Wow Chow Chili
This is not your average American-style chili recipe. I actually made it up when I was out of a certain number of ingredients (isn’t that how all recipes are eventually created, lol?). Wow Chow Chili, as most of my recipes are, can be completely customized according to your likes. I like my chili only a *little* on the spicy side, so this is a milder recipe. Feel free to add your own toxic spices to make this a hottie. Here’s how I do mine:
Wow Chow Chili
serves 10
- 1 large can (28 oz.) petite-diced tomatoes, undrained
- 1 green pepper, seeded and diced
- 1 white onion, diced
- 1 can beef broth
- 1 small can tomato paste
- 4-5 pounds beef or pork, cubed into bite-sized pieces (I used both uncooked beef cubes and some leftover grilled pork steaks, cubed)
- 3 cans black beans, drained
- 2 Tablespoons chili powder
- 2 teaspoons cumin
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- salt
Throw everything into the crockpot and stir well. Turn on HIGH for 6-8 hours (or LOW for 10-12).
Serve with rice and a little cheddar cheese sprinkled over the top.
If you want to add some heat to the recipe, you can add tabasco sauce, or something like hot pickled cherry peppers. I always have a can of these on hand for my Chicken Riggies recipe. My kids don’t like spicy foods, so I don’t make them (not too often, heh heh).
Hybrid Lasagna
We LOVE lasagna. But it is so time-consuming to make. And you have to pre-cook the lasagna noodles just right, or they turn out too chewy or too mushy. I’ve tried those “oven-ready” lasagna noodles, too, and I can’t stand them. I want to eat my lasagna, not chew it like cud! Plus, lasagna just takes too long to fuss with– all the layers, stacking the noodles just right, etc. Who has that kind of time? Not me!
I made up a pseudo-lasagna recipe, using ziti for the pasta. I call it Hybrid Lasagna, because it is a mixture of a lasagna recipe and a baked ziti recipe. The kids love this stuff! It keeps well, and you can make it early in the day (or a day before) and throw it in the oven later. It’s also great as a “full” meal- contains vegetable, meat, dairy, and carbohydrates. And, like most of my meals, it is “fully customizable,” that is you can eliminate an ingredient or substitute an ingredient. I make this stuff in huge quantities, and for when I’ve got a full house or when I want to serve it again another day.
Like most Italian dishes, this requires a lot of cookware and dishes for the prep work. I hate doing dishes! But the nice thing about this is that you can prepare this early in the day. Whch means that the cookware gets dirty early in the day, and you have all afternoon to wash it. I like that. I don’t know about you, but after dinner, I am tired and the last thing I want is a huge stack of dirty cookware to clean! OK, on with the show:
Hybrid Lasagna
Serves 10!
1 pound ground beef or ground sausage, cooked
2 boxes ziti
1 large white onion, diced
2 28oz. cans petite tomatoes
1 28oz. can spinach
3 eggs
1 tub (32oz.) small-curd cottage cheese
1 jar spaghetti sauce (leftover sauce does well)
Shredded mozzarella cheese
Dried basil
Dried oregano
Garlic powder
Salt and pepper
Aluminum foil
A GREAT BIG casserole dish (or several small ones)
A cookie sheet
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