I have a thing for chili.  It is the perfect meal for a dreary day, and we seem to have a lot of those these days here in good ole Georgia.  There is something incredibly comforting about the familiar flavors…even when the recipe is different.

I do make chili regularly – probably once a month from September to March.  It has always been that way.  The interesting thing is I have never repeated a chili recipe.  There are so many good ones out there that I just can’t bring myself to make the same one twice.  I want to try every delicious one.  That said, this is my favorite.  It may become my go to chili recipe.

Chorizo & Beef Chili {adpated from Cooking Light: Cooking Through the Seasons}

Ingredients:

• 6 oz chorizo {note: mine came in casing which I recommend}
• 1 1/2 lbs stew meat
• 1 onion
• 4 garlic cloves
• 3 tbs tomato paste
• 2 tsp sugar
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 tsp unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 tsp oregano
• 1 tsp cumin
• 1 tsp paparika
• 1 cup dry red wine
• 28 oz no sodium beef broth {sodium is fine if you like salt…I don’t}
• 28 oz rotel with chiles
• 2 tbs cornmeal
• 2 15 oz cans pinto beans
• 1 15 oz can black beans

Directions:

1.  Heat a cast iron dutch oven over medium-high heat.

2.  Remove the chorizo from the casings and break into small pieces.

3.  Add the chorizo to the pan and cook for about 5 minutes until brown.

4.  Remove the chorizo from the pan and transfer to a medium bowl.

5.  Add half of the stew meat to the dutch oven.  Cook until browned.

6.  Remove the meat and transfer to the bowl with the chorizo.  Cook the other half of the meat and then transfer that to the bowl.

7.  Chop the onion and garlic.

8.  Cook the onion and garlic for about 3 minutes in the dutch oven.

9.  Add the chorizo, stew meat, tomato paste, sugar, salt, cocoa powder, and spices to the dutch oven.  Mix thoroughly and cook for 1-2 minutes.

10.  Add the red wine, broth, and rotel to the pot.  Bring to a boil.  Cover and reduce heat and simmer for 1 hour.

11.  Stir in the cornmeal.  Add pinto beans and black beans.  Bring to a boil.  Cover and reduce heat to low.  Simmer 30 minutes.

12.  Serve.

Grade: A-

Comments:  This chili is definitely good, and the wine and chocolate add a really unique flavor.  However, the consistency is much more like stew than regular chili.  That isn’t a bad thing.  Trust me.  I served this with some biscuits, and we all ate it right up.  The chorizo adds some spice without being too much.  If you like spicier chili I would add some chiles to the mix.

I love breakfast food.  I love it in the morning, noon, and night.  If given the opportunity I would eat pancakes for breakfast and dinner.

After my little sausage & apple dinner a few days ago, I couldn’t drop the idea.  The flavors went so well together {I realize this is common knowledge…except for me apparently}, and I wanted breakfast for dinner.

Breakfast casseroles are great, because they can be thrown together, put in the fridge for up to 24 hours, and then cooked and eaten the next day.  They reheat well.  They taste well cold.  They are delicious.  Anyway, I made this for dinner one night.  I only refrigerated it for 2 hours, but you could do longer.  I would have if I had remembered to take the sausage out of the freezer in a timely fashion.

Sausage and Apple Casserole

Ingredients:

• 1/3 baguette
• 1/2 onion
• 1 lb ground sausage
• 1 gala apple
• 1/2 cup milk
• 8 eggs

Directions:

1.  Spray a 9×13 glass pan with olive oil.

2.  Break the baguette into bite size pieces and put in the glass pan.

3.  Chop the onion into small pieces.  Set aside.

4.  Dice the apple.  Set aside.

5.  Cook the sausage on medium-high heat in a large skillet.  Be sure to break up the sausage as it cooks.

6.  Add the sausage, apples, and onions to the glass pan.

7.  Mix the eggs and milk in a large bowl.  Make sure the yolks are broken up.

8.  Dump the egg and milk mixture over the ingredients in the glass bowl.  Cover and refrigerate for up to 24 hours.

9.  Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

10.  Cook the casserole {uncovered} for 30-45 minutes.

11.  Serve.

Grade: B+

Comments:  My only regret is that I didn’t use more apple.  Seriously.  This is a really good and easy meal that is filled with a lot of flavors that go together.  However, the apple flavor isn’t that strong.  If you love apples {I do} then you may consider adding a second apple to the recipe.  Otherwise, this is a great little winter comfort breakfast, lunch, or dinner.

