catching up ~ phil's anniversary date, fall stuff, a chili recipe

Hi friends, I know it's been awhile since I posted. The 10 year anniversary of Phil's passing was September 25th and I just haven't felt like posting anything. Maybe because ten years is considered a milestone in measuring time, this year hit me particularly hard. My beautiful boy had just turned 14 years old in this photo. We were celebrating his birthday at TGI Fridays. I love his sweet, shy smile in this photo.

I don't do much decorating for the different seasons anymore. Just little touches here and there. This is as far as I've gotten with fall decor on my front porch. I found these interesting pumpkins at Trader Joe's. I liked them better than the traditional pumpkins.

I still have hints of summer on the front porch - the hanging fern and pot of summer flowers are still going strong, despite temps dipping into the 40's at night. 

We've had way too much rain here in northeast Illinois though. It's one reason why the color change is late here this year. My poor arborvitae trees in the back yard have had standing water under them for a couple of weeks now. Neighbors around us in lower-lying areas have standing water in their front yards, and even worse, there's a couple of houses down the street that are surrounded by water because of the creek than runs behind their houses. 

Inside my home, small touches of fall decor in the living room...

The heavier throw came out...

Fall pillows on the couch...

Fabric pumpkins and fairy lights...

A few fall items grace the china cabinet in the kitchen...

Lots of cooking has been going on in the kitchen, too. I've been buying the last of the tomatoes at the local farm stand and roasting them in the oven on low with fresh thyme sprigs from my herb garden and olive oil, then putting the roasted, cooled tomatoes in freezer bags and sticking them in the freezer. That way I can use fresh, roasted tomatoes all fall and winter in soups, stews, spaghetti sauce and chili.

Speaking of chili, I made my first pot last week. Tim came over for dinner and the three of us devoured big bowls of this chili on an appropriately chilly evening, accompanied with beer bread. Brian and Tim said this was the best chili I've ever made. Maybe it was because it was the first pot of chili of the season, but who am I to argue. Recipe below. The great thing about making things like chili is that it's so adaptable. You can change up the peppers for whatever kind you like. Same with the beans and the spices. 

MELANIE'S BEST CHILI

3 T butter or olive oil

1 onion, diced

1 red bell pepper, diced

1 cubanelle pepper, diced

1 poblano pepper, diced

1 lb organic, grass-fed ground beef

1 lb organic ground pork

1 clove minced garlic

1 can diced tomatoes*

1 small can tomato sauce*

1 can black beans (do not drain!)

Vegetable broth, as needed for thinning

Couple of dashes of Worcestershire sauce

3 T chili powder

2 tsp cumin

Pinch red pepper flakes

1 T cocoa powder

Salt and pepper, to taste

In a Dutch oven, melt the butter or heat the olive oil over medium heat, then add the onion and peppers. Saute until just tender. Add the ground beef, pork and garlic. Cook until meat is browned. Drain fat. Add the diced tomatoes and tomato sauce. *How much you use of each is a personal preference. I prefer my chili to have less chunks of tomatoes and more sauce, but you might like the texture of diced tomatoes better. I ended up using more tomato sauce than the diced tomatoes. Add the black beans (or you can use kidney beans ~ or even a can of each; again, it's a personal preference...just remember, don't drain the beans!) Start to add vegetable broth to thin as the chili is simmering. Then add the seasonings, tasting and adjusting as you want. Pop the lid on the pot and let simmer on low for an hour. Your house will smell sooo good!

Happy October. 🍂

cooking - and eating is an art form

In my previous post, a few of you asked for recipes for my vegetarian chili and baked ziti. I'm one of those cooks who likes to create as I go. I can have an idea in my head for what I want to make - for example, let's take the vegetarian chili - and I'll gather more inspiration by looking up vegetarian chili recipes online or in cooking magazines. One recipe might use eggplant and another, fresh pumpkin. Those ideas only fuel my creativity to try certain ingredients in my own dish. It also depends on what I have on hand. I like using beer in my chili, but if I don't have any (which I usually don't, since we're not beer drinkers), I use beef broth. OK, so I know beef broth isn't vegetarian, but since I'm a flexitarian, I don't mind using beef broth for the flavor.

Thus said, I did write down the recipe as I was cooking the chili, so I can share this one with you:

MELANIE'S VEGETARIAN CHILI
1 T. olive oil
1 lg. yellow onion, chopped
1 med. green pepper, chopped
2 sm. poblano peppers, chopped
3 ribs celery, chopped
2 lg. carrots, diced
1 zucchini, diced
1 yellow/summer squash, diced
1-2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 c. frozen corn
1 15.25 oz. can kidney beans, rinsed & drained
1 15.25 oz. can black beans, rinsed & drained
1 28 oz. can crushed tomatoes
1 14.25 oz. can beef or vegetable broth
3 T. chili powder
1 tsp. cumin
1/2 tsp. McCormick cocoa chili blend OR 1 T. unsweetened cocoa powder
  Optional toppings: sour cream, shredded cheddar cheese, chopped green onions

In dutch oven, heat the olive oil and then add onion - garlic. Saute for 8-10 minutes, or until veggies are just about tender. Add corn through broth, mix well, then add seasonings. Cover and simmer on low heat for 1-2 hours. Ladle into bowls and pass the toppings.

