Blue Ribbon Chili

Last Halloween our church had a chili cookoff. Everyone brought their crockpots full of homemade chili and then after eating we got the chance to vote on our favorite. My chili took First Place and the blue ribbon. When I make this recipe I like to make double and then freeze the leftovers. I can pull it out of the freezer on a busy night and have dinner on the table in just a few minutes. If you like the chili at Wendy's you will enjoy this recipe.

Blue Ribbon Chili

2 lbs of ground beef (can be made with just 1 pound but better with 2)

29 ounce can tomato sauce

29 ounce can kidney beans, do NOT drain

29 ounce can pinto beans, do NOT drain

1 cup onion, diced

1 jalepeno pepper, minced (no seeds)

1/4 cup celery, diced

1 green pepper, chopped

3 medium tomatoes, chopped

2 tsp cumin

2 TBS chili powder

1 1/2 tsp black pepper

2-3 cloves garlic, minced

2 tsp salt

2 cups water

In a large soup pot brown hamburger and onion until onion is transluscent. Drain off excess grease. Add other ingredients and simmer on stove for an hour or put in the crockpot on low for 8 hours. Serve with grated cheese and sour cream.

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

Autumn is my favorite season of the year. I love the falling leaves and cool weather. I enjoy cooking comfort foods that are loaded with spices and apples. My sister-in-law Kari gave me this recipe for super easy pumpkin cookies. Three ingredients is all you need to have warm cookies right out of the oven!

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

1 box Spice Cake mix

1 (15 ounce) can pumpkin

1 cup (or more) semi sweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350. Mix ingredients together and drop rounded spoonfuls on a greased baking sheet. Bake for 20 minutes. Allow to cool for 5 minutes before putting on a wire rack to cool.

Variations:

Bake batter in a bundt pan for a pumkin cake instead of cookies

Frost cookies/cake with cream cheese frosting

Fancy 'Dogs

I always have hotdogs in my freezer. There are nights when I literally only have about 10 minutes to make dinner between getting home from work and before heading out to soccer practice, piano lessons, church activities etc. Hotdogs have rescued dinner more than once. This recipe sounds weird but it is good, fast, super cheap and the kids gobble it up. Serve with your favorite noodles and dinner will be on the table in just minutes.

Fancy 'Dogs

1 TBS butter

6 standard hotdogs, sliced

1 onion, chopped

2/3 cup sour cream

1/3 cup water

1 TBS chopped fresh parsley (optional)

Melt butter in a large skillet. Add the onions and sliced hotdogs. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the onions and the hotdogs are nicely browned. About 5-10 minutes. Add sour cream and water and stir until creamy. Heat through. Serve with favorite pasta. Sprinke with chopped parsley.

Variations:

Use kielbasa, bratwurst or Italian sausage in place of the hotdogs

***Make sure if you are feeding this to small children that the hotdogs are sliced into smaller bite sized pieces, as hotdogs can be a choking hazard.***

1988 Hot Wings

I remember the first time I tasted a buffalo wing. It was the summer before my Senior year in high school and my new boyfriend Kevin Wolz took me to Wings-N-Things in Casper, Wyoming. All it took was one bite. The spicy sauce of the wings and the creamy blue cheese dressing was pure magic to my taste buds. We visited there often over the next year and now whenever I eat a hot wing my thoughts always drift back to the summer of 1988.

These wings are just as good as those in a restuarant. They are also very economical. Wings go on sale at our local grocery store often. Make a big batch because I can guarantee there won't be any leftovers.

1988 Hot Wings

Oil for deep frying

1/4 cup butter

1/4 cup hot sauce

1 dash black pepper

1 dash garlic powder

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

1/4 tsp paprika

1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

1/4 tsp salt

10 chicken wings

In a small bowl mix together the flour, paprika, cayene pepper and salt, Place chicken wings in a large nonporous glass dish or bowl and sprinkle flour mixture over them until they are evenly coated. Cover dish or bowl and refrigerate for 60 to 90 minutes. DON'T SKIP THIS OR THEY WON'T BE CRISPY AFTER FRYING!

