I'm Crawling Out of My Hole

As you've probably noticed, I haven't been in a very bloggy mood lately. I was just plain cranky and moody at the beginning of the week and hosted my Pampered Chef show on Wednesday, which went very well and was a lot of fun! I made a TON of food, including: Crab Rangoon Dip, Avocado Salsa Cups, Tex-Mex Chicken Melts, Mediterranean Marinated Cheese, Fresh Basil Bruschetta, Chocolate Covered Cheesecake Squares, Molten Chocolate Mini Cakes, Warm Nutty Caramel Brownies and Double Chocolate Swirl Bread. The theme show was Chocolate Bliss, if you couldn't tell. So with all of that, I've been a little busy besides. Mark finished decorating the outside of the house for Christmas yesterday while I got my evergreen up above my kitchen cabinets. I figure I better get started now so my house is fully decorated and ready for display on December 17th for the Blog Christmas Tour of Homes!

I have been trying my best to squeeze in some blog reading time, because you guys always seem to have something to say and you always make me smile! I do have a few matters of bloggy business to tend to. First I want to post a couple chili recipes, as promised. The first is courtesy of neighbor, Jenn, who received the Honorable Mention prize and Most Unique Chili award for her fabulous Chicken and White Bean Chili.

Here it is....
JenJen's White Chicken Chili
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 onions, chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
4 cooked, boneless chicken breast half, chopped
3 (14.5 ounce) cans chicken broth
2 (4 ounce) cans canned green chile peppers, chopped
2 teaspoons ground cumin
2 teaspoons dried oregano
1 1/2 teaspoons cayenne pepper
5 (14.5 ounce) cans great Northern beans, undrained
1 cup shredded Monterey Jack cheese
(I'm a very big recipe modifier, so I also added some chopped celery, some chicken flavored soup base, and some other seasonings to taste)
DIRECTIONS
Heat the oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add the onions and garlic and saute for 10 minutes, or until onions are tender. Add the chicken, chicken broth, green chile peppers, cumin, oregano and cayenne pepper and bring to a boil.
Reduce heat to low and add the beans. Simmer for 20 to 30 minutes, or until heated thoroughly. Pour into individual bowls and top with the cheese.

This is my recipe for chili, which I received from my mom and altered a little bit.

2 pounds ground beef
1 pound Jimmy Dean hot sausage
1 pound hot Italian sausage
3 onions, chopped
5 garlic cloves, minced
pepper to taste
40 ounces hot chili beans
2-28 ounce diced tomatoes with garlic and onion
1 14 ounce diced tomatoes with jalapenos
2 jalapenos, diced
2 packages Lawry's chili seasoning
2 tablespoons hot Mexican chili powder
4 hot chipotle peppers canned in adobo sauce

DIRECTIONS:
Brown meat with onions, garlic and pepper in stock pot. Drain. Add remaining ingredients and simmer for one hour. Simple!

I also have to thank Carissa at Sahmmy Says for awarding me with this:


I feel honored to have received The Friendshiip Award. Personally, I think it is the best award I've seen in Blogland. I am passing it on to Megan at Fried Okra for being a great friend in real life and also in the world of computers. After all, she is the reason I started this blog in the first place!

Lastly, if you would like a way to earn some extra money for Christmas shopping or need some great ideas for gifts, check this out.

Wow! Do you think I got enough links into this post? Sheesh! I'm taking the boys to see The Bee Movie this afternoon, BY MYSELF! I'll let you know how my attempt at bravery turns out tomorrow.