Chili

If only my picture taking could be as good as this chili!

As you know by my incredibly easy recipes, I’m not a chef.  Not even close. 

Yesterday, I wanted to make chili.  But how?  How do you do it?  I think chili is one of those recipes that everyone does differently.  It’s also one of those things that my mom cleverly sticks venison in.  Fun fact:  mom took a slow cooker Sloppy Joe to a family party once and excitedly tried to get everyone to try it and guess the secret ingredient.  I jokingly said “Is it deer meat?!”.  Aaand it was.  My family gets as weird as I do about venison.

So, back to the chili.  I cooked some hamburger meat (beef) and then put it into a pot with beans, diced tomatoes and corn.  Then I added about a million secret ingredients and called it a day.

It was the best chili I’ve ever had in my life.

I told my husband about it and he was all “You only think that it’s the best because you made it.”.  Then he had some of it and commented that it was the best chili that he’s ever had in his life.

Sometimes I get it right.

Simple Two Ingredient Applesauce

I kind of made this recipe by accident last week.  Barney still isn’t doing too well, and I wanted to make him something special to eat.  I had some McIntosh apples hanging out in my fridge that were getting kind of old, so I thought I would make him some applesauce.  I cut up some apples and put them in a saucepan with some water and let them cook on various heats (my favorite is high) until applesauce formed.  When it was done, I tried some for myself and found that it was absolutely delicious!  The recipes I looked up had sugar added to them but since I was making this for a goat, I didn’t want to add sugar.  It’s definitely still yummy without the sugar. 

Ingredients:
- Apples (I used McIntosh)
- Water

Directions:
- Core, peel and dice apples
- Place in saucepan and add enough water to cover
- Cook on medium heat until mushy

I’m still not any better on directions!  I wrote the ingredients/directions like that because you can make as little or as much as you want, depending on how many apples you use.

Easy 3 Ingredient Macaroni and Cheese

Floating fork pictures are all the rage!  I read that setting up a tripod makes these kind of photos a lot easier.  Of course, I was trying to octopus it up by holding the camera in one hand, the fork in the other and trying to put the flashlight on the bowl.  Yeah, a tripod would make things easier!



Anyway, this macaroni and cheese is yummy and, with only 3 ingredients, it’s super easy too.  You totally could just use a box macaroni and cheese, but I didn’t have any [gasp!] and I wanted something quick and easy for dinner.

   
3 Ingredient Mac and Cheese
- Macaroni Noodles
- Velveeta Cheese block (I used about a quarter of a block for 1 box of Macaroni)
- Milk

Cook macaroni noodles per instructions on the box & drain.  Put back into the pot and add cheese and milk until melted.  Add as much milk and cheese as you want, depending on the consistency you’re trying to go for.  I know some people like their mac super cheesy and creamy and some people like it a little drier.  It’s totally up to you.

Can I take this opportunity to say that I will never be a chef?  With instructions like that, how am I ever supposed to make it big in the cooking blog world?!  Spoiler:  I’m not! ;)

Cherry Julius Recipe

Confession:  I'm a cherry fanatic.  Cherries have been my favorite fruit for as long as I can remember.  I love cherry flavored everything.  I eat maraschino cherries straight from the jar.  I never turn down a cherry flavored Tootsie Roll Pop.  If it's cherry, I'm all about it.

I recently came across this recipe for a homemade Strawberry Julius & I wanted to make a cherry one.  I was trying to figure out a good alternative to the strawberry margarita concentrate when I saw these in my freezer:

I knew these things would be perfect for my little concoction! I ended up using three cherry juice bars for my Julius & it was so good!  A cherry Popsicle would probably work too.

While I was writing this out, I see that when I made mine, I forgot to add the water that the original recipe calls for!  I noticed my Julius was really thick & I added more milk & vanilla to thin it down. The water would have probably fixed that!

Cherry Julius
[Recipe inspired by Somewhat Simple's Strawberry Julius]

 Ingredients:

- 1 cup frozen cherries
- 3 frozen cherry juice bars (I used Minute Maid Juice Bars)
- 1 cup ice
- 1 cup milk
- 2 Tablespoons sugar
- 2 teaspoons vanilla

Directions:

- Puree frozen cherries in blender
- Add all other ingredients & blend

PS:  This is not a sponsored post. I just like cherry flavored stuff that I buy with my own money :)