Heat oil in a deep fryer or deep skillet to 375 degrees. The oil should be just enough to cover wings entirely, an inch or so deep. Combine the butter, hot sauce, pepper and garlic powder in a small saucepan over low heat. Strir together and heat until butter is melted and mixutre is well blended. Remove form heat and reserve for serving.

Fry coated wings in hot oil for 10 to 15 minutes or until parts of wings begin to turn brown. Remove from heat, place wings in serving bowl, add hot sauce mixture and stir together and serve.

Ravioli Lasagna

One of my favorite things to do with my Grandma and Grandpa Waters was to go out for lunch. Whether they were home in Salt Lake or snowbirding in Arizona during the Winter they always knew the best restaurants in town. One afternoon at an undisclosed location, Grandma ordered the lasagna. After taking the first bite she thought it was the best lasagna she had ever eaten. As an avid cook and recipe collector she asked the server if she could get her the recipe. The waitress smiled and said, "Sure, I'll be right back." When she came back she handed Grandma a box of frozen Stouffer's lasagna. I can just imagine her response. I doubt she ever made homemade lasagna again, but she LOVED to tell the story. Stouffer's is usually my recipe of choice for lasagna :) but this one is quick and easy too. Love you Grandma!

Ravioli Lasagna

1 (15 oz) container part-skim ricotta cheese

1 egg

1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley

1 tsp dried oregano

1/2 tsp garlic powder

1/4 tsp pepper

1 (24 oz) jar marinara sauce

1 (24 oz) pkg frozen cheese ravioli

1 cup shredded mozarella cheese

Preheat oven to 375. Spray 2 quart baking dish with cooking spray. Combine ricotta, egg, parsley, oregano, garlic powder and pepper in a bowl and mix well. Spread 1/2 cup marinara sauce over bottom of baking dish. Top with half of ravioli in a singe layer, then spoon ricotta mixture on top. Spread 1 cup of sauce and repeat layers with sauce being your last layer. Cover baking dish and bake for 40 minutes. Uncover and sprinkle with mozzarella cheese. Bake uncovered until got and bubbly and cheese is melted. Let stand for 10 minutes before serving.

Sloppy Baked Potatoes

Anyone that knows me well knows that I have never met a potato that I didn't love. Bake, fried, boiled, sauteed...I love them all. This recipe is good made into sloppy joes but I like to smother a baked potato with it. Add cheese and sour cream on top and it quite possibly could be a perfect dinner.

Sloppy Baked Potatoes

1 lb ground beef, browned

1 onion, chopped

1/2 cup water

1/2 cup ketchup

2 tsp brown sugar

1 TBS white vinegar

1 tsp yellow mustard

1 tsp Worchestershire sauce

Brown ground beef and onions until hamburger is no longer pink and the onions are transluscent. Drain off grease. Add other ingredients and let simmer for 10 minutes. Serve over baked potatoes with grated cheese and sour cream.

Variations:

Serve on hamburger buns

Add a can of kidney beans to make it more like chili

Homemade Crispy Fish Sticks

My kids love to eat fish. Even my two year old Bella will eat any fish put in front of her. Sophia is known to order fish when we eat out. Nathan is another story. He's more of a shellfish kind of guy. Fish sticks from the grocery store are fast and easy but loaded with fat and perservatives. This recipe is super easy and a great way to use those potato flakes in your food storage. You can adjust the spices to your personal taste and you can substitute other white fish (such as halibut) for the cod. Serve with baked fries and you won't have to go out to eat your favorite fish and chips.

Homemade Crispy Fish Sticks

2 cups dry potato flakes

1 cup all purpose flour

1 TBS garlic powder

1 TBS seasoning salt

1 TBS black pepper

2 tsp cayenne pepper

1 egg, whisked

4 (6 ounces) cod fillets, cut into strips

2 cups flavored shortening or canola oil

In a medium bowl, combine potato flakes, flour, garlic powder, seasoned salt, black pepper and cayenne pepper. Pat cod dry with a paper towel. In a deep skillet, melt shortening to 350 degrees (make sure your shortening/oil is HOT). Crack egg into a shallow dish and whisk. Dip fish into egg and then dredge in dry mixture. Fry in the hot oil for 5 minutes or until fish flakes apart easily. Remove from oil and let drain on a paper towel.