Four foods on Friday 60

Yes, yes, I know that it is Sunday. I got up Friday to finish my Four Foods and there wasn't any internet! An underwater cable in the Mediterranean was severed somehow. The cable that supplies the Middle East/North Africa with internet! This happened earlier this year and when they fixed it then, they said something about making it stronger, less susceptible to incidents like this! Oh well.

#1. What’s your favorite crunchy food?

Gotta be nachos. Put down one layer of chips, then some shredded, sharp cheddar cheese, then another layer of chips, cheese and then the microwave. Remember the randomly placed sliced jalapenos on top!

#2. How often do you try new recipes?

Every week! I'm so stuck in a rut right now, so I'll try anything new! But I will find new recipes all the time and make a one-two serving experiment with it, to see if we like it.

#3. Name a food that you almost always have in the house.

Pick one? One that we eat every day is cold cereal. Yeah, boring.

#4. What kind of food do you leave out for Santa on Christmas Eve?

Cookies, duh. One year we hadn't made any cookies (I was pregnant and insanely ill) so we left marshmallows and pretzels for Santa and his reindeer.

Four Foods on Friday 58

This is a meme I participate in every Friday. Someone else comes up with the week's questions and we answer them!

#1. Does your family usually eat meals in the kitchen or somewhere else?

Our kitchen is so dinky, we get claustrophobic with more than 3 people, let alone have enough room for a table. (we're a family of 6) We eat where I was taught to eat, at the table. Family dinner. Now, if it's just my husband and me, (after the kids are in bed) we will skooch together on the couch and share a cozy dinner with a good movie.

#2. Who usually does the dishes in your house?

Right now, my housekeeper, ReRe. And when she's not around, the dishes sometimes wait for her. We're teaching them how to play dead next week! I will tackle the mountains on her off days; she comes in 3x a week.

#3. What’s your favorite small appliance or tool in the kitchen?

My stick blender. I use that baby every morning for my protein shakes! And for my soups! And for hiding "secret food" in with the regular food. One time, I made spaghetti with tomatoes and eggplant. I cooked the eggplant and then buzzed it into oblivion and added it to the tomato sauce. And nobody could tell. I hide a lot of things. I think it stems from my mom. I came into the kitchen one evening and she was making spaghetti sauce. I saw her grating carrots and cooking zucchini and I asked,

"What are you doing?"

"Making spaghetti sauce." she calmly replies.

"With that stuff in it?"

"Yep, and I have been for years!"

Yeah, so now I do the same thing to my kids! You can hide a ton of stuff in spaghetti sauce. My stick blender is really great. I really like it. A lot. **


#4. This one’s for my son. Share a recipe for chili.

I don't use recipes, amounts are very fluid for me! This is my own creation. It did win a small church chili cook-off! There were 4 other entrants, 5 including me. Soooo, do with it what you will.

About a pound of ground beef
beef bullion granules
a cup of corn (i like pict sweet)
1 can red kidney beans
2 cans Hunt's tomato sauce
1 can Diced tomatoes and pepper (drained, I like Ro*Tel)
1 can Diced tomatoes & Garlic (drained, I use Del Monte)
1/2 a packet of Chili Seasoning (schilling brand)
liberal dashes of chili powder (depends on how spicy you want it)

- Brown the beef, I add the beef bullion during this time and the chili seasoning.
- Then add everything else.
- Taste and tweak.
- Once it's heated, serve!!

This recipe is really subjective to taste and number of people. More people? Add more beef. If you like more corn, do more corn. Less saucy, (rrrowwl) use less tomato sauce. My rule of thumb is to start small, you can always add more.


**hmmm, best movie for february ever? am i right or am i right or am i right?