Mmmm...chili! And pumpkin spice rice krispie treats!

It's been nice and cool here lately so I decided to put chili on the menu. Wouldn't you know it?  Today was a high of 75. :-/  It's still beautiful, though and there's a nice breeze.  So I made the chili anyway.  I started by browning some ground turkey.  I combined 3 cans of chili beans, two small cans of tomato sauce, one onion (diced), one green pepper (diced) and a bottle of Wal-mart brand V-8 juice into the crotch pot and let it cook on low for 3 hours.  I then left it on the warm setting for about 5 more hours and it was perfect just in time for dinner.  I made a quick pan of Marie Callendar's low fat corn bread and served the chili with shredded cheddar and oyster crackers.

And for dessert: Pumpkin Spice Rice Krispie Treats!  Now, I honestly wasn't sure about these but I thought it was worth a shot.  I pretty much followed the regular recipe for Rice Krispie treats on the box of cereal.  However, I added a few sprinkles each of ground nutmeg and ground cinnamon into the melted marshmallows.  Once they were done I used the medium sized pumpkin cookie cutter (yes we have three different size pumpkin cookie cutters) to shape them.  Ewan's exact words were "They look like circles, not pumpkins."  Whatever, kid.  I tried. ;)

We then added orange sprinkles on the base and green apple sprinkles on the tops.  They actually taste great!  Almost like they should only be for grown-ups.  Remember when your parents told you certain foods were only for grown-ups?  I kinda wish mind would've said more foods were for grown-ups only. ;)

Yes, I am a slacker!

Sorry, folks.  It's a bit of a crazy time, here.  I've had quite a few shoots, Ewan's getting ready to start school today and it seems like when it rains it pours (as far as stuff breaking down).  So today is the first day of our new normal and I'm hoping to get back to blogging more regularly, too.  I've got a beef roast I need to use up so look for a currently undecided beef dish for dinner tonight. ;)

Italian Chicken

Tonight I had to use up some chicken breasts I had thawed yesterday for our BBQ but then we didn't have as many guests as I originally thought.  I didn't want to do anything too time consuming as Feenie's been extremely fussy all day so I decided on Italian Chicken.  I dunked the chicken in Kraft Light Zesty Italian dressing, rolled it in bread crumbs and Italian seasoning and then tossed it in the frying pan in a little butter.  I am still learning how to fry chicken.  The first round ended up needing the breading scraped off.  :-/ But the chicken itself was fine.

The second batch was much better and that's what we ate.  I'll use the leftovers for chicken tortilla soup tomorrow.

I also made "smashed" potatoes using the leftover baked potatoes from yesterday's dinner.  I sliced the potatoes once long ways and three times width wise.  Dropped a pat of butter on them and a little sea salt.  I baked them at 425 for about half an hour then pulled them out and smashed them, added some seasonings and baked for another ten minutes.  We also had cooked carrots but I didn't take a picture of those.

For dessert I melted some Nestle's semi sweet chocolate chips and dipped some pretzels.  Simple and easy yet a nice little treat.

Labor Day Favorites

Well, we're wrapping up summer here and I don't know about you, but here in MI it feels very much like fall!  In fact, I'm about to get the fireplace going and I LOVE IT!!! I absolutely love fall and winter and I'm more than happy to welcome the cooler seasons.

At any rate, I braved the cold winds and made us one last traditional summer meal (ok, it probably won't be our last); BBQ chicken, corn on the cob, baked potatoes, melon trio, macaroni salad & cole slaw.  I didn't make it all as we were gone for part of the weekend, but here's what I did make:

BBQ chicken: stabbed the boneless, skinless chicken breasts with a fork a few times on each side.  Rubbed them with Famous Dave's Steak & Burger Seasoning (works on chicken, too).  Dumped some Sweet Baby Ray's Sweet Honey BBQ sauce on one side and Jack Daniel's BBQ sauce on the other.  I grilled them on low until the thermometer showed they were 180 degrees.  It was juicy (again, a pleasant surprise) and flavorful.

Baked potatoes: stabbed them a few times with a fork, brushed with butter and added a little sea salt.  Wrapped them in foil and baked them at 350 for about an hour.

The rest of the sides were pretty self explanitory or pre-made.

We also have chips & salsa and a cheeseball and reduced fat Wheat Thins sitting around as we prepare for a little Rock Band/Guitar Hero.

And yeah, that's a Christmas light shaped spreader.  It's all I have for spreading. ;)

Roasted Chicken (almost a week late)!

I'll be honest, I might have forgotten about these photos until I went to pull tonight's pictures off of the compact flash card.  So I don't actually remember what all we had but it looks like crescent rolls, stuffing, potatoes and mixed veggies?  I think.  I do remember how I made the chicken, though!  I melted some butter and brushed it onto the bird.  I then sprinkled some sage, salt, pepper & oregano onto it and covered the pan with foil.  I baked it at 375 degrees for 1 hour and 15 minutes.  I removed the foil and roasted it a bit longer till it was crispy and the thermometer showed it to be 180 degrees.  It was really juicy (which is not the norm around here) and we all enjoyed it.