh yeah, and  it called for 16 tablespoons of butter & 2 of shortening (for the crust), but I hate shortening, so I used 18 tablespoons of butter.  This is a really good pie.  A 10!!!  Notice my narcissistic design on the crust (my initials). 

Vanilla and Cinnamon-Sugar Popcorn

I got this recipe out of the "Health" magazine.  I think my peanut butter w/ cinnamon honey butter popcorn is better, but this is good too; 8 1/2.  It is a bit too sweet though.  I am surprised this was in the "Health" magazine w/ all the sugar & butter in it. I guess 1 person isn't supposed to eat the whole batch though!  Oops! 

Pineapple In Caramel Sauce - Again

I made the pineapple w/ caramel sauce again.  This time I used these cool new caramel beads that you just melt in a saucepan w/ a little bit of water.  So much better this time, a 9!  I think this would be fun to make a little sandwich out of it: a slice of pineapple, caramel sauce, banana, caramel sauce, pineapple, caramel sauce, then top with the vanilla yogurt, cinnamon and a cherry!  I still think it would be best w/ a homemade caramel sauce, but every good recipe I found called for corn syrup and heavy cream & I'm a bit broke right now, so it was cheaper to buy to pre-made caramel.  Next time!!  And maybe by then I'll have at least 1 dessert plate!

Peanut Butter Popcorn With Cinnamon-Honey Butter

This is my invention.  I bought a huge box of popcorn from Costco to put in goody bags for Christmas.  I still have a lot left over, but I'm not a huge fan of plain popcorn.  So I came up with this sauce.  It is really yummy (if I do say so myself).  It's easily a 9.  It would be a good snack on the table like they give at some restaurants (like free chips or bread sticks or plain popcorn).  And except for the butter (it's a small amount, just enough to melt w/ the peanut butter), it's still a healthy snack b/c the popcorn & peanut butter are both low fat. 

Rotini With Beans and Corn

I made the rotini about an hour ago.  It was pretty good, I give it an 8 1/2 (maybe even a low 9).  The author of this cook book obviously likes the vinegar taste.  The recipe did not call for vinegar this time, but Italian dressing, so technically...  I changed this one a bit, and I'm not saying this to be a pompous ass, but I think my small change made this dish much better than it would have been.  I couldn't find sun-dried tomatoes, so I used a can of diced tomatoes, and I'm sure that helped too.  Sun-dried tomatoes tend to be too oily.  The small/big change I made was that I decided to saute the veggies rather than just add them cold as the recipe suggests.  I first sauteed the onion with olive oil for a minute or two, then added garlic and a red pepper.  Cooked another 1-2 minutes, then I added the corn & 2 cans of beans (well drained).  Then I added the tomatoes with the sauce in the can, and then some basil (I decided not to add parsley).  (I had to take a photo in the frying pan because it looked so yummy.  Too bad I wasn't able to add smell to my blog!) I think cooking them all together helped meld their flavors together better.  Besides, who likes cold veggies in hot pasta?  My only changes are that I would have added 1 more pepper and some Parmesan cheese.  It would be good with garlic bread too.  I'm including 2 photos of the finished dish just because the first one is all steamy since the photo was taken hot.  I will make this one again.  It's a great cold weather dish. 

Pineapple In Caramel Sauce

I made the pineapple this morning.  What a disappointment!  I can only give this dish a 6 1/2.  I think the fault is in the recipe for the caramel.  It was too thin and blah.  With that said, I am sure this dish has the potential of being a better dish.  One being to either use a better recipe for a caramel sauce (I have made much better from other books), or simply melt caramels in a pot, or even just buy some caramel sauce.  Then it would be pretty good.  I still have 1 can of pineapple left and some yogurt, so Ill try a different sauce later.  It would also be good with ice cream.  It would probably be good to dip the pineapple in the caramel and let it set rather than just drizzle it.  So, though not very good, I know it could be, so I will try it again later.  Oh yeah, I added cinnamon for sprinkling on top to give it a little better taste.  As for the photos: well, I don't have any dessert dishes, so I took 2 different photos: 1 in a coffee/soup mug, and the other on a plate.  So presentation is worse than usual.  Maybe next time I make it, I'll have a better dessert dish.  I really need to search the second hand stores for dishes to take photos on.  Maybe I'll even find one with a red cat!  

Tortellini Capri

I made 3 more dishes this weekend from the new cook book.  I started with the tortillini yesterday.  I made a few changes.  I decided at the last minute to cook the veggies in vegetabale broth insetad of water.  Also, I couldn't find roasted red peppers in a jar, so I just used a red pepper.  I added galic and salt to the veggies.  I also used more cheese than it called for.  All in all, pretty good, but not great.  I think, as with the peanut butter sprials, there was too much vinegar in the recipe.  I gave it a 7 1/2.

Cats in the Kitchen

Here are a few funny photos of my cats in the kitchen.  It's easy to turn my back for a second and turn back around and have a cat on the counter eating something I am trying to prepare.  The one with Oliver and Belicia I took when I was making the mozzarella sandwiches.  I turned around to put the butter in the pan, & Oliver was drinking the milk (I hadn't added the egg yet).  I shooed him away.  I turned around and back, and then Bella was drinking the milk!  Silly cats!  Good thing my animals are so spoiled and I don't get angry, I just grab the camera!  Notice most of the photos are of Zette.  He loves to hang out in the kitchen with me.  He's my cooking buddy!  I guess the last photo was not in the kitchen, but it's still a cute photo of Zette stealing the whipped cream off my hot cocoa.

Mozzarella In Carrozza

I tried this one after work on Wednesday afternoon (my 1/2 day, I'm usually home by 1:00).  It is very easy to make and pretty yummy.  It's like a cross between french toast & a grilled cheese sandwich.  It was so easy and tasty, that I even made it again last night when I got home from work, and I very rarely cook on work nights because I'm too tired.  I'll probably make it again when I am done playing with the computer today.  It was a little bland because mozzarella is a mild cheese, so when I made it again last night, I put a little bit of garlic in with the butter in the frying pan.  That gave it more of a kick and it was even better.  With the garlic, I give it an 8 1/2.  It's a dish that can easily be played with by switching up the type of bread and cheese.  It would be good with a slice of tomato too.  It has a recipe for tomato soup to go with the sandwich, but I didn't have the ingredients for it, but it would have been a good combination.  Also, the recipe calls for 1 egg white and 2 eggs and 3 tablespoons of milk, but that makes 6 sandwiches.  I just used 1 egg and 1 tablespoon of milk and that was enough for 2.  It also called for Italian bread, but when I saw the 9 grain bread, it sounded so good, I decided to buy that instead (it is a very good bread).

Peanut Butter Spirals

My mom got me this "Vegetarian Express" cook book at a 2nd hand store.  It has a lot of recipes I can't wait to try.  Most seem pretty basic & ideas I have come up with on my own, but still a good cook book.  For one thing, the recipes don't require a lot of expensive ingredients, so that's a big plus!  The "Peanut Butter Spirals" caught my eye immediately because they were different.  I wasn't feeling very good last weekend & I didn't think I would cook anything, but this was quick and easy.  They are pretty good, I would make them again.  I gave them a 7 1/2.  I was expecting a little sweeter flavor, so maybe I'll add a touch more honey next time.  And they were a bit too vinegar-y, so I'll add a little less of that.  All in all, it was a good dish.