Micki's Chili

I started working on this recipe about 20 years ago when I fell in love with Wendy’s chili. Yes, the fast food restaurant. I just loved that it was more like a soup and had onion and celery. So I started trying to recreate it. Over the years this recipe morphed into this wonderful, spicy, soupy creation. The real challenge for me was writing it down as I always just cooked it intuitively. But, alas, I finally measured everything and got it on paper. Hope you enjoy!

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ingredients

Neutral cooking oil, like canola

Salt & pepper

1 C diced onion

1 C celery, chopped

3 garlic cloves, minced

½ tsp – 2 tsp crushed red pepper

1 – 1 ½  lbs ground beef

1 quart beef broth (veggie and chicken broth work fine, too)

1 C water

1 – 10 oz can Rotel tomatoes

1 – 14.5 oz can diced tomatoes

1 – 14.5 oz can tomato sauce or crushed tomatoes

3 tbsp chili powder

1 tsp oregano

1 tsp salt

1 tsp beef better than bouillon or 1 beef bouillon cube

1 – 14.5 oz can dark kidney beans, drained and rinsed

1 – 14.5 oz can pinto beans, drained and rinsed

directions

In a sauté pan, heat 2 tbsp of oil over medium heat, add onion, celery, a pinch of salt and pepper, and crushed red pepper and cook until soft, about 10-15 minutes. Stir in minced garlic and cook another 1-2 minutes.

While the veggies are cooking… In a large stockpot, heat 1 tbsp of oil over medium heat, add ground beef, season with salt and pepper, and brown for about 10 minutes. Drain excess oil if needed.

When the beef and veggies are ready, add the veggies into the pot with the ground beef. Pour in broth, water, rotel tomatoes, diced tomatoes, tomato sauce, oregano, chili powder, salt, and bouillon.  Bring to a bubble over medium heat then turn the heat down to med-low and simmer for 1-1/2 to 2 hours. Add drained and rinsed kidney and pinto beans and simmer for another 30 minutes.

There are lots of great options for serving this, here are a few of my favorites…

•             Serve over cooked rice, French fries, or baked potato

•             Top with shredded cheddar cheese, diced onion, and /or sour cream

•             Top with this yummy mix :: Add 2 bunches of cilantro, 1 cup of chopped onion, 1 diced fresh jalapeno (take seeds and ribs out if you don’t want it too spicy), and the juice of 1 lime to a food processor and blend a couple of times.

Golden Milk (Turmeric Paste)

In the spirit of kicking off 2023 with wellness in mind, I want to share my favorite nighttime, get me all snuggly before bed, warm drink! Y’all have probably heard the numerous health benefits of turmeric but in case you haven’t; it’s a powerful anti-inflammatory and antioxidant, great for brain health, improves liver function, and promotes a healthy digestive tract just to name a few. I also personally find I sleep really well after drinking this.

I like to make a turmeric paste and store it in the fridge making it super quick and easy to whip up a warm mug of golden milk. Hope you enjoy!

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ingredients

For the Turmeric Paste

1½ Cups - Water

approx ½ Cup - Turmeric Powder (this is about equal to a 2oz spice container)

1-1½ tsp - Ginger Powder*

½ tsp-1 Tbsp - Cinnamon Powder*

½ tsp-2 tsp - Black Pepper**

½ Cup - unrefined Coconut Oil***

For Golden Milk

1 tsp-2 Tbsp - Turmeric Paste

8-12 oz - Milk of your choice, I prefer Almond or Oat Milk

Honey - to taste

directions

For the Turmeric Paste

In a small saucepan, add turmeric powder to water and bring to a light boil stirring constantly over medium heat.

Reduce heat to low. Add ginger powder, cinnamon powder, and black pepper and continue to stir over low heat for 2-3 more minutes. Add a little more water if it gets too thick.

Remove from heat and add coconut oil.

Let cool at room temp, stir very well to incorporate coconut oil, and store in fridge for 2-3 weeks.

For Golden Milk

In a small saucepan, add turmeric paste to milk of your choice and heat to desired temp stirring constantly over medium heat. I like mine just below a boil.

Pour into a mug, add desired sweetener if using.

Serve & Enjoy!

Notes:

* Depending on your taste, I prefer less cinnamon and more black pepper

** Don't skip the black pepper! It gives it a great taste and helps your body absorb the turmeric.

*** Also don't skip. Turmeric is fat soluble and this will also help your body absorb the turmeric.

Meet Charlie

Charlie is the most chill, most loving cat you will ever meet. He has this stare that screams, “ I love you” and wants to snuggle ALL of the time! He loves belly rubs and mealtime and is soooo soft. I hope you can feel the Charlie love looking at his pics!

