My First Chili

I've never made chili before and figured I needed to add it to my recipes. I searched the internet for quite some time looking at all the different recipes. I settled on one that looked decent and then found another just as tempting to try...so i took a big risk and made up my own recipe. I am so happy about the the way it turned out, but I was even more happy that Mike really liked it. So, here is my chili recipe as best as I can recall from memory of what I did.

My First Chili

1 lbs ground beef
1 can diced tomatoes (slightly pureed)
2 cans kidney beans (drained)

1 can black beans (drained)
1 green pepper (chopped)
1/2 onion (chopped)

2 garlic cloves (finely chopped)
1 stalks celery (chopped)
1 Tbs jalapeno pepper, seeded and chopped
1 1/2 Tbs chili powder
1 Tbs Argentine steak rub
1 Tbs Italian seasoning

1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1 chicken bouillon cube

1 cup water

1 tsp sugar
salt & pepper
hot sauce
oil (for frying) 

 

Toppings:

sour cream (optional)
shredded cheddar cheese (optional)
chopped raw onion (optional)

Sautee garlic, onions, green peppers in oil. Brown ground beef. All all other ingredients and simmer for 1-2 hours. Serve with sour cream, shredded cheese and onions.

The chili freezes well, is great for cold days and yummy served with a baked potato. This recipe is really not hard...just a lot of chopping to do. I hope ya'll enjoy!

November Happy Boy

Benjamin has outgrown his baby bath and had his first big bath. He loves kicking the water around as much as before.

 He also likes to try to feed himself. He's usually unsuccessful at getting the food into his mouth.

 Love, love, love his little face on Thanksgiving day!

Here is the happy boy playing with his pillow pets. His daddy and I are very happy for the blessing he is in our lives. We hope everyone had a great November.

Computer Time

I am on my computer quite a bit for work. Sometimes Benjamin is content playing with his own toys, is thoughtfully watching me type away, or is grabbing at my computer excited to slap the keys or get his mouth on the screen to leave a slobbery mess. The same thing happens with my phone. Well, we solved the problem with the phone by getting him his own toy phone to play with. Last weekend, we received a package from Nonna and Abuelo and found a toy laptop inside for Benjamin. He now enjoys slapping at his own keys, chewing the screen and is amused by opening and closing his toy. Thanks Nonna and Abuelo!!!

First Halloween

I had so much fun planning out our Halloween costumes. I dressed as Abby from NCIS with her hippopotamus, and since Mike didn't want to dress up, I think he fit the part of McGee pretty well.

I've got to take advantage of dressing up Benjamin how I like before he starts making his own choices.

October-rest

 Where did October go? I think I slept the second half of the month away, I've been so exhausted. I'm not the only one that has been tired. Above is a rare chance that Mike has to hold Benjamin as he falls asleep. It's very sweet!

 I started to feel teeth trying to come out on baby's lower jaw. They haven't cut through, yet. One day it was bothering him quite a bit, so he had the best time gnawing on an apple chunk. It was a sticky mess, but so fun to watch him go at the apple.

 I love his little froggy outfits!

 He's cute in his monkey outfits too! He was content to swing around (like a monkey).

Benjamin has reached 6 months old and I decided to let him experience a ride in the shopping cart. The first time he reached his arms from one side of the cart to the other to hold on. It was so fun to see him wide-eyed as we sped through the aisles.

Flip

I caught baby flipping in his crib. After I saw him do it, he continued to flip over when I put him on his back. I'm going to have to keep an even closer eye on him now.

September Entertainment

 As school starts for most kids, I feel blessed to have Benjamin at home with me. I can't believe I'm already thinking that he'll go to school one day. So, he entertains me while we're together.

 He has some talented toes and will hold things between his feet for short periods of time.

 He thinks it's cool to arch his back and hang out till the blood rushes to his head.

 My glasses seam to fascinate him as he attempts to pull them off my face as often as he can. Here he has succeeded.

 Here is a fun mess after his dinner one day.

 He loves grabbing the spoon while he eats. He wants to be in control. Is that a sign for trouble?

 When baby sleeps in his crib, he manages to get himself all turned around. It amuses me!