I do not generally worship at the altar of celebrity chefs.  Sure…I like Anthony Bourdain, Michael Symon, and Richard Blais.  I find their personalities, thoughts on food, and recipes to be refreshing and fun.  However, I just like them.  I would like to have a meal with them and pick their brains.

I have one exception to my celebrity chef ambivalence.

Thomas Keller.

I believe Thomas Keller is one of the most important and influential chefs to ever live.  Over the past 5 or so years, I have soaked up every article, interview, and book about him I can find.  To me, Thomas Keller is everything that is right about food.  In fact, I don’t know that I would call him a celebrity chef.  More like a chef that has become popular because he loves food and has changed the restaurant world.

Eating at The French Laundry remains #1 on my bucket list.  I imagine it would be an amazing experience that I would talk about for the rest of my life.  In my head, it is a restaurant unlike any other.  I’ve taken the cookbook out from the library a dozen times…never to attempt one of the recipes, but rather to read and stare.  It is unbelievable.

When the Bouchon cookbook ended up under my Christmas tree {thanks, Nathan!} I was thrilled.  Bouchon is more my cooking style.  It is French bistro cooking at its finest.  I can handle these recipes, and in the month I have owned it I have already attempted a few with great success – including this one.

Let me say this: Keller is a genius.  However, the Bouchon cookbook is perfect for the home cook who needs to impress people without being pretentious.  Keller has simplified some of the recipes and changed ingredients so the recipes in this cookbook are attainable.  He wants you to make these things.  This book is worth every cent of its $50.00 price tag.

Boer Sausage with Peppered Apples and Pureed Potatoes {slightly adapted from Bouchon}

Ingredients:

• 1 lb boer sausage {you probably won’t find this at your grocery store. I bought mine at a small local shop that specializes in local charcuterie.}
• freshly ground black pepper
• 2 gala apples
• about 1/3 cup vegetable oil
• 2 lbs cooking potatoes
• 8 oz unsalted butter
• 3/4 cup half & half

Directions:

for the sausage and apples

1. Preheat the oven to 250 degrees.

2. Cut the sausage into 6 sections.  Season with a little ground pepper.

3. Peel the apples, remove the seeds, and cut into 12 wedges per apple.

4. Toss the apples with ground pepper.

5. Pour 1/8 inch of vegetable oil into two large skillets.  Heat over medium-high heat.

6. When the oil is hot, reduce the heat to medium and add half of the sausage and half of the apples to each skillet.

7. Brown the sausages for 3-4 minutes on each side.  Turn the apples as they brown. {note: be careful with the sausage…it cooks very quickly}

8. When the sausage is browned, reduce the heat and cook another 1-2 minutes.

9. Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil.

10. Transfer the sausage to the baking sheet and place in the oven to keep the sausage warm.

11. Transfer all of the apples to one skillet.  Continue to brown the apples until they are soft but not falling apart.

12. Once the apples are done put them in a bowl covered with aluminum foil to keep them warm until you are ready to serve them.

for the the pureed potatoes

1. Peel the potatoes and cut them into 2 inch pieces.

2.  Transfer the potatoes to a large pot and fill with cold water. The water should come about 1″ above the potatoes.

3.  Cook the potatoes on medium-high heat until they are soft and can be easily pierced with a fork.  About 20 minutes.

4. Cut the butter into very small slices.

5.  Put half of the butter in a blender.

6.  Drain the potatoes.

7.  Dump half of the potatoes into the blender.

8.  Blend the potatoes and butter on the puree setting until they are very smooth. {totally didn’t take a photo of this, but it should look kind of like baby food}

9. Transfer the pureed potatoes to a medium saucepan.

10. Repeat the blender process with the second half of the potatoes.  Transfer to the saucepan.

11. Heat the pureed potatoes on low heat.  Add the half & half very slowly while using a whisk to blend everything together for about 5 minutes.  The potatoes should have a consistency between mashed potatoes and baby food.

to serve

Serve the sausage, apples, and potatoes together.  If you are going for appearance stack the potatoes on the bottom topped with sausage and apples.  If you are like me and don’t really like your foods to touch, put them all next to each other nicely on a plate.