Red Wine Braised Beef

So, I’m not the biggest fan of traditional pot roast or beef stew. I know, I know, it’s a classic and everyone loves it. I just can’t get past the mushy veggies that have been cooked to death. This recipe is similar in cooking method but you strain out the veggies at the end and make a beautiful sauce. You can just slice the beef and serve with the sauce or, my favorite, shred the meat right back in the sauce. With the shredded version, the serving ideas are endless; over home fries (pictured), over rice, as is with a side veg (if your low carb), or even in quesadillas (strain the meat and use the sauce for dipping). Enjoy!

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ingredients

3 - 4 lbs beef, round or chuck roast

Salt & pepper

Neutral cooking oil, like canola

1 onion, cut into large chunks

3 carrots, cut into large chunks

4 celery stalks, cut into large chunks

3 tbsp tomato paste

6 garlic cloves, smashed and paper removed

2 cups dry, red wine

1-3 cups beef broth

2 bay leaves

1 tsp dried thyme or a few sprigs of fresh thyme

directions

Preheat oven to 275

Heat about 3 tbsp oil in a large dutch oven over med-high heat until shimmering.

Pat roast dry with paper towels and season all over with salt & pepper. Sear the meat on all sides to form a nice crust, about 3-5 minutes per side. Place meat on a plate.

Add onion, carrots, and celery to oil and cook, stirring, for about 5 minutes.  Add tomato paste and garlic cloves and cook, stirring, for another 2-4 minutes until the tomato paste starts to caramelize a little. Add 2 cups of red wine and cook for about 5 minutes to reduce slightly. Add bay leaves and thyme. Nestle the roast among the veggies and add beef broth until the meat is almost covered. Allow the liquid to come to a simmer, place lid on dutch oven, and place in preheated oven. Bake for 3-4 hours until the meat is super tender and falls apart easily. Remove from oven and allow to cool for about 30 min.

Remove the meat from the dutch oven and place on a plate. Strain the veggies out of the sauce using a mesh strainer over a saucepan. Let the sauce sit for a few minutes to allow the excess fat to rise to the top and skim off some of the fat with a spoon. You’ll want to leave some fat for flavor but you don’t want it to be greasy.

Using two forks shred the beef, this should be VERY easy, and add it back into the sauce.

Serve & Enjoy!

Breakfast Casserole

I’ve been making breakfast casseroles for years! They’re a great, hearty breakfast and so easy to make. I’ve tried just about everything (different egg/milk ratios, fillings, potatoes vs bread) and I finally perfected my recipe. Inspired by Molly Yeh’s hotdishes, I figured out the perfect way to get crispy potatoes in the casserole or, rather, on the casserole. I used to put the potatoes in the bottom and, again, have tried everything (roasting fresh potatoes, using frozen tots or hash browns right out of the bag or cooked first) and could never achieve a good crispy potato layer. Well, let me tell you, putting frozen tots on top…. muah! I hope you try it and if you do tell me about it in the comments!

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ingredients

1 lb breakfast sausage (I like hot sausage)

1/3 C finely diced onion

1/3 C finely diced red bell pepper

2 C shredded cheddar cheese

8 eggs

1 C milk

salt and pepper

1/8 tsp garlic powder

16 oz frozen tater tots

Chives for garnish (optional)

directions

Preheat oven to 375 and lightly grease a 9x13 glass baking dish.

Brown sausage in large skillet, drain on paper towels. Layer sausage in the bottom of 9x13. Sprinkle diced red pepper and onion over the sausage. Sprinkle cheddar cheese over everything.

In a large bowl whisk 8 eggs with 1 C milk, S&P, and garlic powder, then pour over sausage/cheese. The cheese will rise above the egg mixture so I like press the cheese a little into the egg. Arrange frozen tots over top of casserole.

Bake for 35-45 minutes until eggs are set and tots are browned. Allow to cool for 5-10 minutes and serve! Garnish with chopped chives if wanted.

***Tips & Tricks***

• To make things easy on yourself you can assemble this the night before (without the tots), cover and store in the fridge. When you’re ready to eat, top the casserole with tots and pop in the oven while it’s preheating (this helps warm it up from being in the fridge) and bake. It will take 5-10 more minutes to cook than the recipe calls for.

• You can sub green bell pepper for red and green onion for regular onion.