As for the baked ziti, I don't have a specific recipe. I used whole wheat penne-shaped pasta as I couldn't find whole wheat ziti. You can use homemade marinara sauce, but this time I used Trader Joe's low-sodium marinara sauce. I added cubed pieces of fresh mozzarella, torn pieces of fresh baby spinach, shredded mozzarella cheese, and Italian spices. Bake and enjoy.

I love recipes such as the ones above, because there's so much room for creativity. Try different kinds of veggies or beans in the chili, or add different types of peppers such as jalapenos or chipotle.  if you want to add meat to the baked pasta dish, add cooked ground beef or turkey, or Italian sausage. Experiment with seasonings.

Oh, so the picture at the top of this post? That's my son, eating lo mein. Disclaimer: I raised him to have good manners. Really, I did.

first day of fall

Happy first day of fall! While summer is my favorite season, I do admit that fall can be beautiful. 

Fall gets a little depressing for me though because my oldest son, Philip passed away on September 25th (2009). My dad, grandpa and mother-in-law also all passed away in the fall. I also hate seeing all the flowers dying and perennials withering, packing away all the summer yard decor and covering up the patio furniture...all reminders that the dreaded winter is right around the corner. (Ignore the bag of potting soil, plant pots and gardening gloves lying on the porch. I repotted several houseplants today.)

But back to the good stuff: Brian bought wood and stained it, and built a raised bed in back of the house for an herb garden. I had herbs back there in the ground for years, including mint, which I was always having to prune and dig out. The little area served us well during the past years, but with the french drains being put in the ground a few months ago (you can see one of the drains behind Brian), the area was looking scraggly. And I was sick of taming the mint. So Brian dug out all the herbs except for what I wanted to save ~ chives and red veined sorrel. I'll plant other herbs next spring.

Some color still abounds around the yard. Black-eyed Susan in the butterfly garden is drying up, but still lovely.

Plenty of color on the north side of the house with hosta blooms, coleus and impatiens.

I picked the last of our tomatoes today ~ even the green ones ~ and roasted them until they were saucy. Added to my pot of chili for dinner.

Another snapshot of my day: Clementine is my loyal companion. She follows me all over the house. I was making dinner, so she had to supervise, of course.

Even though it was warm and sunny today, I was craving chili. I don't use a recipe. This is my own creation. I taste and add things as I go along, though I do use some basics: half ground turkey, half ground beef (organic, grass-fed), onions, red and orange bell pepper, poblano pepper, garlic, a can of black beans, tomato sauce, dark beer, a little chicken broth, seasonings (chili powder, cumin, Mexican oregano, salt, pepper, chipotle red pepper), a tablespoon of cocoa powder. I doubled my usual recipe so that I could bring a container to a friend whose Significant Other just got home from the hospital.

Whatever you choose to do this weekend to celebrate the Autumn Equinox, I hope it brings you joy.

PS ~ still having trouble with my blog header. Designed a simple graphic through a website (can't even remember which one now), but I can't get it to center. That's what I get for using a freebie site, I suppose. I'm still not wanting to pay for a photo editing site since I will rarely use it, but I might have to bite the bullet.

comfort food

The weather is turning cooler and you know what that means: warm, belly-filling comfort food!

How about a bowl of chicken and bean chili with a dollop of Greek yogurt...

Rigatoni with a ton of cheese for a picky teenager who doesn't like beans in his chili...

And the makings of enchiladas: saute peppers and onions...

Add some cooked rotisserie chicken, chili powder, and cumin...

Put the filling in tortillas, roll up, place in baking dish, cover with enchilada sauce, and sprinkle liberally with shredded cheese...

Bake at 350 degrees F for 1/2 hour...nummy!

Who's hungry?



kitchen follies ~ and a recipe

The organizing and rearranging continues...so on with the kitchen. I went with a clean,

classic look on this side of the kitchen with using a lot of white in the cabinet and on the

wall shelves. Also, that's a new painting hanging on the wall. I inherited it from my aunt

when she moved last fall. I'm not crazy about the red painted frame as it's too stark 

for the painting, but since I have red accents in my kitchen and the painting is the

right size for this wall space, it'll do for now. 

Most of my cookbooks were moved into a small bookcase in my office, but I left a

few on top of the fridge and on the butler's table that you can see in the first photo.

I cleaned out my baking cabinet and my main food cabinet. I don't have a pantry, so this

is where I keep all my dry goods and staples such as grains, dried fruits and raw honey,

 pastas, dried beans, tea bags, and lots of spices. I like having the grains, pastas, and

beans in glass jars instead of all that plastic and cardboard packaging. Much easier

to see what you have and easier to fit into the cabinet, too. As for the spices, I find it 

easiest to keep them categorized by use. For example, on the basket in the left, that's

where I keep all the Italian spices: oregano, thyme, rosemary, basil, bay leaves, etc.