We got baby a new toy that he immensely loves, his jungle bouncer-saucer. He was so excited the first day, but quickly became frustrated as he realized he couldn't pull any of the toys off to chew or suck on them. It is still quite entertaining to him as much as it is for us to watch him.

Finally, here is Benjamin extremely excited to eat with his spoon. I'm sure more entertaining to his parents, but I still have to share.

Lemony Shrimp Scampi

Here is my second shrimp dish that I got out of my Everyday Food magazine. This is a quick meal...I think that boiling the water took the longest. I would say it's a relatively inexpensive meal as well. I loved this dish and will be adding it to my list of meals I rotate through.

Lemony Shrimp Scampi

Salt and pepper
3/4 lb angel-hair pasta
2 T olive oil
3/4 lb large or jumbo shrimp, peeled and deveined
6 T butter
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 c lemon juice (from 2 lemons), plus wedges for serving
2 T chopped fresh parsley

In a large pot of boiling salted water, cook pasta according to package instructions, then drain. Meanwhile, in a large skillet, heat oil over medium-high. Add shrimp and cook until opaque throughout, about 3 minutes, flipping once. Transfer to a plate. Reduce heat to medium. Add butter and garlic to skillet and saute until garlic is soft and fragrant, about 2 minutes. Add lemon juice and cook 1 minute; season with salt and pepper. Remove from heat and stir in parsley. Add pasta and shrimp and toss to combine. Serve with lemon wedges.

I bought fresh parsley for this dish. I really like how it adds to the recipe. If you store the parsley correctly, it will last a long time and you can use it in other dishes--like spaghetti sauce and meatloaf.

The Boys

 Mike is always taking pictures of me and Benjamin and rarely gets in them. So I suggested he let me use his camera to take pictures of him and Benjamin in his studio. He said I could take the pictures with my own camera. Haha!!! I distracted him with wanting to use his camera that I got the pictures I wanted of my two boys! Hahaa!!!

BYU Mint Brownies

I redeemed myself with these brownies after my Botched Peach Cobbler. I should make brownies from scratch more often, but my belly would get bigger. Here is the link for BYU Mint Brownies. It seems that there are several different versions of BYU Mint Brownies, but I figured since this was on the BYU Magazine website, they had to be the most authentic.

I used real butter in place of margarine. Also, I used heavy whipping cream in place of milk for the mint frosting. The creamier the better!!!

We enjoyed these brownies with a scoop of vanilla ice cream last night with my brother's family. It was almost as good as the dinner we ate!

Botched Peach Cobbler

EEEKK!!! I messed up this recipe because I didn't read everything and rushed myself. It still tasted good enough to eat. The recipe is below from allrecipes.com. Can you guess what I messed up? I covered it in whipped cream to hide my mistake. :)  I've never made a peach cobbler before so I was disappointed that I didn't get it right. So, I'm going to try it again soon...I hope.

Southern Peach Cobbler

1/2 cup butter 

1 cup white sugar 

3/4 cup self-rising flour 

3/4 cup milk
1 (29 ounce) can sliced peaches in light syrup

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Place butter in a deep 2 quart baking dish and place in oven to melt. In a medium bowl, mix sugar and flour. Stir in milk, a little at a time, until wholly incorporated. Pour carefully over melted butter in dish. Spoon peaches and syrup over batter. Bake in preheated oven 35 to 45 minutes, until crust is puffed and golden.

Shrimp and Pineapple Kabobs

I had shrimp kabobs for the first time when I lived in Texas. A neighbor invited us for a barbeque and that's when I realized that you could barbeque shrimp. So, I found this recipe for Shrimp and Pineapple Skewers in one of my Martha Stewart magazines and decided that I needed to try it. I was afraid to cook with shrimp, but they cook up really fast and easy. They were very yummy and I can't wait to make them for our next barbeque with our neighbors!

Blanket, Food, Turning and Toes

August has been a fun month watching Benjamin do adorable things. I have to keep a constant watch during nap time.

He loves falling asleep with his soft blanket and during his nap he will grab onto it and rub it against his cheek. However, he covers his entire face sometimes.