Grade: A++

Comments: Probably the best meal I have ever made.  I absolutely love the sausage and apples together.  I had never made boer sausage before, and I was happy to see it tastes way better than anything at the grocery store.  This is a must make dish.  It looks like a lot of work, but I assure you it isn’t hard.  This is one of those meals that will impress without stressing you out.

There are certain facts in this world I hold to be self-evident: Fritos are a delicious guilty pleasure, and I love pop music.  The first one is what is important here.

I am not Southern.  I do not understand 75% of Southern food {what is this obsession with frying?!?}.  This has been the hardest part of adjusting to living in Georgia {although I’ve been here almost 6 years…but you know}.  The idea of putting Fritos under chili kind of freaked me out in a way that made me afraid I would become addicted to Southern cooking and never eat grilled chicken again.

Then I caved.  I was menu planning, and after picking a slew of healthy recipes knew we would need something hearty and comforting our first week back after two weeks out of town.  So I started flipping through some saved recipes, and there in front of me were two recipes that made me want to move to Texas and wear cowboy boots.  This isn’t a meal to be taken lightly.  It is good.  It is hearty.  It will make you want to sit outside on a cool 50 degree evening {see what I did there, Notherners? 50 is cool here.} and watch a high school football game.

Frito Chili Pie {adapted from The Pioneer Woman and The Homesick Texan}

Ingredients:

• 2 lbs 85/15 ground beef
• 2 tbs minced garlic {I used the jar kind, because I forgot to buy garlic…oops}
• 2 8 oz cans no salt tomato sauce
• 1 can Rotel with cilantro and lime
• 1/2 tbs cumin
• 1 1/2 tbs paprika
• 1 tsp oregano
• 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1 can kidney beans
• 1 can pinto beans
• bag of Fritos
• shredded Mexican mix cheese

Directions:

1.  In a large pot {the one you will use to make the chili} brown the ground beef.

2.  Once the beef is almost done, add the tomato sauce, Rotel, garlic, cumin, paprika, oregano, and cinnamon.  Mix well.  Let simmer on low heat for 30 minutes.

3.  Drain and rinse the beans.

4.  Add the beans to the meat mixture.  Mix well.  Let simmer on low for another 30 minutes.

5.  Dump some Fritos into bowls.

6.  Add a sizable amount of chili {I used 1 ladle full for me and 2 ladles full for Nathan}.  Top with cheese.

Grade: B+

Comments:  I don’t really know how to describe this.  It isn’t the best chili recipe I’ve ever put together, but it sure isn’t the worst either.  For some reason adding Fritos made the chili itself even better.  I will say this: I suspect that a simple chili recipe is needed for Frito pie.  Anything too complicated would take away from the hominess of the meal.  What I’m saying is make this.  I am going to try to make it again come the Super Bowl.  It is perfect for serving to large groups!

{Please excuse the horrible photos.  The light above my stove and one of my kitchen lights burned out yesterday while I was cooking.}

I don’t know where the past month has gone.  One minute I was waxing poetic about Oreo Stuffed Cupcakes and the next I was wondering how I managed to not blog for a month.

September was busy.  One of my 19 year old twin brothers deployed to Iraq for a year so we spent some extra time Skyping before he left.  Samuel’s social calendar was packed with playgroups and activities.  Oh, and September kicks off the busiest time of year for Nathan at work.  Plus I was deep in recipe development projects for other people.  PHEW.

It didn’t help that I couldn’t find the camera battery charger so I went the entire month without photographing a single recipe.  Photographing each step of a recipe is daunting.  I’m still learning so it takes me 4-5 pictures for each step to even come up with something decent.  A 20 minute meal can take up to an hour to make if I’m photographing it for the blog.  While it wasn’t planned the September break was refreshing.

This recipe is from September.  In fact, I never planned to photograph it in the first place.  It isn’t anything special on paper, but it tastes so good.  So you’re stuck with one photo taken with my phone {which has a horrible camera}.

