Category: recipes

I’m traveling again. When I return, we’ll dive into Thanksgiving recipes….

Rice and enchiladas photo from the JeffreyW collection

I had a very specific craving this past week.  I wanted an authentic Mexican rice, like you find on the side of your plate at a great family Mexican restaurant. I went searching for recipes and found two. I’ll post the videos and then the ingredients list. The key really does seem to be frying the rice. That step would explain why my previous attempts always fell flat.

It’s one of those weeks where I know I have many busy days ahead and dinner is not something I want to think about. This is one of those quick and easy meals that is also very satisfying.

Yummy photo from JeffreyW

This menu is from my Kids Night series. I loved chili mac as a kid, and it’s still one of those quick comfort foods I make when it needs to be easy and tasty.  

Chili Mac photo from JeffreyW’s collection

Chili Mac

• 12 oz elbow macaroni (or try something fun like radiatori or farfalle shapes)
• 2 tsp olive oil
• ½ onion, diced
• ½ green pepper diced
• 1 lb ground beef
• 14 oz can diced tomatoes
• 15 oz can kidney beans
• 1 tsp to 2 tbsp chili powder
• ¼ tsp salt
• pepper to taste
• 2 qt. saucepan, skillet

Since I discovered using a cast-iron skillet method for making apple crisp, that’s been my go-to. Cooking the apple mixture on the stove changes everything.  The apple mixture has time to become soft and syrupy before adding the topping and baking at a higher temperature.

And this week I had a few apples I needed to use before they went bad. I think I made one of my best apple crisps.

Here’s what I added to the recipe below: caramel sauce spread liberally over the cooked apples before I added the crisp.  I also grabbed the jar of pumpkin spice and added about two teaspoons worth while cooking the apple mixture.