 We have noticed Benjamin constantly stare at us when we eat. So, I've had him practice sitting up in preparation for solids. Then we had his 4 month check-up, and our doctor gave us instructions for when we were ready to start feeding him solids. Sadly, he also got shots that day and ended up with a high temperature the next day. So, when he was feeling better we decided to give him the solid food. We gave him some rice cereal, which I don't think he cares for, but he loves the spoon. However, he loves the squash we gave him. I had to strap him down so he wouldn't jump out of his seat 'cause I couldn't get the food to him fast enough. He's a clever little fellow.

During one of Benjamin's morning naps, I found he had rolled on to his side. It made me laugh!

 This is a first, playing with his toes. I almost thought he couldn't get any cuter until...

 I caught him with his toes in his mouth! Precious!

Playing Cards

It's been a while since we played Skip-Bo, so we decided to play cards as a family. Benjamin liked looking at the cards and was very excited to be involved in the game. However, I think I'll have to teach him a few tricks since I ended up winning this game. Heehee!

Applesauce Bars

Yummy! Moist Applesauce Bars that make me think of Thanksgiving and Christmas time! Make sure to see my notes below for what I did differently from the recipe. I got this recipe from allrecipes.com.

Applesauce Bars

1/4 c butter, softened
2/3 c brown sugar
1 egg
1 c applesauce
1 c flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp pumpkin pie spice

Icing:
1 1/2 c powered sugar
3 T butter, melted
1 T milk
1 tsp vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 9x13 inch baking pan.

In a medium bowl, mix together the butter, brown sugar and egg until smooth. Stir in applesauce. Combine the flour, baking soda, salt and pumpkin pie spice; stir into the applesauce mixture until well blended. Spread evenly into the prepared pan.

Bake for 25 minutes in the preheated oven, or until edges are golden. Cool in the pan over a wire rack.

In a small bowl, mix together the confectioners' sugar and margarine. Stir in vanilla and milk until smooth. Spread over cooled bars before cutting into squares.

Well, if I have homemade Apple Butter (see previous post) then, of course, I'm going to substitute the applesauce in the recipe with the Apple Butter. Also, if you ever read the comments made by other bakers, you will see that not everyone has pumpkin pie spice on hand. I don't either. So, the Apple Butter has a sufficient amount of cinnamon and all you have to do is add 1/4 tsp ginger and 1/4 tsp nutmeg. I try to always have fresh nutmeg. It makes a huge difference in baking.

I would have loved to add nuts and/or raisins, but my husband is not fond of them in anything baked.

The icing is nice because it gives the bars a thin layer of added sweetness. I had heavy whipping cream on hand and used that for the milk and added a dash of cinnamon so you could see the specks in the icing. A nice combination.

I think that you could leave off the icing and serve it with vanilla ice cream (or eggnog ice cream, if in season and your into eggnog) or with whipped cream.

Apple Butter

My sister, Wendy, made me some apple butter while she was visiting with us. I've never heard of apple butter before, but I would describe it as a spiced-thick applesauce. I couldn't believe how easy it was to make.

Apple Butter

8-9 apples, chopped (any apple variety)
2/3 c apple juice (or water)
1/3 c brown sugar
1 tsp cinnamon

Put all ingredients in crock pot. Cook on high for 8 hours (approximately) until apples are soft and mush easily. Put contents in blender and blend until smooth. Put back in crock pot on low for another 4-8 hours. Time depends on how thick you want your apple butter.

As a note, make sure to leave the skin on the apple since it's a good source for nutrients. Also, I will be using water instead of the apple juice and leaving out the cinnamon in the ingredients so I can make this for baby to eat.

This will last for two weeks in your refrigerator.

Plum Tart

This tart is similar to one my mom made me a few years back. Her version is much more simple. This one is a little more involved and comes from one of Martha Stewart's magazines. My sister, Wendy, has been vising me and baking for me. It's been awesome. So, she decided to try out this recipe from my stack of "I'm going to make these someday".

Striped Plum Tart

2 tablespoons skin-on almonds, toasted
2 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour, plus more for surface
1 sheet frozen puff pastry, thawed
1 large egg yolk
1 tablespoon heavy cream
5 black plums, pitted and cut into 1/4-inch slices
5 red plums, pitted and cut into 1/4-inch slices
1 cup apricot jam, heated until loose, and strained

Pulse almonds, 1 tablespoon sugar, and the flour in a food processor until ground to a fine meal.

