Tag Archives: #Foodies

Baking, Comfort Food, Food, Halloween, Lifestyle, Middle aged belly fat, Recipes, Weight

Thursday Thoughts from a Good Cooker

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I’ve got so many tabs open in my brain as I begin writing this blog post. Tabs about our Halloween costume options (crap, it’s less than a week away!). Tabs about upcoming plans and shopping for Christmas presents. Tabs about how to express what I want to say to a person I love and miss so much who has distanced themselves from me.

For this week’s blog post, however, I’d like to focus on hearth and home. Domesticity. Cool air and the rust, amber, and scarlet leaves falling outside while we remain cozy indoors inspires this in me.

Being indoors, cooking and baking, heck, even going through my raggedy-ass recipe binder is my jam right now. It comforts me and keeps my mind occupied.

I remember, years ago, while our oldest (probably 8 or 9 at the time) was enjoying whatever supper I had just put on the table, she said “Mom, you’re such a good cooker!” It warmed my heart and gave me the giggles. It remains a family joke, tossed around liberally when any of us makes something another deems delicious.

I do have a recipe to share with you here today, fellow foodies. I’ll put it at the end of this post.

First, though, I’m going to be real with you here. I’m overweight and conflicted about it. I go back and forth in my brain on a daily basis about it, frankly. On one hand, I’m not that overweight. 13 pounds, to be precise. Just 13 pounds. I keep a food diary to keep myself honest but it’d be dishonest of me to say that practice is the secret to any weight loss. At this point it’s more like a compulsion.

There’s plenty that I like about my body, my shape. I have the ability to dress myself in ways that camoflauge my mid-section, where my extra pounds tend to gather. I’m able to easily walk a couple of miles without needing to take any breaks. My extra weight does not hinder me from doing anything really.

On the other hand, I’ll catch a glimpse of myself in the mirror sometimes and cringe. Or a picture of myself. I’m sure at least some of you can relate.

But this is the time of the year when I start to dream of all the goodies I can bake. The hotdishes that bring to mind growing up in Minnesota and adulting in Wisconsin. Showing my love for others via tasty comfort food.

Suffice it to say that my commitment to losing weight by eating healthier is waning as the temps decrease here in Minnesconsin.

Ok, folks, it’s time for the promised recipe. It’s a classic recipe for bars I’ve made numerous times over the years and it does have oatmeal in it, so it’s not entirely unhealthy. I just made a batch the other day and brought 75% of it to work (lest I gobble it all up myself in the kitchen late at night).

M ‘n M (or is it M and M?) bars:

Mix up the following and put 1/2 of it in a 9 by 11 inch baking pan:

2 Cups Quick Oats

1/2 Cup Flour

1 Cup Butter, slightly melted

1 tspn. Baking Soda

3/4 tspn. Salt

1 Cup Brown Sugar

Bake that at 375 degrees for 12 minutes.

While that’s baking, mix up the following:

1 can Sweetened Condensed Milk

1/3 Cup Peanut Butter

Pull the baking pan out of the oven after 12 minutes and pour that sticky goodness over the top.

Then take the other 1/2 of the oatmeal crumble mixture that’s left and mix in a cup of M&M’s (I use the Halloween colored ones because I’m fancy). Sprinkle that on top and then put it back in the oven for 18 minutes.

Enjoy and Happy Halloween!

Comfort Food, Cooking, Food, Motherhood

The food of winter: Chili

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I love chili. Making it, eating it, experimenting with it. It’s one of those rare dishes that almost everyone I know loves. It’s especially perfect during these winter months when you are chilled to the bone. I remember as a kid, when my mom would make a big batch, I’d watch my dad slather on what had to be a good tablespoon of butter onto each Saltine to accompany his hearty bowl of chili. To my dad, everything is better with butter.

One of the few things I remember my dad’s mom making was chili. Only hers was different than all the rest. She added chunks of celery and spaghetti. It was more of a soup than a chili, actually. It smelled and tasted delicious.

My oldest spawn has always been a fan of chili herself. Every year, while we were living in Wisconsin, there was a chili cook off sometime in February. She and I always talked of attending, but for whatever reason, we never did. I regret that.

When Hubs was on a rotating shift schedule and the spawn were elementary school aged, I remember heating up a can of Hormel chili (no beans) in the microwave to create chili dogs for supper sometimes.  My oldest and I loved this messy treat, while the youngest was perfectly happy with a plain old hot dog.

So in that spirit, I’d like to share with you the version of chili I came up with earlier this week. Hubs and I agreed it was the best chili I ever made, so I thought it only right to share it with you all.

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Ingredients:

1 lb. beef stew meat

2 tablespoons canola oil

3 small cans tomato sauce

1 can black beans, drained

1 can chili beans, drained

1 can Ro-Tel diced tomatoes

Chili powder, to taste

Chihula hot sauce, to taste

Heat up the oil in a skillet. Brown the beef. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. It’s ok to leave it reddish inside. Plop it into a crockpot. Add cans of tomato sauce, black and chili beans, and Ro-Tel tomatoes. Sprinkle in some chili powder and Chihula, to taste. Give it a good stir and set the crockpot to low. After a long day of work, walk in the door and savor the aroma. Pat yourself on the back for taking the approximately 20 minutes this morning to put this deliciousness together. Chop some yellow onions and get out the shredded cheddar and sour cream. Spoon up that chili into bowls and add the flourishes to your liking. Eat up!

And if you’re a family of two like we are, give yourself another pat on the back, because later in the week, or heck even next week, you will have a night of no cooking, because this chili freezes very well in individual plastic tupperware thingies.