Upcoming Recipes

Keep tuned in for:

-Banana Raspberry Pancakes
-Biscuits and Gravy
-Curried Potatoes and Lentils

Crazy Bad For You Peanut Butter Bon Bons

These bon bons are so bad and yet so, so, so good. This is another party favorite (like the Chili, see below). You'll see why, soon. Don't have them around the house unless you have someone else to help you eat them. You'll thank yourself later.

Ingredients:
-2 cups peanut butter
-1/2 cup canola oil
-3 cups puffed rice cereal (like Rice Krispies)
-1 lb (16oz) bag of powdered sugar
-3 11 oz bags of semi-sweet chocolate chips

How to:
-Melt the peanut butter and oil over medium heat in a medium-sized saucepan, stirring frequently.
-In a large bowl, combine rice cereal and powdered sugar.
-Poor peanut butter mix over the rice cereal and powdered sugar and stir until well combined.
-Make into 1 inch balls and refrigerate for about 2 hours.
-In a sauce pan, melt the ch0colate chips. Drop the peanut butter balls into the chocolate liquid and cover them.
-With a fork, remove bon bons and place them on a cookie sheet with wax paper. Lay them out to dry until the chocolate coating is hard.
-Eat! But not too many!

Vegetarian Chili

So, Jon's birthday was this past weekend and I was inspired to share this party-favorite recipe with you. We make this Chili any time we are having a large crowd of people over, or we want to have food around for the entire week. The use of several types of beans and vegetables puts a great and tasty spin on classic chili. As with any soup, be creative and just throw whatever in. The recipe below is what I use.

Ingredients:

-2 cans diced tomatoes
-1 can sweet corn
-1 medium red onion
-2 cloves garlic
-2 cans chili hot beans
-1 can pinto beans
-1 can black beans
-1 can northern white beans
-1 package Smart Ground
-2 packages chili seasoning
-2-3 cups water
-Hot sauce, salt, pepper, seasoned salt to taste

Optional other veggies: celery, lima beans, lentils, okra, whatever else.

How to:
-Spray a large soup pan with cooking spray. Sautee onions and garlic over medium high heat until onions start to get soft. If using celery or any other fresh vegetable, add it now.
-Add Smart Ground and mix with onions and garlic.
-Add chili seasoning and mix.
-Add all canned vegetables. Rinsing them is optional. Jon likes to just throw the juices and everything in. If you don't do this and rinse the veggies first, you'll need to add more water later. Stir until you have a big clumpy mess in the pot.
-Add water and spices and let chili simmer for at least an hour. The longer you let it simmer, the better.
-Let cool and eat.

We have gotten rave reviews from this chili. It's great because it makes such a large amount. Big enough to feed the starving hoards coming to party with you. Feel free to add (vegan) sour cream, tortilla chips or corn chips on the side. This chili is good enough to impress even the most stubborn of carc-eaters.