Spiced Veggie Stuffed Squash {adapted from the Better Homes & Garden New Cookbook: Bridal Edition}

Ingredients:

• 2 medium acorn squash
• 2 small turnips
• 2 medium carrots
• 1 tbs butter
• 1 tbs brown sugar
• 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp nutmeg
• 1 medium apple
• 1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese

Directions:

1.  Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

2.  Cut the squash in half lengthwise.  Remove and discard seeds.

3.  In a 3 qt rectangular baking dish place the squash halves cut side down.

4.  Bake the squash for 45 minutes.

5.  While the squash are cooking, chop the turnips and carrots.

6.  In a covered saucepan, boil about 2 cups water.

7.  Once the water is at a rolling boil, add the turnips and carrots.  Cook for 20 minutes on medium heat or until they can be easily pierced with a fork.

8.  Flip the squash so the cut side is up and cook for another 25 minutes in the oven.

9.  When the carrots and turnips are done, drain them well.

10.  Place the turnips and carrots in a medium bowl and set aside.

11.  When the squash is done carefully scoop out as much of the pulp as you can without tearing the skin.

12.  Add the squash pulp to the bowl with the carrots and turnips.

13.  Mash the vegetables with a fork.  Add the butter, brown sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg to the vegetables.  Mix thoroughly.

14.  Peel and shred the apple.  Mix into the vegetable mixture.

15.  Transfer the vegetable mixture to the acorn squash.  Top with cheddar cheese and bake for another 10 minutes.

16.  Serve.

Grade: B+

Comments:  I was pleasantly surprised with how much I enjoyed this.  Acorn squash is probably my least favorite of the fall vegetables, but I was willing to try it since there was so much else mixed in there.  This was listed as a side dish in my cookbook, but it is filling enough that you can definitely serve it solo.  The only change I wish I had made was to add some milk.  The mashed vegetables could stand to be a little smoother.  It was a great recipe for early fall, and I can definitely see it making an appearance with some modifications in our menu again.

I had lofty blog goals this summer.  With the extra sunlight came this idea that I would suddenly have time to blog at least three times a week.  I penciled this time into my calendar like a good Type A should.  I took photographs of food, and I had good intentions.

But something happened to me this summer.  This Type A gal learned it is okay to let go sometimes.  I started crossing out those blogging times for afternoons at the park or spontaneous playdates.  Instead of deciding which photo was better, I laid on the floor and read Bob the Builder books to Homeslice over and over until we were both half asleep all while my laptop sat on the table turned off for days at a time.

I’m a much more laid back parent than I ever expected to be.  Pregnant me would have laughed at the idea of napping when it felt right rather than at a certain time…or eating whenever we feel like eating.  In my head, I was going to be as Type A of a parent as I was an employee – schedules and routine reign supreme.  Except my parenting life is nothing like that.  It took approximately 20 seconds after Samuel was born for me to realize I was going to be the opposite of everything I thought I would.

While my parenting has always been laid back, my personal obligations have not.  I live and die by to do lists and calendars.  I return library books days before they are due, and I plan our meals down to the tiniest detail.

Except this summer I learned how to be what I’m calling “flexible Type A.”  It has been a long time coming, but these past few months I’ve started to ignore those non-important to do list items.  Who cares if there are toy trains scattered about my living room when I go to bed?  I’d rather use those last few moments of the day reading or chatting with Nathan.  So what if I didn’t write that blog post I’ve been meaning to write?  There are games of toy trucks and stories to be read.

This new found ability to relax {although I am still way more high strung than a lot of people} has leaked into my recipes.  I’ve started to ignore my cookbooks almost completely.  They’ve become a reference for technique rather than a directive.  After years of cooking and slowly backing away from the cookbooks, sometime this summer, it clicked.  I found the confidence to do it myself.  Sometimes I fail {overcooked steak, anyone?} and sometimes I succeed so strongly that I wonder why I haven’t trusted myself all along.

This recipe is one of those times that I succeeded.  I smiled as I pulled my Kitchen Aid meat grinder out of the box {thanks, mom & dad}, and slowly ground my own meat for the first time.  I sat in my kitchen and inhaled the smells as I watched my pans simmer on the stove.  This recipe is a beautiful combination of flavors.  I admittedly am addicted to peach and basil together, but this is just…amazing.

