Beef (No Bean) Chili

I'm being nice and making paleo things.  This was a big hit with the bf.  Pretty simple and quick (for chili standards..)

Ingredients: 
1 package ground beef/bison/turkey
1 diced onion
2 large garlic cloves - minced
1 green bell pepper - diced
1 jalapeno minced
1 - 28oz diced tomatoes
1/2 T oregano - ish
1/2 T cumin - ish
2T chili powder - ish
salt to taste

Directions:
Brown meat.  While that's browning, throw in onion and garlic.  Cook for a few minutes.  Drain grease, if there's a lot of fat swimming around... When meat is browned, throw in bell pepper, and spices.  After a few minutes, add can of tomatoes, and simmer.  Simmer for an hour and a half.  I might experiment next time and add a can of pumpkin.  

I served mine over a mini baked potato and topped with some shredded cheese.  Not so paleo.  But very delish.

My Mom's Famous (Bourbon) Balls

Guest post from my Madre.... Sharon’s Bourbon Balls

These will be the hit of any holiday party.  Give them to your friends and they’ll be expecting/demanding them every year!  I give them away in little holiday tins and have even been known to do refills.  The original recipe from over 30 years ago was Rum Balls.  Over the years as our family’s southern roots have grown deeper we've changed from rum to bourbon.  We have even had taste testing with different types of bourbon and Woodford Reserve has won out.  Every year friends say that these are the best ones, yet!

Ingredients: 1 – 11 oz pkg vanilla wafers crushed

1 cup pecans finely chopped

1 cup powdered sugar

2 tablespoons dark cocoa powder

3 tablespoons light corn syrup

½ cup bourbon

Directions: 

Stir ingredients together.

Shape into small balls about 1 inch, any size works though.

Roll in more powdered sugar. Tip – the crushing and chopping is a good job for a food processor.

Save the Chicken; Clean Out the Fridge Rice Dish

I'm in the habit of cooking up a whole chicken on a Sunday to nosh on for dinners and lunches throughout the week.  For whatever reason, this chicken was a bit on the dry side.  I decided to save it by shredding it and adding liquid, and use some butternut squash in need of cooking to boot.

Ingredients: 
1 C uncooked brown rice
~3.5 C chicken broth
1 small can tomato sauce
shreds of leftover chicken - about 2 cups
1 butternut squash peeled and chopped
~1 T each of cumin, garlic powder, onion powder, chili powder.  Basically, a heavy hand of all of them.


Directions:

Start the rice.  Use 1.5 C chicken broth and 1 C water and 1 C brown rice.  Bring to a boil and then simmer.

While rice is going - peel, dice and chop butternut squash.

In a large skillet, add ~ 1 C chicken broth and diced butternut squash.  Simmer for 10 minutes.  Add tomato sauce and spices - stir, and keep simmering for ~ 10 minutes.  Add chicken.

While there's still time on the clock for rice, go ahead and dump the pot into the skillet to finish cooking and absorb the spiced tomato broth.  Simmer for a bit.  Stirring, and adjusting spices if need be.  Call it done when there's a little bite still in the rice.  Add water if mixture is getting dry.

Delish.