Crockpot Chili

Here's another crockpot favorite at our house.  I mentioned here that you can cook ground beef in the crock pot.  After that, what's left but stirring and simmering?  Pefect in the crockpot, because after the initial stir, you're done til you can't stand the smell anymore and have to dive in!

Crockpot Chili

Before bed, put 2 lbs ground beef in the crockpot.  I use "auto shift" which starts out on high, then goes down to low after awhile.

In the morning, drain or sop up the grease.  (The leaner the beef, the easier this job is.) Stir the beef til it's crumbly.  Then stir in:

3 cans tomato soup (or for a nice twist, try a box of tomato and roasted red pepper soup instead)
2 cans kidney beans, drained
1 can diced tomatoes, drained
1 T chili powder, or to taste
1 t garlic powder, or to taste
1 t onion powder, or to taste

***Tip*** Add 2 bay leaves while simmering (and take out before serving).  It acts like Bean-o!

Simmer on low all day.  You can also start the beef in the morning if you'll be home mid-day to do the rest.

Garnish with cheese, salsa or peanut butter (I know, I know...but don't knock it til you try it!) if you like.  Serve with cornbread, and winter is almost bearable.

Thanks for stopping by and enjoy!
Nan

Easy Street, step 5 and other show & tell

This past week brought some wonderful time to relax and also for part of the time, sew like a fiend!  I finished step 5 of Bonnie's Easy Street mystery:

And I also finished two quilts as gifts, which can now be shown because they've been given.  Both are made from blocks I swapped with SewManySwaps.  First up is batik Jacob's Ladder:

Next up are these fun pinwheels made out of Kaffe (Fassett) and friends. 

I also snapped these pics the other day of the Minglewood top that I finished just before Thanksgiving.  It's a shop sample, so is hanging there and waiting for it's turn for Eula to quilt it. I still couldn't get it all in even two pics, but when it's quilted, I'll find a way.

Finishing up the year on a quilting roll feels good!  Have you checked some things off your to-do list lately?  What's up for you next year?

Thanks for stopping by and Happy New Year!
Nan

Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

When one of my sister's and I visited our great-aunt Millie over Thanksgiving, her friend Joan brought over a delicious carrot cake.  I asked for the recipe and made it as our contribution for Christmas Dinner with hubby's family.  It came out great - so moist and delicious!  Carrot cake has always been one of my favorites, but I thought it seemed like a lot of work so had never tried it.  Buying already shredded carrots makes this easy!  (Shhh...I won't tell if you don't tell!)

Tropical Carrot Cake

2 cups plain flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon each baking soda and cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon each salt, nutmeg and allspice
4 eggs
2 cups sugar
1 and 1/4 cups oil
2 cups finely shredded raw carrots
1 8 oz can crushed pinapple, drained (about 3/4 cup)
1 cup chopped pecans (or walnuts)
1/2 cup flaked coconut

Stir together flour, baking powder, soda, cinnamon, salt, nutmeg and allspice; set aside.  In large bowl, beat eggs slightly.  Gradually beat in sugar until mixture is thick and lemon-colored. With rubber spatula gradually stir in oil.  Add flour mixture, carrots, pineapple, nuts and coconut; stir until well mixed. Divide among 3 greased, floured 9-inch layer pans or into greased, floured 13x9 pan.  (I used a tube pan.)  Bake in preheated 350 degree oven, 35 mins for layers, 55-60 minutes for sheet cake or tube pan, or until pick inserted in center comes out clean.  Cool in pans at least 10 mins, then turn out on racks to finish cooling.

Let cool completely before frosting with cream cheese frosting.

Cream Cheese Frosting

4 cups powdered sugar
2 8oz pkgs cream cheese (I used neufchatel cheese), at room temp
1/2 cup butter, at room temp
4 teaspoons vanilla

Mix all ingredients until well blended.  Refrigerate until ready to frost cake.

I had leftover carrots and frosting (and no more cake!), so made these muffins.  They're yummy warm, so don't know if they'll make it til they cool to use up the leftover frosting! lol

Thanks for stopping by,
Nan

Chicken Tortilla Soup

A friend of mine asked me to please post more of my crockpot recipes.  She knows I'm the queen of the crockpot, and like me, she'd rather be sewing than cooking! lol  So here goes the hands' down favorite at our house:

Chicken Tortilla Soup

In the morning:

Put three large (or four if they’re small) frozen chicken breasts in the crock pot with a box of chicken broth.  I set my crock pot on “auto-shift” which cooks on high for a while, then shifts down to low some time during the day.