Peach Basil Sirloin Rice
Ingredients:

• 2 sirloin steaks {approximately .75 lbs each}
• 2 peaches
• 1 head of broccoli
• 1 green bell pepper
• 1 basil stem {mine had about 6 leaves on it}
• 2 cups uncooked wild rice
• 1 tbs black pepper
• olive oil
• 1/4 cup white wine vinegar
• 1 tsp olive oil
• 1/4 tsp kosher salt

Directions:

1.  Using a meat grinder, grind the sirloin steaks.  {If you don’t have a meat grinder, either ask your butcher to grind them or just cut them into bite size pieces}.

2.  Heat a little olive oil in a large skillet on medium-low heat.

3.  When the olive oil is warm, add the ground sirloin.  Cook until well done.

4.  Cook the rice according to the package.

5.  Peel and dice the peaches.

6.  In another skillet, add the peaches and cook on medium.  Cover.

7.  Chop the broccoli into small pieces.

8.  Add the broccoli to the peaches and cover.

9.  Dice the green bell pepper.

10.  Add the pepper to the peaches and broccoli and cover.

11.  Dice the basil into small pieces.

12.  To make the sauce, mix the white wine vinegar, olive oil, basil, and kosher salt in a small bowl.  Add to the meat and coat.

13.  Combine all of the ingredients in the pot with the rice.  Toss and heat for a few seconds on low.

14.  Serve.

Grade: A+

Comments:  Peach and basil are a dream combination that I have been playing with all summer.  The two flavors really come together with the flavor of the sirloin steaks in this dish.  The whole thing just screams summer with the vegetables.  It is a much lighter meal than one would expect considering the amount of ingredients, but it is the perfect dish to enjoy on the deck these last few summer nights.

For the past few years I’ve longed to have one item in my kitchen more than any other: a cast iron casserole pot.  Each time I would find one in the store it just wasn’t what I wanted or too expensive.  I searched for used cast iron, and I was left disappointed with what was in my price range.

Fast forward to my trip back to Pennsylvania this month.  My mom, well aware I’ve been on a search forever, showed me an ad for a local shop.  There on the front page sat the piece of cast iron I’d been waiting to go on sale.  At 50% off I knew it was meant to find its home in my kitchen.

The day after we got home I was ready to use it.  I went to the grocery store in the morning, and I made sure to plan a meal that would be amazing in cast iron.

I also decided to use the True Lemon products I was sent last month.  I’ve been a fan of True Lemon for a long time, but I was so excited to see how many other products they offered.  The pink lemonade is to die for.  Really.

This recipe uses the True Lemon Shaker, but you could use any of the True Lemon products.  These products taste so much like the real thing that Nathan asked me where the lemons were.  I’ve been using the packets in my own water and in Samuel’s sippycups for some extra sugar-free flavor in his water.

This chicken is more delicious because of the True Lemon.  So delicious…

Lemon Apple Cast Iron Chicken

Ingredients:

• 4 lb young chicken
• 2 zucchini
• 1 apple
• 2 carrots
• 3 celery stalks
• 2 tbs True Lemon

Directions:

1.  Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

2.  Grease the cast iron with olive oil.  Make sure you cover the entire casserole.

3.  Remove the innards from the chicken {save for stock if you wish} and place the chicken in the casserole.

4.  Cut the ends off of the celery, and cut the stalks in 1/2″ to 1″ pieces.  Add to the pot.

5.  Slice the zucchini into medium thickness pieces and then cut those in half.  Add to the pot.

6. Peel and cut the carrots into 1″ pieces.  Add to the pot.

{totally forgot to take a picture.}

7.  Slice the apple and cut the slices in half.

8. Toss the apples in the True Lemon crystals.

9.  Stuff the apples inside the chicken.

9.  Place the lid on the pot and cook for at least 2 hours.  {Depending on your chicken it may take 2 1/2 hours.}

10.  Serve!

Grade: A

Comments: The chicken and vegetables were great together.  Whole chickens with veggies is one of my favorite base meals to make.  There are so many ways you can change it up that you almost never repeat an exact combination.  The lemon with the apples was the perfect blend for the chicken.  The flavors really came together to make this an amazing dinner.  I used the leftover chicken in a salad the next day!

Once upon a time I was a vegetarian.  It lasted until college when I started eating chicken and fish.  Then eventually I added red meat to my diet.  Then went back to being a vegetarian for a little while.  Then got pregnant, and I craved chicken and pork.  Now I eat meat, but still not nearly as much.  {Hint: every plate I photograph is always served to Nathan.  My portions are much smaller.}

During my on again/off again relationship with vegetarianism something I’ve never lost my love for is lettuce.  I often enjoy a large bowl of lettuce with salad dressing as a midday snack.  I like it plain.  I’ve been known to just rip leaves off and eat them.