Roll out puff pastry into a 10-by-14-inch rectangle (1/8 inch thick) on a lightly floured work surface. Using a paring knife, score a 1/2-inch border on all sides. Place pastry on a parchment-lined baking sheet, and freeze until firm, about 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Whisk together egg yolk and cream. Brush border with egg wash, then sprinkle almond mixture evenly over center of pastry. Evenly alternate rows of black and red plum slices. Freeze tart until firm, about 30 minutes.

Sprinkle remaining tablespoon sugar over top, then bake until edges are golden brown, about 40 minutes. Brush plums with warm jam; let cool. Serve warm or at room temperature.

 

We did a few things differently in this recipe (as I almost do with all recipes I try). We didn't have any almonds on hand, so we used pecans. We used pluots in stead of plums. Pluots are a hybrid of plum and apricot...interesting! Then we used only 1/4 cup of my sister-in-law, Rynell's homemade apricot jam. A full cup seemed a bit too much to cover the whole pastry. The result was very tasty. I love tart fruits with just the right amount of sweetness.

Benjamin Discovers His Thumb

Sooo cute!!!

Benjamin Talking

Creamy Mango Sorbet

I got Mike a Fruit-of-the-Month Club gift from Harry and David's for Christmas last year. Last weekend the honey mangoes arrived. I have to admit that both Mike and I are not fond of mangoes. However, making smoothies and sorbets made them palatable for the both of us.

I found the recipe for Creamy Mango Sorbet on allrecipes.com. It's one of my favorite places to go for new recipes. There were a few differences that I made and here's my version:

Mango Sorbet

2 mangoes, ripe and diced
1 c vanilla ice cream
1 c ice cubes
1/4 c sugar

Combine all ingredients in mixer and puree. Freeze in zip lock bag and kneed every 15 minutes. Will be ready to serve in 1 hour.

Since I didn't have any whipping cream on hand, I used vanilla ice cream and reduced the amount of sugar needed. It's best to try your mango to see how sweet or tart it is and you'll have to adjust the sugar you use. I also garnished the sorbet with frozen blueberries. It's what I had on hand and it worked. I think it's a refreshing dessert, especially for these hot summer days we've been experiencing.

Baby's First 4th of July

We finally got around to having a family picture taken. Benjamin wiggles a lot, so it's been difficult to get all three of us looking decent. I really like this one, though. It was fun to get dressed up in 4th of July themed t-shirts.

Well, it was a nice and peaceful Independence Day holiday for us. I know Benjamin is quite young to understand what this holiday means, but we hope to teach him to appreciate his country and the freedom we enjoy. Our family heritage has a diverse culture and that has come from different countries and states. They came looking to provide greater opportunities for their families and we have all been blessed in our own ways because of the sacrifices and hardships they endured.

God bless America!

Bed & Breakfast - Woodland

Mike and I took baby on an overnight trip this week to the Woodland Farmhouse Inn Bed and Breakfast. We wanted to see how well Benjamin handled a trip as well as ourselves. It went very well and gives me confidence in taking a longer trip. However, after a few hours in the car seat, Benjamin likes to stretch out and will make a little fuss. I think it is manageable, though.

The Woodland Farmhouse Inn is where Mike and I stayed for our 1 year anniversary and decided it was a perfect get-a-way for our overnight trip. The drive was a little over an hour, which was far enough to feel like you've escaped city life. We really like the peaceful location and enjoy visiting with the Innkeeper, Miss Sheri. Her visitors are also very fun to chat with during breakfast. And breakfast...I really enjoyed. It's nice to have a homemade meal that you don't have to cook.

Father's Day Feast (Recipes)

Since this was the first Father's Day for Mike, I wanted to make a special meal. We had steak, potatoes and corn on the cob...a man's meal. I price matched the steaks for a great deal on the New York strip steaks that I marinated with a recipe I got from a RS meeting (what seems like ages ago in Midland). Then Mike grilled them...they were one of the most amazing steaks I've ever had at home.

Pepper Garlic Beef Marinade

1/4 c butter
1/3 c lemon juice
1 T sugar
1 tsp dried thyme leaves
3/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp dried oregano leaves
1/4 tsp pepper
2 T finely chopped onion
1/2 tsp finely chopped garlic
1 tsp hot pepper sauce

Combine all ingredients in sauce pan and bring to a boil. Remove from heat and cool 5 minutes. Stir in meat and marinade 15 minutes. Grill as desired.