In the evening:

Cut up the chicken.  Add one large or two small cans of Mexican style corn, a can of Mexican style black beans and a can of Mexican style diced tomatoes.  Drain the beans, but leave the tomato & corn juices from the can.  If you like thicker soup, you could drain the tomatoes and corn and/or add a can of tomato paste.  Cook for another hour or so.

Serve with salsa, cheese, sour cream, fritos, etc. – whatever you like.  Watch it disappear before your very eyes!

Enjoy & thanks for stopping by!

Nan

P.S. I'd like to add a recipe tab to the top of my blog.  Can someone please tell me how?

Easy Street, parts 3 & 4

Merry Christmas!  I hope your holiday was wonderful. :)  Mine was!  And among the festivities I managed to squeeze in some sewing time.  Once all the have-to's were off my list, I was eager to get back to my big want-to: Bonnie's Easy Street mystery!  (Tab in side bar to right.)

All along I've stayed current on the cutting, but I finished sewing steps 3 and 4 over the weekend.  Here are my shaded four-patches from step 3.

And here are my flying geese from step 4, sewn together with some of the step 2 geese.

I've gotten a start on Step 5, and since Bonnie blessed us with a nice short step for this busy week, I shouldn't have any problem being caught up in time for the next installment, to be released this Friday.

Are you participating?  How are you coming with it?  I love all the parts, so it's hard to imagine that they won't look great in blocks.  I've done a little rearranging of parts to guess the layout, but who knows?  There are so many possible combinations.  Ooohhh, I love a good mystery!  Thanks, Bonnie! See how others are coming along with Bonnie's linky here.

Thanks for stopping by,
Nan

Merry Christmas (Suffering at Christmastime)

Christmas cards aren't going to happen this year, so here's my e-greeting to you. :)

I am so blessed, and have so much to be grateful for. The love of God and of friends and family are at the top of that list.  Thank you for the role you play in my life.

But my heart is heavy this year.  I have several friends who are in various stages of dealing with cancer.  Other friends have experienced traumatic loss in the past year, times of trials in their lives or the lives of loved ones, or are going through a hard time, but haven't shared with me what.  And surely we all hurt for the families in Newtown, CT as well as those who have suffered other tragic events in the US and around the world.  Whatever the reasons, all are in my thoughts and prayers more than ever right now as I know this will be a difficult Christmas for them.

Suffering isn't something I'm an expert on.  I've had my trials like everyone else, but I feel so fortunate not to have experienced many of the things that these friends, loved ones and strangers are suffering.  Also, many are far more eloquent than I could ever hope to be.  So here are the thoughts of one of our pastors on Newtown, CT as spoken in a children's sermon.  Here are excellent words of advice if you have a friend who is sick.  Here are the words of a friend getting real about his feelings toward his own cancer like I'd never heard from anyone before.  And here is a beautiful Christmas carol I hope you'll enjoy.

And here's my humble attempt to put words to feelings. This morning as I was sewing, listening to Christmas carols and sipping hot chocolate, I should have been happy but I was also hurting for these people.  Then the DJ mentioned Romans 4:19-21 (from The Message)

19 Abraham didn't focus on his own impotence and say, "It's hopeless. This hundred-year-old body could never father a child." Nor did he survey Sarah's decades of infertility and give up. 20 He didn't tiptoe around God's promise asking cautiously skeptical questions. He plunged into the promise and came up strong, ready for God, 21 sure that God would make good on what he had said. 

The DJ summed it up this way: anxiety comes from comparing our reality to our own abilities.  Faith comes from comparing our reality to God's abilities.  He wrapped it up with Philippians 4:13 (also from The Message).

13 Whatever I have, wherever I am, I can make it through anything in the One who makes me who I am.  

I hope this time of year brings you peace, joy and hope.  But even if you're struggling to find peace or joy right now, I pray that you will hold on to God's promises.  No matter what else you have or don't have, we can all have hope!  Praise God.

Thanks for stopping by and Merry Christmas,
Nan
P.S. Here's one more carol, if you want to hear it. :)

East Street, step 2

There hasn't been much sewing going on around here lately.  But today I was able to sit and sew for a little while...ahhhh!!!! :)  At the top of my sewing list is Bonnie's current mystery, Easy Street (badge in side bar to the right).  Step 5 was released today, but I've only stayed caught up with the cutting.  So today, I sewed!  And step 2 is now complete.  Woo hoo!

Here are my flying geese, along with parts 3 and 4 all kitted up and ready to sew.  Below is part 1, in case you haven't seen them. The hot pink is in place of Bonnie's gray.  Otherwise I'm using her colors.

Yes, it's a busy time of year for many folks, but I hope you're finding time to do something just for you!

Thanks for stopping by,
Nan