Wendy's Chili

2 pounds ground beef

One 29-ounce can tomato sauce

One 29-ounce can kidney beans (with liquid)

One 29-ounce can pinto beans (with liquid)

1 cup diced onion (1 medium onion)

1/2 cup diced green chili (2 chilies)

1/4 diced celery (1 stalk)

3 medium tomatoes, chopped

2 teaspoons cumin powder

3 tablespoons chili powder

1 1/2 teaspoons black pepper

2 teaspoons salt

2 cups water

1.  Brown the ground beef in a skillet over medium heat; drain off the fat.

2.  Using a fork, crumble the cooked beef into pea-size pieces.

3.  In a large pot, combine the beef plus all the remaining ingrefients, and bring to a simmer over low heat.  Cook, stirring every 15 minutes, for 2 to 3 hours.

Makes about 12 servings.

Cafe Rio

I found some Cafe Rio knock off recipes that are REALLY good and easy to make.

Café Rio Chicken

Ingredients

1 (8 ounce) bottle kraft zesty Italian dressing

1 tablespoon chili powder

1 tablespoon cumin

3 garlic cloves, minced

5 lbs chicken breasts

Directions

Cook all together in a crock pot for 4 hours on low.

Shred meat.

cook 1 additional hour.

Cafe Rio Lime Rice

Ingredients

-	4 tbls butter
-	2 1/2 cups rice
-	4 1/2 cups chicken broth
-	1 1/2 tsp salt
-	juice of 4 small limes or 4 tbls lime juice
-	4 tbsp chopped cilantro
-	1/2 tsp cumin

BLACK BEANS



2 Tbsp. olive oil


2 cloves garlic, minced


1 tsp. ground cumin


1 can black/pinto beans, rinsed and drained


1 1/3 c. tomato juice


1 1/2 tsp. salt


2 Tbsp. fresh chopped cilantro



In a nonstick skillet, cook garlic and cumin in olive oil over medium heat until you can smell it. Add beans, tomato juice, and salt. Continually stir until heated through. Just before serving stir in the cilantro.

Café rio sweet pork

Ingredients:

2 pound sirloin pork roast

1 can Dr. Pepper

2 cups enchilada sauce

1/4 cup brown sugar

1 can diced green chilies

1 tablespoon garlic salt

Pour Dr. Pepper, brown sugar, enchilada sauce and chilies into your crock pot and stir to combine. Add the roast and sprinkle it with garlic salt. Cook on low for 4 hours, then remove meat and shred. Return to crock pot, stir well to cover meat with sauce and cook for another 2 hours.

Waldorf Astoria Stew (aka No Peek Stew)

2 – 3 lbs. stew meat in bottom of large pan

2 medium onions, sliced or chopped

3 – 4 potatoes

1 c. celery, coarsely sliced

3 – 4 large carrots (bite size pieces)

Layer in pan.  Then sprinkle with:

2 T. Minute Tapioca

1 T. sugar

2 t. salt

¼ t. pepper (more or less if desired)

1 can tomato soup, drop by spoonfuls

½ can water, pour over stew

      Do not stir.  Cover tightly and cook in oven 5 hours at 250°.  (Don’t even peek – that’s cheating).  Do not remove cover until ready to serve.  (This can also be done in a crock pot.) 

Killer Thanksgiving Recipe's

This year I got nearly all my recipes for Thanksgiving off of allrecipes.com. I only used the ones that were rated highly, so we had a pretty good meal. Here are what we felt were the top performers...

Gourmet Sweet Potatoes


5 sweet potatoes
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup butter
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 cup white sugar
2 tablespoons heavy cream
1/4 cup butter, softened
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
1/2 cup chopped pecans

Directions:
1 - Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease a 9x13 inch baking dish.
2 - Bake sweet potatoes 35 minutes in the preheated oven, or until they begin to soften. Cool slightly, peel, and mash.
3 - In a large bowl, mix the mashed sweet potatoes, salt, 1/4 cup butter, eggs, vanilla extract, cinnamon, sugar, and heavy cream. Transfer to the prepared baking dish.
4 - In a medium bowl, combine 1/4 cup butter, flour, brown sugar, and chopped pecans. Mix with a pastry blender or your fingers to the consistency of course meal. Sprinkle over the sweet potato mixture.
5 - Bake 30 minutes in the preheated oven, until topping is crisp and lightly browned.


As a family, we are all agreed that these were the very best part of the meal, mainly because they were pretty much candy!


