Delicious Homemade Chicken Chili

Wandering around Wal Mart all evening finding things for my fondant got me very very hungry. I remembered I had some unthawed chicken in the fridge and it hit me; mmm chicken chili. I went a little above and beyond the normal recipe. Diced jalapenos, chicken sauteed in butter, garlic and chili powder. Chopped onions, tomatoes, and chilis... Mmm it turned out wonderful. Topped with avocado, cheese and sour cream? Absolutely delicious for a 10:00pm dinner.

There's a First For Everything

In preparation of my oncoming dessert contest for our company picnic, I tested out something I have always wanted to do... Fondant. I can't say I'm thrilled with the results, but it sure was fun to make! I think with a little practice, my next cake might be a little more creative... and less messy :)

Lemon cake with a raspberry filling, cream cheese frosting and buttercream fondant.

Sadly, the taste test didn't quite pass my standards. The fondant does taste good, but I put it on a little thick, so it was sugar mania. The lemon cake could have been a little more moist, next time I will go from scratch... and I definitely needed more raspberry filling. Now that I know fondant is a possibility, I think this weekend will be all about the Fondant. Sounds exciting eh!?

Co-Worker Cookies

My beloved co-worker, Laura, brought me some of her delicious lemon cake cookies, and I had to tell you - Oh-my-goodness. At 8:00am I had to have a cookie, so of course I opened the giant container and thought selfishly, that I would keep them all! Mwahah! .... I didn't, I shared. But I shouldn't have. They are so, so delicious. She is supposed to bring me the recipe next week, and I will share it with ya'll, but for now, here's what I got to have for a breakfast snack. 

One Green Thumb

When we bought our house in April, I decided I would finally plant something... anything!

So, I bought some tomato, jalapeno, and green pepper starts...

My progress has been late, but successful finally!

Grilled Curry Chicken Pad Thai... Even a Little Dry

My initial plan for dinner toinght was baked chicken, mashed potatoes and green beans. Since we really just had that about a week ago, I decided I would spice things up a bit. I make pad thai about once a month, and of course, sucked at this one.

Messy Chicken Pad Thai

Rice noodles are my absolute favorite, but I went a ltitle overboard this time. Woopsie! Not enough sauce and so many noodles! But it was delicious, and spicy. I grilled the chicken on the barbecue with a little curry powder, worked nicely except I left a few pieces on a bit too long. Where was my cooking brain tonight??!

Curry Chicken on the BBQ

Oohhh, right, brain was thinking about what Dessert I am going to make for our company picnic next week... Winner gets a paid day off! For me, that's another day closer to my Mexican vacation (68 days!). I have some ideas, and please, ideas are very welcome... but I am keeping my ideas a little hush, hush, because there is definitely competition out there. Tick tock!

Oodles and Oodles of Doodles - (now with pictures)

Feeling particularly gloomy today, and I am completely blaming the downpour that just happened. It is September! It's supposed to be sunny still! Oregon completely faked us out of a summer... but on the bright side... it makes it easier for me to cook. 

Tonight I believe I will do a whole wheat angel hair pasta, with some garlic, parmesan, leftover chicken, and olive oil. And of course, I can't have pasta without bread, so I'll defrost the Garlic Artisan bread we have in the freezer and brush it with real butter, some basil, and garlic salt. Mmmm. Delicious.

Last night I roasted the most delicious chicken, with a new Mesquite rub, some olive oil, onions and a jalapeno shoved in the middle. Back in the "eating well" days I baked a chicken every Sunday and we had some sort of chicken creation all throughout the week. Never had I actually experimented with many different seasonings though... oh man, this was delicious. Full of flavor, tender, and although I hate the word, "moist". We had it over white rice, with steamed yellow squash and more green beans. Mmmm!!! Made for a wonderful leftover lunch too.

After the boys decided to be boys and went to Sears for their Labor Day Sale, where the boyfriend purchased his new "I'll use it all the time" tool. I don't even know what it is, but apparently it cuts stuff! I took advantage of the quiet house to make my very first batch of Snickerdoodles. Yum, yum, yum. I am running a bit low on all-purpose flour, so I used self-rising flour, and was not overly happy with how "flour-y" they turned out... but they are ridiculously addicting. Yeah, pretty sure I had at least six last night. 

Feastival

Yesterday was the planned "feastival" with some good friends, good food, and of course, good drinks. I snatched up my litte kitchen helper, Bruzser, and was on my way to cook up a storm.

After a minor detour or two, we had finally arrived at our destination.... The Ayers residence, where Bruzser got to play with three fellow furry friends. Being the smallest by far (4 1/2 lbs) he had to show his dominance by barking and snipping at everyone... Boys! I had brought some ingredients needed to redo the flourless cake (cupcakes previously) I was going to make, and some cookies I had whipped up the night before.... While we were out at the grocery store, beloved Ernie decided to get into my bag I had so foolishly left on the floor, and eaten and entire bag of cookies, half a container of cocoa powder, and a big bag of dog treats... I should have taken a picture of the big brown mess, but before our homeowner had a meltdown I had to clean it up.

All was well once Sarah brought the vinegar! (Baking soda and vinegar is a cure all for all stains on things lightly colored.)

The baking started, as did the Shiraz consumpation. I started on the flourless cake, while John & Sarah made homemade guacamole with jalapenos and onions, yum! Ingredients missing, John and Sarah ran to the store while I, bored, started on another project: chocolate chip cookies! ... While the cake cooled, I baked the cookies and made the peanut butter buttercream frosting. Delicious.

Cake fell a little flat, again. Not exactly sure if flourless cakes are supposed to be flat and gooey, but wow ... another round of "brownies" covered in frosting.

Cookies were surprisingly good, considering the brown sugar might have been about four years old.

Guacamole - delicious. Anything with avocado, delicious.

Natalie brought over some fresh fruit, which was a perfect combination for all our sweets!

Sarah had brought vegan chili, that we tried with chips cold. Oh, my, delicious. So good, I had to take some to go when I abruptly had to leave early... to get home in time for my new couches! Hooray!

NY Cheesecake, in Portland

Saturday we spent most of the day shopping for new couches (which we found!!), and eating (shamefully) Carl's Jr... I was so hungry, I couldn't help it. Their Famous Star with cheese? Mmm... I am a sucker for a cheeseburger every now and again, but on a very rare occasion.

After finding our ridiculously expensive couches and anxiously awaiting their delivery... scheduled for the next day, I decided to start cooking. Cheesecake, french vanilla cake mix cookies with walnuts and oats... which burned a little, but were actually moist, and full of flavor.

The cheesecake... was a rushed cheesecake. I mostly used leftover opened packages of cream cheese (anxiety = cook cook cook!), that I had barely used anything out of, and were neufchatel cream cheese instead of regular. To boot, I only had light sour cream. Cheesecake to me should be full fat! Not low fat... but it was still good. Very thick, creamy, but slightly eggy. Too much crust, that almost tasted burned. What is wrong with my oven? Everything keeps burning!

Dinner, again, was steak. Steak steak steak! Found a great deal on Ribeye's at Safeway, where I had to utilize my $10 off coupon. We will easily be fully induced in heart disease early with all the red meat we eat. I did add in more fresh green beans and yellow squash. Trying to balance out the heart disease with a little greens, I suppose.