Chili Cheese Potatoes

2 Russet Potatoes, pierced several times

2 cups Leftover chili

½ cup cheddar cheese, grated

In the morning:

Oil the potatoes and place on slow cooker rack*. Sprinkle with salt. Set slow cooker on Low for 7 hours.

In the evening:

Heat 12” skillet over med-high heat, add 1 tbsp oil. Slice potatoes about ¼” thick and place in skillet. Cook until brown and crisped about 5 mins. Turn and brown the other side. Reheat left over chili while potatoes are frying and set aside. When potatoes are brown and crisp on both sides plate, individually, and top with chili and cheese. Enjoy!

*Note: If your slow cooker does not come with a wire rack, you make your our. Just take several pieces of aluminum foil, roll each piece so it fits lengthwise in the slow cooker, and place potatoes on top. The idea is to have the potatoes steam cook from all sides and leave the skin kind of crispy.

My "Famous" Chili

This freezes great or makes a great dish for a casual dinner party.

2 cans black beans, drained and rinsed

2 cans chili beans, I prefer the Kroger brand

1 28 oz can diced tomatoes with jalapenos and onion

1 ½ cup tomato or veggie juice

1 cup frozen corn

1 packet hot chili seasoning mix

½ cup crushed tortilla chips

Combine the first 6 ingredients and cook over med-low heat for at least 30 mins. (The longer it cooks the better the flavor. I like to simmer it about 1 ½-2 hours.) About 10 mins. before serving, add the tortilla chips—this helps thicken the chili. Serve with diced red onion, jalapenos, and sour cream. Enjoy!

So It's Been Awhile...

Well, I think I am going to try and post some more recipes soon. I have made some really delicious meals lately and posted pics on Facebook, but I want to remember the recipes so I am going to write them down then post a couple each week. So if there is something you see on FB that looks good let me know and I'll post the link to the blog. Anyways, we'll see how long this lasts. I need to be committed to something to keep me busy and away from so much TV. Way too much lately and that's definitely not a good thing. Well, I'll try and get some recent recipes up this weekend (Sunday) and go from there. Enjoy!

New Cards and Home Decor

New cards! I bought some new scrapbook/craft items and made some new cards. I am still creating greeting cards, but Christmas cards are coming soon. I hope Christmas paper comes out soon. Anyways, this first set has kind of an Asian feel. I like them alot!

These are sweet cards. Simple "thinking of you" type cards.

I love these cards. Black, red and white--you can't get can't get more classic that that.

This is my "new" lamp shade. I found this most fabulous ribbon at Michael's and hot glued it around the top and bottom edge. Then stenciled the bird. It was hard to stencil but it really turned out fantastic. I have one more lamp and I hope it turns out just a nice.

Inexpensive Wall Art

This is some inexpensive wall art I made last night. All it is a stencil, scrapbook paper, acrylic paint and brush, and a couple adhesive borders. All together this project cost me about $3.50, plus I have more materials leftover for other projects.

I am really happy with the results. If you are a looking for a cheap way to add some decor, maybe you can try this out. Just Pick out a stencil, few coordinating pieces of scrapbook paper, a shade of acrylic paint that matches your color scheme, and a stenciling brush (ask a store rep if you can't find it). Center the stencil on the paper and tape down (use scotch tape so you don't rip the paper). Get a little paint onto the brush and start dabbing the paint around the edges of the stencil then fill in the rest. Just remember a little paint goes a long way--I used about a tablespoon for this project and had plenty left over. Anyways, the paint will set quickly but let it finish drying overnight. All in all this project took me about 15 minutes. But I love the results--instant, unique art!!

Here is my final work. Eventually I will frame these and hang them in the bedroom, but you can always dab a little Elmer's glue on the corners and place right in the wall. It will hold, but comes off cleanly when you are ready for a change!

Brazilian Pork and Beans

This dish is Ahhh-mazing!! Seriously. Also, if you are in a time crunch most days, this would be good to fix one Saturday or Sunday, then freeze for meals later on or reheat for a quick meal later in the week. Anyways, this is my version of the recipe.

Recipe: Serves 8-10

8 cups water
2 tbsp oil
1.5 lb pork loin roast
1 lb bag of dried black beans (sorted and rinsed)
1 medium onion, diced
1 package soy chorizo (regular chorizo is fine, but i thought this worked better because it crumbled and became part of the sauce, adding a nice background flavor and richness)
6 slices bacon, cooked or uncooked
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 jalepenos, diced
2 cups long-grain rice, prepared per package directions
cilantro for garnish

In a large dutch oven, heat oil over medium-high heat and brown pork. Once pork in browned on all sides, add black beans, 1/2 of the onions, bacon, and chorizo. Pour all of the water over the pork and beans, bring to a boil and reduce heat to medium-low. Cook for 2 1/2 hours.

After 1 hour 45 minutes hours, heat a 10"-12" fry pan with a little oil, saute the rest of the onoins, jalapenos, and garlic. Once veggies are softened, add 1 1/2 cups of the cooked balck beans to the veggies and mash with a fork or potato masher. At this point, you can break the pork up into chunks if desired. (It will basically fall apart, think pulled pork, during the last 30 minutes of cooking.) Stir the bean mixture into the pork and continue cooking for 30 minutes. Once you add the bean mixture to the pork, start cooking the rice. Everything should be finishing up about the same time. Serve pork over the rice, garnish with cilantro and enjoy!!

Summer Squash Frittata

We eat a lot of squash during the summer. We bake, sauté, and steam it. Squash is just so versatile. Well, I had some leftover and wasn't sure what to try. I was reading another blog and saw she has made squash frittata. Why hadn't I thought of this? Oh well, here is my own version. I turned out pretty good for the first try. Next time I will drain the leftover squash first.

Recipe: Serves 6 as a side dish or 4 as a main course

5 eggs

1 each small yellow squash and zucchini, steamed or sautéed

4 slices of bread, toasted and torn into pieces

3/4 cup SHARP cheddar cheese

s/p to taste

1/4 cup milk

Heat oven to 375*. In an 8x8 casserole dish, spread out squash and top with bread. In a bowl, mix eggs, milk and s/p. Pour over squash and bread. Top with cheese. Bake 15 minutes and then turn on broiler. Heat under broiler for 2-3 mins or until is browned and bubbling. Enjoy!!