Queso Chili

Queso Chili

     January has proven to be a month that just isn't going to budge on the idea of warmer weather. It doesn't seem to matter where one lives in the U.S. it is cold. Not just a little cold, but a deep freeze cold. The wind chill here has been in the -40's. Not fun!

     School has already been cancelled 3 days because of the extreme wind chills. I'm wondering if we will be closed again on Monday and Tuesday too. The wind chills are suppose to be worse than the last few days when school was cancelled. At this rate we'll be making time up in June. Something I'm not too happy about.

     Since it's been so cold out I've had to make some chili to warm us up some. In fact I've made this particular chili 2 times now.  My husband says that it tasted better the second time I made it, but I didn't do anything different from the first time. I guess it just must have been that he was more in the mood for chili the second time I made it. My son absolutely loved it both times. I like it because it's a little different from your average chili and you just throw everything in the crockpot. So simple.

     So make yourself a big pot of chili tonight. I know that the old month of January will cooperate with giving us cold winds and temperatures and this dish will warm you up . Enjoy!

Queso Chii
1 lb of Velveeta cheese, cubed
1 lb ground beef, browned
1 C frozen corn
1-15 oz can of kidney beans, undrained
2-14.5 oz cans diced tomatoes, undrained
1- 4oz can of green chilies
1 package of taco seasoning mix
Corn chips

Combine Velveeta cheese, ground beef, corn, beans, diced tomatoes, green chilies and taco mix in a crockpot.
Cover and cook on high for 3 hours.
Serve in a bowl with crushed corn chips on top if desired.

    

Frozen Mocha Smoothie

Frozen Mocha Smoothie

     Today I'm up early and ready for work way too early. So now I'm stuck here waiting to leave for work. Now it's not that I wanted to get up at 5:30 this morning. My dog had a little to do with that. You see she was crying by my bedside this morning to go outside. It's kind of hard to ignore when she's right next to your head wimpering.

     I knew letting the dogs sleep at 7:00 last night was a mistake. I get that when we are home they don't take a nap in the middle of the day like usual, but they can't go to sleep that early or they will wake up early or in the middle of the night. Of course now they are both lounging in their favorite spot right now. No worries for them, they get to sleep today.

     Since this would be a great day to have a little extra energy I decided that I should share my recipe for Frozen Mocha Smoothie. It is similar to the one I get at the gym. I had to kind of play with the ingredients a bit to get it just right. I use my little drink mixer to make it. It is like the bullet drink mixer, but you could use a regular blender too.

     I put protein powder in my smoothie, but you wouldn't have to necessarily do that. You could opt for a little yogurt if you wanted. I just happen to have protein powder on hand. I also use almond milk, but regular milk is fine too. I think you'll like this especially if you like coffee.

Frozen Mocha Smoothie
4-6 ice cubes
1/4 C cold coffee
1/4 C almond milk, more if it seems too stiff
2T protein powder
2T mocha flavored instant coffee

Mix in drink mixer or blender until well blended. Add more almond milk if it seems too thick.

Chocolate Cheesecake Turtle Cupcakes

Chocolate Cheesecake Turtle Cupcakes

     Over the weekend I was a super busy girl. I was either making something in the kitchen or working in my sewing room. A lot of the time I had something cooking or baking in the kitchen while I was sewing down in my sewing room.

     One of the treats that I made was these delectable cupcakes. When I first saw the post for this recipe I knew I had to make these. How could I pass this up? I mean look at that picture. They just say YUM!

     These cupcakes are very easy to make, which is a plus in my book. One never knows how difficult some of these luscious goodies can be to make and I know that I don't want to toil too long in the kitchen. God knows I love to bake and cook, but I don't want to be in the kitchen forever. It needs to be quick and easy, plus taste good.

     These little cupcakes meet all my expectations and more. I am definitely going to make these babies again. They took very little time and they made a great little dessert. In fact I'm taking some of these into work for my friends to sample. I'm sure they are going to love them.

Chocolate Cheesecake Turtle Cupcakes
1 1/2 C all purpose flour
1 C sugar
1/4 C cocoa powder
1/2 t salt
1 t baking soda
1/3 C vegetable oil
1 C water
1 T vinegar
1 t vanilla

For the Cheesecake
8 oz cream cheese, softened
1/4 C sugar
1 egg

Preheat oven to 350 F and line 18 cupcake tins with cupcake liners.
In a large bowl mix the flour, sugar, cocoa powder, salt & baking soda. Mix well until combined.
In a small bowl mix oil, water, vinegar and vanilla. Make a well in the dry ingredients and add the liquid mixture. Stir mixture until it is well combined. Fill cupcake liners 1/3 full with chocolate mixture.

In a small bowl mix cream cheese, sugar and egg with an electric mixer. Blend until smooth and creamy. Use a small cookie scoop to put a dollop of the cream cheese mixture on top of the chocolate mixture.

Bake cupcakes for 20 minutes or until cream cheese is firm.
Let cupcakes cool for 5 minutes in the pan and then remove and cool on a cooling rack.

Turtle Topping
14 caramels
6 T half and half
1/2 C milk chocolate chips
1/2 C chopped pecans

Unwrap the caramels and put in a microwavable bowl. Add 3 T half and half. Microwave for 1 1/2 minutes or until melted. Stir until smooth and let cool slightly.
Place chocolate chips and 3 T half and half in another bowl and microwave for 1 1/2 minutes or until melted. Stir until smooth and let cool slightly.
Using a spoon drizzle the caramel and chocolate on top of the cupcakes and sprinkle with chopped pecans.
Makes 18 cupcakes  

Recipe from thecakeblog.com