Slow-Cooked Chili (from Dessert Diva)

I know, I know...I've been M.I.A. for quite some time now. I've been just a tad bit busy...being sick. You see, our next Baby Diva is due at the beginning of April and so far, pregnancy has not agreed with me. Now that I'm beginning to feel better, I hope to start posting more recipes!

I'll start with the recipe for the meal I'm taking to our next Supper Club on Monday...slow-cooked chili. What better way to celebrate fall and football season than cozying up with a nice, hot bowl of chili?

Ingredients
2 lbs. ground beef
2 - 16 oz. cans kidney beans, rinsed and drained
2 - 14.5 oz. cans diced tomatoes, undrained
8 oz. tomato sauce
2 onions, chopped
1 green bell pepper, chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 tbsp. chili powder
2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. pepper

Directions
Brown beef in a nonstick skillet; place in slow cooker. Add all remaining ingredients. Cover; cook on high 4 hours or on low 8-10 hours. Garnish with cheese or whatever makes it a great bowl of chili to you!

Enjoy!

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cake (aka...Autumn in a Loaf)

I love the word loaf. Good things come in loaves. I enjoy loafing around the house. So I was super excited to see that my first Cake Slice Bakers recipe was for a pumpkin chocolate chip pound cake...in the form of a loaf!!

What is Cake Slice Bakers you ask? Well its a somewhat "secret society" of bloggers who work out of one cake cookbook a year and one recipe a month. On the 20th of each month, we reveal our recipes on our blog. So drumroll please.....

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cake!!

Ingredients:
1 3/4 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ground cloves
pinch of nutmeg
1/2 cup of unsalted butter, softened
1 1/4 cups sugar
3 eggs
1 cup canned pumpkin puree
1 tsp vanilla
1/3 cup milk
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1 cup chopped walnuts

Prep:
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Coat the inside of a 9x5 loaf pan.
- Combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, salt, cloves, and nutmeg
in a medium mixing bowl.
- Comine the butter and sugar in a large mixing bowl and cream with an electric
mixer on medium high speed until fluffy.
- With the mixer on medium, add the eggs one at a time. Stir in the pumpkin,
vanilla, and milk.
- Turn the mixer to low and add the flour mixture 1/2 cup at a time until well
combined.
- Stir in the chocolate chips and walnuts.
- Pour the batter into the pan and smooth the top.
- Bake until firm and an inserted toothpick comes out clean...about an hour (mine
took about an hour and 15 min.)
- Let cool in pan for 5 minutes. Invert cake onto wire rack, flip back over and let
cool all the way.


Taaaaaaadaaaaaaa!

I loved preparing this cake! My entire house was filled with the smells of fall. It turned out to be a beautiful orange color with delicious chocolate bites throughout.

Sweet and Sour Chicken

This was my contribution to DTD this month. Its a lighter version of the fried sweet and sour chicken you get from the asian take out establishments.

Ingredients:
1 pound skinless, boneless chicken breast meat - cubed
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1/2 cup sliced green bell pepper
1/2 cup sliced red bell pepper
1/2 cup sliced onion
1 clove garlic, minced
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1/4 cup low sodium soy sauce
1 (8 ounce) can pineapple chunks, juice reserved
1 tablespoon vinegar
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

Preparation:
1. Brown chicken in oil in a large skillet over medium high heat. Add green bell pepper, red bell pepper, onion and garlic and stir fry for 1 to 2 minutes.

2. In a small bowl, combine cornstarch and soy sauce and mix together; pour mixture into the skillet, along with the pineapple and liquid, vinegar, sugar and ginger. Stir together and bring to a full boil.

Serve over rice.

Beef Tenderloin Bites on a Bed of Arugula

Guess who's back, back again? Saucy's back, tell a friend...

First of all, my apologies for my lack of posting lately. School started, camera broke, stuff happens. In my efforts to be a regular poster and not get the diva boot, I joined a cookbook club. It is a collection of wonderful bloggers that all make the same recipe once a month and blog about it. This month we are cooking from a Rachel Ray book and the recipe is Italian stuffed shells (pssst, Saucy, look at the title of the post, there are no mention of a stuffed shell). I know. I've been a little stuffed shelled out lately. I made my own Italian stuffed shells not too long ago, and the Big Cheese made some scrumptious Mexican stuffed shells last month.


Luckily, the creator of the cookbook club offers an alternative recipe. Hence, Beef Tenderloin Bites on a Bed of Arugula! It was fantastic! I made it after a busy workday, and it was a light but delish meal that hit the spot. One note: Make sure your beef is cut in cubes similar in size. I rushed a little and some of my smaller pieces were way over done.