Whole Cranberry Sauce

1 cup white sugar
1 cup orange juice
1 (12 ounce) package fresh cranberries
1/4 tsp. cinnamon


Directions:
In a medium saucepan over medium heat, dissolve the sugar in the orange juice. Stir in the cinnamon and cranberries Cook until the cranberries start to pop (about 10 minutes). Remove from heat, and transfer to a bowl. Cranberry sauce will thicken as it cools.

Tobin usually is not a fan of cranberry sauce, but he liked this.

And, I am way excited to have come up with the following recipe! I may even post it on allrecipes.com.

Chocolate Hazelnut Cheesecake

Crust:
1/4 cup and 2 tablespoons butter, melted
3/4 cup white sugar
3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 egg
1 egg white
1/4 cup Nutella
1/4 cup and 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt

1 - Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2 - In a large bowl, blend melted butter, sugar and vanilla. Beat in eggs. Combine the flour, cocoa, baking powder and salt. Gradually blend into the egg mixture. Spread the batter into 9 inch springform pan.
Bake in preheated oven for 10 to 15 minutes. Allow to cool.

Filling:
2 8 oz. bars cream cheese
1 1/2 c. Nutella
3 whole eggs
1 egg yolk

1 - Preheat oven to 325.
2 - Whip cream cheese and Nutella. Add eggs and beat until well blended.
Pour over crust in springform pan.
3 - Bake on mid-high oven rack for 1 hour 15 minutes or until middle is set.
4 - Drag metal knife around the edge. Let cool completely before removing outer edge of pan. Refrigerate until time to serve.

Whole Wheat Pumpkin Bread

Ryan tried this recipe in his nutrition class and loved it so he got the recipe from his teacher for me.  It is in the oven right now, so I will let you know how it turns out.  It smells DELISH!!!!

3 c. brown sugar
4 eggs
1 can (2 c.) pumpkin
1 c. corn or safflower oil
2 1/2 c. whole-wheat flour
1 cup white flour
1 cup ground flax
1/2 tsp. baking powder
2 tsp. soda
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. cloves
1 tsp. nutmeg
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 c. nuts, chopped (optional)
1 c chocolate chips (optional)

Cream together brown sugar and eggs. Add pumpkin and oil and beat well. Add remaining ingredients and beat well. Pour into two greased and floured loaf pans. Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour and 10 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in middle comes out clean. Makes 3 loaves.

Sesame Noodles

1 lb. spaghetti, cooked and drained

2 Tbsp. Sesame Oil

4 cloves garlic, minced

1/4 c. sesame seeds

1/8 c. canola oil

1/4 c. sugar

1/4 c. balsamic or red wine vinegar

1/4 c. soy sauce 

red pepper flakes to taste

4 scallions, washed and sliced

Saute garlic and sesame seeds in sesame oil.  Reduce heat, add canola oil, sugar, vinegar, soy sauce and pepper flakes.  Cook for 1 minute.  Stire in cooked noodles and sprinkle with scallions.

Ground Beef Dishes

Aunt Jo's Sloppy Joes
1 lb. hamburger
3/4 c. ketchup or tomato sauce
1/4 - 1/3 c. mustard
1/2 c. brown sugar
diced onions (opt.)

Brown hamburger. Add ketchup or tomato sauce, mustard, brown sugar and diced onions if you have them. Stir together and let simmer till slightly thickened. Serve on buns with sliced cheese and pickles.

Chili Cheeseburger Mac
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 1/2 pounds ground beef
1 large onion, finely chopped
2 tablespoons chili powder
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup ketchup or tomato sauce
1/4 cup yellow mustard
1-2 cups beef stock (depending on how liquid-y you want it)
1 pound elbow macaroni
1 1/2 cups shredded sharp yellow cheddar (the sharper the better!)
Pre-heat the oven. Bring a large pot of water to a boil over high heat for the pasta.
Place a medium pot over medium-high heat with two turns of the pan of olive oil, about 2 tablespoons. Add the meat to the pan and cook until golden brown, 5-6 minutes.
Add the onion and chili powder to the pan, then season with salt and pepper and cook until the onion is tender, 4-5 minutes. Add the ketchup, mustard and beef stock to the pot, bring up to a bubble and simmer until slightly thickened, 4-5 minutes.
While the chili is working, salt the boiling water and drop the pasta in the pot. Cook to al dente, according to the package directions, then drain thoroughly and return it to the pot.
Add the chili to the pot with the pasta and give everything a good toss. Transfer to a casserole dish and top with the shredded cheese. Place the casserole under the broiler to melt and brown the cheese. Serve with a simple salad alongside.