Easy Family Chili Recipe

Making chili used to make me nervous.

I would watch all those chili cook-offs and it just seemed so complicated to me. 

For awhile, I used Al Roker's recipe I love Al but, it was a little too time consuming for me. 

It involved cutting up beef and sauteing and stuff. 

I like to cook, but I also like things to be easy.

My fantastic mom in law suggested this and now I finally have my go to Chili Recipe. 

I love it when that happens. 

Simply pick up this box at your local grocery store.

It has all the spices you need and the recipe on the back. 

Wooo hooo!

You can fix it hot or mild like the box says. 

I simply don't add the Cayenne because I am a big baby and don't like things that burn my mouth. 

Really, all you have to do in brown two pounds of ground beef,

add a can of tomato sauce 

opened with your handy dandy one touch can opener. I actually thought this can opener was broken for a year before I figured out it needed batteries. I really shouldn't have told you that. 

add water and the spice packets and simmer for 20- 30 minutes. 

In the last five minutes, I like to add one can each of white and red kidney beans. 

It is homemade with a little bit of cheating, just how I like it. 

And if you have leftovers, 

then you can easily prepare another meal that HH loves.

Chili and Spaghetti

He used to order it at Bob's Big Boy which I always thought was kind of crazy because how can you go to Bob's Big Boy and not order The Big Boy Hamburger?

So one time I made it for dinner and tried it and it really is YUM and most importantly easy to make. 

Happy Friday!

I'm out ice fishing with fourth graders today. 

Snickers Carmel Apple Salad

Yes, you read that right!

I am revealing the deep dark secret I have been hiding (that was for you Foursons).

It is the legendary Snickers Carmel Apple Salad.

Actually, this is my cousin's recipe and she reads this blog and I am now fearing that I have the name of the recipe wrong. It really doesn't matter because it is SOOOOO YUMMY!

Ingredients

8 Granny Smith Apples (cored, peeled and diced)

16 oz. of Cool Whip

5 oz. package of Vanilla JELL-O pudding

6 Snickers Bars

Thaw Cool Whip and mix with Vanilla Pudding. Take diced apples and fold into the Cool Whip mixture. Cut Snicker Bars into small pieces and stir into apple mixture. Sprinkle any left over chocolate on your cutting board onto mixture as a pretty garnish. You may also put carmel sauce on the top for added flair. Hottie Husband came up with that.

Have I ever told you that he won the cooking award in high school? At the same banquet, he also won MVP of the football team! You can imagine the razzing he got from his buddies.

And just because I am having so much fun with my camera, here are some photos.

It says Snickers on the other side.

Ummm, do you get what they mean?

I needed a little help from Hottie Husband.

It was late and I hadn't slept much.

Okay fine, I'll quit with the excuses, I just didn't get it.

So you have an idea of what size to cut the apple into.

I usually put some lemon on the apples just to keep them from getting brown. Of course, this also works on bananas and avocados.

I sliced the Snicker bars like this and then cut these pieces in half.

I wish I could give you a bite right now!

Fun Food Tips

When your bananas begin to look like this or worse

DO NOT THROW THEM AWAY

I repeat

DO NOT THROW THEM AWAY

Instead, peel them and put them in a ziploc bag or other container in your freezer. Make sure that you peel them first. If you don't, it is quite a chore to remove the peel. Believe me, I know!Mine is not a freezer bag although that would be preferable.

Then, when you are making a smoothie, take out your frozen bananas.

It adds that frozen texture to your smoothie along with all the other power that is packed in a banana.

Another delicious addition that Mister Luke discovered to add to your smoothie is some key lime flavored yogurt. Yummy!

Sorry for the giant blender pic. I am experimenting with pixel size.

Here is Ida's Birthday cake which was a Madagascar Bourbon Vanilla flavored cake with homemade buttercream frosting.

I added a little bit of red food coloring to give it that soft pink shade and then just cut some flowers from my yard to make it pretty.

I always make extra frosting when doing a layer cake because frosting can cover

a multitude of cake mistakes.