Here is the recipe:

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups Italian bread crumbs, eyeball it
Handful flat-leaf parsley, chopped
1/2 cup Parmigiano-Reggiano, a couple of handfuls
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil, eyeball it, plus some for drizzling
3 to 4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
4 tenderloin steaks, 1 inch thick, cut into bite sized pieces
Salt and pepper
5 to 6 cups arugula, chopped
1 lemon, juiced

Directions:
Preheat broiler to high.

Mix bread crumbs with parsley, cheese. Warm the oil and garlic over low heat to infuse flavor, 5 minutes. Pour oil into bread crumbs and combine to distribute equally and moisten the bread crumbs.

Season the meat with salt and pepper. Coat the meat in bread crumb mixture to coat evenly. Spread meat onto baking sheet and broil until crisp and meat is tender, 6 to 7 minutes. Serve meat on bed of shredded arugula. Give a squeeze of lemon juice over the beef and arugula.


Another note about the picture: Remember the broken camera? Still broken. So thank you to the Rachel Ray website for the picture!

Grilled Pork Tenderloin Sandwiches (by Gourmet Diva)

The divas have been meeting for 10 months now and August's theme is "Diva Favorites". We all got to vote on what the other divas would bring back for an encore meal.

This recipe is a great way to add a little "Gourmet" to a BBQ with friends. I will also add that the leftovers are great as a cold sandwich the next day. Happy BBQing!

-Gourmet Diva

Grilled Pork Tenderloin Sandwiches

Ingredients
1/4 cup hot jalapeño jelly
1 teaspoon water
1 tablespoon paprika
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon granulated sugar
1 teaspoon brown sugar
1 teaspoon chili powder
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 (1-pound) pork tenderloins, trimmed
Cooking spray
1/4 cup light ranch dressing
1/4 cup sweet hickory smoke tomato-based barbecue sauce (such as Bull's-Eye)
8 (1 1/2-ounce) hamburger buns or Kaiser rolls
Preparation
Prepare grill to medium-high heat.

Combine jelly and water; set aside.

Combine paprika and next 6 ingredients (through pepper); rub evenly over pork. Place pork on grill rack coated with cooking spray; cover and grill 15 minutes, turning pork occasionally. Brush pork with jelly mixture. Grill an additional 5 minutes or until thermometer registers 155° (slightly pink).

Place pork on a cutting surface. Lightly cover with foil; let stand 10 minutes. Thinly slice pork. Combine ranch dressing and barbecue sauce. Serve pork and ranch mixture with buns.

Nutritional Information
Calories:329 (22% from fat)
Fat:8g (sat 2g,mono 2.1g,poly 1.6g)
Protein:27.8g
Carbohydrate:34.6g
Fiber:1.8g
Cholesterol:76mg
Iron:3.1mg
Sodium:920mg
Calcium:73mg

This is a Cooking Light recipe from many years ago!

Cheesy Appetizer Loaf (by the BIG cheese)

I made this dish while hosting the divas this evening! I heard great reviews, so I thought I'd share. I got the recipe from www.kraftfoods.com - so easy and SO GOOD!

1 pkg. (8 oz.) Italian Cheese Crumbles
3 Tbsp. Real Mayo Mayonnaise
2 Tbsp. chopped Spanish olives
1/2 tsp. Garlic powder
1 loaf French bread (24 inch), cut lengthwise in half
Paprika

How do you make it? It's easy...

Heat broiler. Mix first 4 ingredients.
Spread onto cut sides of bread; sprinkle lightly with paprika.
Broil, 6 inches from heat, 1 min. or until cheese is melted.
Serve warm

Beef and Corn Enchiladas

1 lb extra lean ground beef
1 yellow onion
2 teaspoons minced garlic
1 cup nonfat sour cream
1 - 15 ounce dice tomatoes drained
1 cup low fat ricotta cheese
1 - 7 ounce diced mild green chilies
8 - 5 inch corn tortillas
2 cups low fat shredded cheese
3 green onions, diced

1. Cook beef until browned
2. In a large bowl, combine the onions, garlic, sour cream, tomatoes, ricotta cheese, and green chilies and stir until incorporated. Set aside
3. Arrange 4 corn tortillas on top of the sauce.
4. Spred half of the ground beef over the tortillas.
5. Top with half of sour cream mixture.
6. Cover the sour cream mixture with 4 more tortillas.
7. Spread shredded cheese and green onions over the tortillas.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Cover the dish with aluminum foil and back for 45 minutes. Remove foil, and back for 15 minutes or until the cheese is melted and bubbly.