Most importantly, I’ve been known to use lettuce instead of tortillas.  Lettuce is totally underappreciated as a way to hold a wrap together.  While I love tortillas, I think lettuce gives you the opportunity to taste the flavors of the filling more.  It absorbs those delicious vegetable and meat flavors and adds something that a tortillas just can’t.  Not to mention it is healthier {sometimes this matters to me…really}.

Most people use Bibb lettuce for wraps, but I love good ole iceberg.  It’s crunchy.  That matters.  I decided to make Asian wraps for dinner like a month ago {I’m behind here}, and I ditched the idea of a breaded wrap for lettuce.  What a difference.

Sweet and Sour Asian Wraps

Ingredients:

• 3 tbs reduced sodium soy sauce
• 2 tbs rice vinegar
• 1 tsp sugar
• 1 tbs vegetable oil
• 2 chicken breasts
• 1/2 green bell pepper
• 1/2 cucumber
• 1/2 tsp sugar
• 1/4 tsp ground ginger
• 2 cups cooked rice {I used Uncle Ben’s Whole Grain White Rice}
• 6 lettuce leaves

Directions:

1.  Cut the chicken breasts into very small bite-size pieces.

2.  In a large skillet, heat the vegetable oil on medium heat.

3.  Once the oil is very hot, add the cut up chicken.  Cook on medium until well done.

4.  In a small bowl mix 2 tbs of the soy sauce, rice vinegar, and sugar.  Set aside.

5.  Chop the green pepper into bite size pieces.

6.  Add the pepper, 1 tbs soy sauce, and ground ginger to the chicken.  Mix so that the soy sauce is coating the chicken.  Reduce heat to medium-low.

7.  While the chicken and pepper are cooking, make the rice according to the directions on the box.

8.  Chop the cucumber into small pieces.  Set aside.

9.  Wash the lettuce and peel off 6 leaves.

10.  Place a leaf of lettuce on a plate.  Fill with some of the cucumber.

11.  Next add the sauce and some of the chicken and pepper mixture to the lettuce.  Add some rice too.

Grade: B+

Comments:  These were the perfect dinner on what had been a warm night.  Lettuce wraps always feel so appropriate for hot, busy days.  The chicken turned out well, and most shockingly so did the rice.  I usually default to the 90 second rice you cook in the microwave, because I can never cook it right.  However, this rice was perfect, and it was so easy.  These would make a great snack for kids or the perfect food for having guests over.  You could easily add whatever vegetables better suit your taste.

I was provided a coupon for a free box of Uncle Ben’s rice through the Foodbuzz Tastemaker Program.  All opinions and recipes are my own.

Oh. Hey.  Remember me?  I used to blog here more than once a week Things around here have been pretty crazy.  I’m transitioning into a position with Junior League of Atlanta, Nathan is busy at work, and Samuel has started getting up earlier.  Usually I get up around 5:00 AM and blog, reply to emails, etc until 7:30 AM or so when Samuel was waking up.  In the past week he has started waking up around 6:00 which has really cut into my blog time.  I try really hard not to use my laptop at all once he and Nathan are awake, so the blog is getting less attention.  I may have to start trying to pump out a post during naptimes!

Oh and I realize I haven’t posted a menu in forever.  I’ll bring those up-to-date when I get a chance.  Hopefully this week.

Last week I wanted something easy but filling on the menu.  We’ve been running in 100 directions all at once, so I’ve had a lot less time to spend in the kitchen.  I needed something that I could make quickly or leave in the oven so I could focus on my very inquisitive {almost} toddler.

Whole chickens are a great part of a meal for a number of reasons not the least of which is how easy they are to make.  There are usually a good amount of leftovers for chicken salad, pasta dishes, and other great things.  I recommend holding on to the bones and insides so you can use them in homemade stock.  Also, they are inexpensive.  I usually buy a young chicken, and it costs around $3.00 for a 4 lb chicken.