As a note, I did not use the hot pepper sauce since I'm breast feeding Benjamin. However, I did use a bit of cayenne pepper for a bit of spice. It is definitely a marinade I will use again.



For dessert I made a frozen strawberry yogurt pie that is supper easy to make. It is two yogurt containers mixed with half a container of whipped topping. Pour into a graham cracker pie shell and freeze. It's a great refreshing dessert for a hot day. Plus, it is inexpensive for the ingredients.



Here is Benjamin wishing his dad a Happy Father's Day!

Little Women

I am so glad that I finally read Little Women. My sister had this book when we were growing up, but at the time I was so young, and over 500 pages was daunting to me at the time. I've seen two different versions of the movie that I thought were decent, but this is definitely one of those books that is better than the movie. I liked the character development and enjoyed how they grew over the years. I also liked all the moral lessons that Mrs. March taught her daughters. I think it would have done me some good if I would have read it when I was younger.

Baby Blessing

Last Sunday Benjamin had his baby blessing. My mom and dad came from Texas, and all of Mike's family were present. It was a special day and we were happy to be able to share it with our family.

Abuelo's Birthday

April 25, 2012



Baby wanted to wish Abuelo a Happy Birthday. He looks all pooped out from partying too much. heehee!

First Bath

Two weeks after Benjamin was born his cord fell out. I was finally able to give him his first bath. He was so cute! He enjoys bath time and being in the warm water, but as soon as he gets out...he cries and shivers. However, with each bath, he doesn't cry so much when we're done.

Bili-bed

After we brought Benjamin home, we found out that he had jaundice and needed to be in a bili-bed. We had to keep him under the lights for four days. It was rough because I wanted to hold him and he would cry, which was heart-wrenching for me. I feel like he grew so much in those four days, but I was glad when he was better and in my arms.

Baby's Story

April 17, 2012



The day finally arrived and we were anxious to meet Baby. We had to be at the American Fork Hospital at 6:30 am so I could get prepped for surgery. The morning was cold, cloudy and rainy. I didn't get much sleep because my mind was going over everything that would happen in the next hours. I got up at 5:15 am to get ready to go to the hospital.

I ended up having to get a c-section because I was at full term: I hadn't dilated at all, baby was measuring quite big and I had a lot of fluid. We had our Dr check one last time to see if I had dilated any, but no luck for an induction to have baby naturally. I was too eager to wait any longer. I remember getting nervous right before they rolled me into the operating room.

The operation started at 8 am, which is when I received the spinal anesthesia. During the surgery, I felt cold and shaky. Mike sat by my head to give me support. There was a sheet covering the half that was being operated on, so Mike didn't see them actually cutting into me, but he was ready with his camera as soon as baby came out. I felt tons of pressure right before the baby came and felt like I couldn't breathe. Then at 8:30 pm, it felt like all of a sudden, I heard baby crying. It wasn't a wailing cry like I imagined, but a healthy cry and baby made his presence known.



Mike got some beautiful pictures. Here is Benjamin! Weighing at 8 lb 9 oz and 20.5 inches long. While Benjamin was cleaned, I was stitched up. I was told that the doctors and nurses present had never seen anyone with so much amniotic fluid (4 lbs). One nurse said in her 41 years, there was perhaps only one or two times when she'd seen someone with so much fluid.



This is our first picture as a whole family. I wasn't quite finished with being closed up, but I yearned to hold Benjamin in my arms. After everything was finished, I had to go away to recover for an hour before I could hold him. Meanwhile, Mike went with Benjamin to the nursery to have additional vitals checked.



I was so excited to see he had a full head of hair. He has my hands and feet, and Mike's face. I'm sure he will continue to change over the next few months as he grows.



I was finally able to hold Benjamin in my arms, and it was an overwhelming feeling of happiness, responsibility and exhaustion. This isn't a great picture of me, but it is precious to me all the same to have Benjamin safely with us.



Above, Benjamin is peacefully sleeping.



Benjamin with his proud papa.

We had a great experience at the hospital. We stayed for 3 days and then took Benjamin home to begin a new chapter in our lives.