Christmas Season

Since it is December and Christmas is almost among us I thought I would take a few minutes to reflect on my favorite things about the season.


1. My absolute favorite thing about the season is that we get a chance to celebrate the Birth of Jesus Christ.
2. Spending time with family.
3. Christmas Baking- everything from fudge to cookies to chocolates
4. Christmas Sweaters- I prefer to call these tacky because they are not ugly but sometimes they are just a little bit tacky.
5. Christmas Parades- They are just a blast!
6. Gingerbread Houses- Now I don't know about you but I don't really like gingerbread but I love to build and decorate the houses. I love that you can buy so many different kinds these days. I would like to try and do a homemade one sometime but the boxes are just so convenient.

 

 

White Chili

White Chili

 

3 cans of white chicken
1 can chopped green chilies
1 cup salsa (I prefer medium)
2 cans of white beans drained
1 can cream of chicken soup
2 cans chicken broth
2 cans of white corn
1 cup of onions
Enough garlic salt to taste

1 cup monterrey jack cheese
1 cup sour cream

1. Simmer first 9 ingredients  for 1 hour
2. 10 minutes before serving the chili add the last two ingredients (cheese, sour cream)
3. Serve with chips or crackers (optional)

Taco Soup

Taco Soup

 



 Nothing says fall like a big ol bowl of soup. This is my favorite recipe for Taco Soup. I modified the version that my mom always made. :) Hope you enjoy!

 

1 ¼ lbs ground beef                                              1 chopped onion
1 ¼ package taco seasoning                                 1 package ranch dressing mix
salt to taste                                                            pepper to taste
1 can corn undrained                                            2 cans stewed tomatoes blended
1 can rotel tomatoes                                             1 can green chilies
1 can pinto beans, drained                                   1 can kidney beans, drained
1 ½ cup tomato juice

1. Brown the ground beef and onion
2. Add other ingredients
3. Bring to boil
4. Simmer 30 minutes
5. OPTIONAL: serve with cheese

Brown Beans and Ham

6 Quart Crockpot Brown Beans and Ham

 

3-4 pound ham (bone in, not sliced)
2 pounds of dry pinto beans
2 tablespoons Italian seasoning
1 tablespoon minced onion
salt and pepper to taste

1. in a large bowl place dry beans and fill bowl full of water. Allow the beans to soak for 3-4 hours.
2. drain the beans and rinse
3. spray the inside of the crockpot with pan spray
4. place ham in center and pour in beans around
5. fill the rest of the crockpot with water
6. add in the seasonings (Don't add too much salt or pepper until it is almost finished)
7. cook on low for 20-24 hours
8. taste and decide if it needs more salt or pepper
9. take out the ham and remove the bone, then cut or tear the ham in chunks.

A great side item for this dish is sweet corn bread!



*Serves 8

Chili

Mom's Chili Recipe
Serves 6

2 lbs. lean ground beef
1 32 oz. can tomato sauce
1 14 oz. can petite diced tomatoes
2 15 oz. can chili beans
1 package mild chili seasoning
1 package hot chili seasoning

1. in a skillet brown the ground beef and drain
2. in a large pot combine all other ingredients and bring to a boil then reduce the heat and simmer 1 hour.

or if you use a crockpot

1. brown the beef in a skillet and drain
2. combine all ingredients in a crockpot and cook on low for 5-6 hours

My favorite way to eat chili is with a little bit of shredded Colby-Jack cheese mixed in and instead of a spoon I use Fritos to dip in my bowl and eat. Super Yummy!

Tinkerbell

For Halloween this year, I decided to dress up as Tinkerbell. I do not normally dress up but I had the opportunity to go to three different events so I decided it was worth it to come up with an outfit. I found a shirt that I liked and then made a tutu tulle skirt. Then my dad helped me out and made my wings.

 

 

 

 

Old Fashioned Apple Pie

Old Fashioned Apple Pie Recipe

 

 

 



7-8 large apples (peeled, cored, diced)                               1 cup sugar
2 ½ tablespoons flour                                                          1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon nutmeg                                                           Dash of salt
2½ tablespoons butter                                                         2 premade pie crusts (boxed, refrigerated)



1. Preheat oven to 400*
2. Stir sugar, flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt in a small bowl. Pour over apples mixing to make sure all are coated.
3. Unroll and place one of the pie crusts into a pie pan.
4. Fill the pie crust with the apples. Arrange the apples into a small mound with the center being  slightly taller than the outsides.
5. Cut butter into small pieces and place evenly over the apple cubes.
6. Roll out the second pie crust and place on top of the apples and squeeze the top crust and the bottom crust together at the edge to seal the pie. Then make slits on the top of the pie to allow for steam to escape. (Like example on bottom- happy fall yall) You can also try a lattice pie (example below) or one where you use a cookie cutter and cut pieces out and arrange on the top of the pie (example above)
7. Cover the edges of the pie with aluminum foil so that it will not brown to fast (make sure to not cover the whole pie).
8. Bake for about 1 hour. Remove the foil 10 minutes prior to removing the pie from the oven.