Whole Chicken with Spring Vegetables

Ingredients:

• 4 lb whole young chicken
• olive oil spray
• 2 small yellow squash
• 1 cup sliced mushrooms
• 5 celery stalks
• 1 lemon
• 3 campari tomatoes
• 1 tsp dried cilantro leaves

Directions:

1.  Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Spray a roasting pan {I used a Corningware dish} generously with olive oil.

2.  Remove the innerds from the chicken {they are usually in bags, so don’t fret}, and save them in your freezer for stock.  Place the chicken in the roasting pan.

3.  Cut the sqash into medium thickness slices.  Set aside.

4.  Chop the celery.  Set aside.

5.  Cut the lemon into four wedges.

6.  Put all of the vegetables in the roasting pan around the chicken.  Make sure they are evenly distributed.

7.  Squeeze the juice from the lemons on the chicken and vegetables.  Place the lemons inside the chicken like stuffing.

8.  Cut the tomatoes in half.

9.  Place the tomatoes around the chicken and one or two slices inside the chicken.

10.  Top the chicken with the cilantro.

11.  Cook for 2-2 1/2 hours.  Make sure to check the thickest part of the chicken to make sure it is done.

12.  Serve.

Grade: B

Comments:  The chicken itself was really good.  My biggest regret was that I didn’t use more vegetables.  I really underestimated how many veggies would be needed for this dinner.  If your family loves vegetables I’d double the amount listed above or add a few more types.  The lemon added just the right amount of zing without being overwhelming.  Lemon is a great topper for chicken, and adding the lemons to the inside of the chicken gave it even more flavor.  This is a must make, but remember to add more vegetables.

We’re back from what can only be described as an “exciting” vacation.  We spent the week in the North Georgia Mountains, and if you have been watching the news you know the area got hit really hard with tornados and awful weather this week.  On Wednesday night we laid in our small one room cabin wondering if the roof was going to fly off, because honestly it was the worst storm I’ve ever seen.  Thankfully we were okay, but please keep those in your thoughts that weren’t so lucky.

Before we left for the mountains, we had a great Easter.  Samuel got a fun little basket with books and sports eggs filled with Cheerios.

On Saturday night, I wanted to do something easy for dinner that would free up some time to prep for Easter.  I was selected for the New Belgium Beer Foodbuzz Tastemakers project, so I wanted to incorporate the delicious seasonal beer, Mighty Arrow, into our dinner.  Something light that tasted like Spring, but I wanted it to be really filling.

Thus this dish was created.  I just started throwing things into the pot, and admittedly it turned out better than I expected.  Beer is the new broth, people.  Trust me on this.

New Belgium Chicken Stew

Ingredients:

• 5 medium mushrooms
• 1 tbs olive oil
• 2 chicken breasts
• 1 bushel {?} of asparagus
• 4 celery stalks
• 1 cup chicken broth
• 2 bottles of New Belgium Mighty Arrow Beer
• 1 1/2 tbs cornstarch
• 1/2 tsp oregano
• 1 tsp chili powder
• 1 tsp paprika

Directions:

1.  Chop the mushrooms into tiny pieces.

2.  In a large soup pot, heat the olive oil on medium-high.  Add the mushrooms.  Cook for 2-3 minutes.

3.  While the mushrooms are cooking, chop the celery.

4.  Toss the celery in with the mushrooms, and let cook another 3-4 minutes.

5.  Trim the asparagus, and cut it into 1/2″ pieces.

6.  Add the asparagus to the mushrooms and celery.  Cook 5 minutes.

7.  Open the beer.  Try not to drink it.

8.  Dump the two bottles of beer and chicken broth in with the vegetables.  Mix a little.  Let cook for 10 minutes until the broth is boiling.

9.  While you wait on the broth to boil, chop the chicken into inch size pieces.

10.  Add the chicken to the soup pot.

11.  Cover the pot and let cook about 15 minutes.

12.  Serve.  Preferably with beer.

Grade: A-

Comments:  I am passing a new rule in this house that beer must always replace broth in recipes, because that was a fabulous idea.  The broth was delicious, and the vegetables had so much flavor.  The one thing I would definitely do differently is season the chicken before hand.  You could thin this out a little bit and make it more like a chili for gameday or a thinner soup for the colder months.  I couldn’t stop eating it.  So. Good.

I participated in this project through the Foodbuzz Tastemakers Program.  I was compensated for the groceries I purchased for this project, but the opinions and recipe are my own.