The basket on the right holds cinnamon, pumpkin pie spice, cloves, ginger, nutmeg,

and star anise. Another basket holds spices for chili making: cumin, chili powder, 

cayenne, mexican oregano. And another basket holds spices such as curry powder,

garam masala, lemongrass, and turmeric. When you're making a certain cuisine ~

say, spaghetti sauce ~ it's easy to just grab the basket of Italian spices.

I am making vegetarian tacos for dinner tonight. We eat a lot of meatless meals

and I found this recipe on Pinterest. The lentil-rice concoction is in the Crockpot right

now and the house smells so good. I "cheated" and opened the lid to the Crockpot

about halfway through cooking (I did let it cook longer after I opened the lid - I know

that opening the lid takes off about 20 minutes of cooking time) to see how the mixture

looked and it's nice and thick, just like hamburger meat. I'm going to top our tacos with

salsa, guacamole, and a little bit of shredded cheese. Click here for the recipe. And 

interestingly enough, the name of the blog is Melanie Makes! No, it's not me. It's

another Melanie.

Hope your week is off to a good start!

Linking up with Cozy Little House Tweak it Tuesday.

comfort food

When it looks like this outside...

gray, bare trees, snowy...

It's time for something warm, filling, and comforting.

 In this case, vegetarian chili.

I like my chili topped with shredded cheddar cheese, with a side of warm cornbread.

 Or, perhaps you'd care for a plate of baked ziti with mozzarella and fresh spinach?



Those are a couple of the dishes I made for dinner last week. What's been cooking in your house?

mexican hot chocolate cookies

Let the holiday baking begin!

 I made Mexican Hot Chocolate cookies today.

The chocolate dough is rich and flavorful on its own,

but right before baking you roll the dough balls in a mixture of

sugar, cinnamon, and ~ surprise! ~  chili powder.

The cinnamon and chili powder are what really adds the element

of depth and spice to this cookie without overwhelming it.

The recipe is from Jo-Anna at A Pretty Life in the Suburbs.

Do yourself  ~ and your friends and family, if you choose to share ~ a favor

and make these for the holidays. Jo-Anna says they're especially good

with a glass of Baileys, but I'll have to take her word for it.

I'm too full from dinner stuffed from sneaking bits of the dough

and a couple of cookies as soon as they came out of the oven!

Have you done any holiday baking yet?

snowy new year's day, reading pile, and a couple of recipes to keep you warm

I mentioned in my last post that we were wanted to get in our traditional New Year's Day hike in the State Park before the snow hit. We did it! It was only in the 20's, but we bundled up and went about two miles. It was actually invigorating. The snow started right as we were leaving, so perfect timing.

The great thing about walking in the State Park on New Year's day is that we have the whole park to ourselves ~ except for the animals, of course. No humans in sight the entire time as the park is closed on New Year's day. The main gates to drive into the park are closed, but you're allowed to walk in through the side walk-in only entrances. 

I don't always love where I live, but when I walk in the State Park, I feel very grateful to live here.

"I took a walk in the woods and came out taller than the trees." (Henry David Thoreau)

So now that it's officially January and we're experiencing true winter weather; i.e., cold, and the omicron variant has a lot of people sick with Covid, I'm doing more staying indoors. I did go to the library today (only three other people in there besides the few employees) to return some books and pick up a few others. This is my January reading pile. I've been reading Simple Abundance every year for many years. January is my favorite month of her writings. I've always been curious about A Course in Miracles but it's quite lengthy and involved, so I thought I'd try what I call the Cliff Notes version ("Made Easy").

No Time to Spare by Ursula K. LeGuin is a collection of her blog posts which she began writing in her 80's. (She passed away in 2018.) From what I've read, she's a wonderful writer and this book is a gem of her deepest thoughts.

 

This past weekend, I made a couple of dishes that were yummy, healthy, warming, and easy to make, so I thought I'd share them with you. The first is from Half Baked Harvest ~ my newest favorite for dinner ideas and recipes. Every recipe I've tried has turned out wonderful. If you like Indian food with a little heat, you have to try this Crockpot Butter Chicken. I didn't have any red curry paste on-hand and this dish still turned out great. Serve over brown rice with garlic naan bread and a side of steamed broccoli. Although, in my post-menopausal foggy brained state (that's my excuse and I'm sticking to it), I forgot to make the broccoli. 🙄

I apologize for this non-appealing photo (bad lighting, steam coming from the bowl, melting cheese swirling throughout), but believe me, this One Pot Red Lentil Chili was delicious. I used a poblano chili instead of a jalapeno and I only used one can of beans (black) instead of two, as I don't digest beans too well. I had leftovers for lunch today and it was even better after sitting in the refrigerator overnight.

Have a good week ~ stay warm and healthy!