Beef & Pinto Bean Chili

I am craving for a good Chili lately, so when I saw a recipe I challenged myself to try it out. And to my surprise it was very easy to make and very delicious. I will definitely make this Chili again.

Recipe

Beef & Pinto Bean Chili

Yield: 6 servings

- Cooking spray

- 1 pound boneless chick roast, trimmed and cut into 1-inch pieces

- 3/4 teaspoon salt, divided

- 1-1/2 tablespoon sugar

- 2 tablespoon canola oil

- 4 cups chopped onion (about 2 medium)

- 1/4 cup minced jalapeno peppers (about 2 medium)

- 10 garlic cloves, minced

- 1 (12 ounce) bottle beer

- 1 tablespoon paprika

- 1 tablespoon ground cumin

- 2 tablespoons tomato paste

- 3 cups fat-free less-sodium beef broth

- 1 (28-ounce) can whole peeled tomatoes, drained and chopped

- 1 (15 ounce) can pinto beans, rinsed and drained

- 6 tablespoon small cilantro leaves

- 6 lime wedges

- 1/4 cup low-fat shredded mozzarela cheese

1. Heat a Duch oven over high heat. Coat pan with cooking spray. Sprinkle beef evenly with 1/4 teaspoon salt. Add beef to pan; sautee 5 minutes, turning to brown on all side. Remove from pan. Add oil to pan; swirl to coat. Add onion and jalapeno; sautee 8 minutes or until lightly browned, stirring occasionally. Add garlic; sautee 1 minute, stirring constantly. Stir in beer, scrapig pan to loosen browned bits; bring to a boil.  Cook until liquid almost evaporates (about 10 minutes), stirring occasionally. Stir in paprika, cumin and tomato paste; cook 1 minute, stirring frequently. Add broth, tomatoes, and beans; bring to a boil. Reduce heat, and simmer 1-1/2 hours or until mixture is thick and beef is very tender, stirring occasionally. Stir in remaining 1/2 teaspoon salt and sugar. 2. Ladle 1 cup chili into each of 6 bowls. Top each serving with 1 table spoon cilantro and 1 tablespoon shredded mozzarela cheese. Serve with lime wedges.

Calories421; Fat; 23g Protein; 21.6 gr Carb; 30.4g Fiber 8.5g; Chol; 53mg Iron 4.1mg Sodium; 787mg Calc; 123mg 

Note: Caution! This chili is quite spicy because of the jalapeno. It you want it less spicy scrape the membrane and the seeds out. Or you can omit completely.
You can substitute the cheese to sour cream. Sour cream has the cooling effect to the spiciness of this chili.

Good luck Everyone & thank you for stopping by !

Forgotten Delicate Words From the Past (Poems)

My heart was beating fast seeing the familiar looking note books. They were inside an old leather travel bag that was locked. I managed to cut the  leather tag that hold the small lock; there they were ! Old diaries and poems written by me from the year 1996 up until 2003. I know I have not written a journal or diary for a long time now. So there is no entry after those years.

For a brief moment I  was not sure  if I want to continue reading the poems as it does brings a sudden sadness into every cell of my body.  Especially seeing the delicate and fragile dried flowers on the pages. I remember where those flowers are coming from. They were from a trip up  the Colorado mountain with my son when he was little helped me pick some of the wild flowers while walking around the mountain.

"Here is a pretty one Mommy!" his little voice is still echoing in my ear now.

I see the written date is 06 July 1996 {we put the date before the month in our country} = July 06, 1996

Do you see the dried flowers glued to a page amongst the fresh one ?

Do you have a poem that you wrote from a long time a go ?

Thank you for reading !

Things Around the House (Collage Photography)

Today I took lots of pictures of things that are laying around the house. I have been taking tons of picture as part of the exercise on how taking picture of an object with this Nikon D3100 I received a few months a go. And I must admit that love it ! I can not get enough of it.

 I have been making  a distress or antiquing wood panel back drop for my photography projects. And it has been a useful project as now I am seeing  beautiful photo results from either a food photography, or photo of an object showing as a collage like I am about to show you now.

The small 'embroidery pouch' I bought from a trip to Mexico San Cristobal de LasCasas about 14 years a go. I have 6 of them and I think the embroidery is quite lovely. The 'vintage cups and saucer' are my own private collection.' Flower on a vase' is being displayed in  my living room now.  'The planter stand' is standing just outside of our home.

I collected the stones and 'vintage jewelery stones' a while a go and some bought at the Flea Market in Manhattan. The' rhinestone bib necklace' is from my Etsy store; here. 'The green vase with gold motifs' bought from Ebay and direct from a seller in Italy. I love this vase very much ! Steven 'my husband' has been putting money coins in there and I begged him not to put coins in the vase anymore. {I was freaked out to see the heavy coins filled up to the top of the rim of the vase and afraid the heavy coins would chip off the delicate rim} so I begged him not to put the coins in the vase anymore.  The necklace is vintage and designed by Ellya. Available here. Again, the flower is from our living room.

Did you see the white and sea foam color panel wood that I distressed {DIY} just now?  I will be making many more for my back drop photo shoot.

Well I just took these pictures these afternoon. And, oh yes....I also learned new photography trick. I have read somewhere in a blog that the best hour to take picture is one hour after the sun rise and one hour before the sun goes down. It is known as the 'Golden Hour.' I found that taking picture of jeweleries {especially rhinestones} is little cumbersome. You will see what I mean from my last post {here} the color is way too strong because of the afternoon strong sun light.  And after seeing the pictures, how I wish I waited until just before the sun goes down. So after taken so many pictures of these necklaces this afternoon I decided to wait for 2 hours more until the sun goes a little down on the horizon. The result is much of a different. 

I want this post to be a quick and simple post ! But I guess I am giving you more than that.

Thank you for reading !

Scallop Ceviche

One of my favorite Latin American traditional dish is Ceviche ! Many people can turn off by the idea that Ceviche is only cook by lime juice.  There are many variations of  this classic recipe. Some use seafood, fish or combination of both.

This dish is surprisingly fresh and tasty. It reminds me  to a  long time a go trip to Cancun, Mexico and had this dish for the first time. The taste and smell has the ocean breeze ambiance to it. 

I was surprised by how easy to make this dish. This is my first attempt making this super easy classic 'Scallop Ceviche' and I love it ! I love the combination taste of, lime, cilantro, sweet mango mixed with a little spice of Mexican chillies. Especially after being refrigerated for hours; it is just an instant breeze in a hot summer day.

It can be served as appetizer or main course. Here I had it as main course because it's good and healthy for my diet meal plan.

Recipe

SCALLOP CEVICHE

~ 1/2 lb bay scallops (or sea scallops, cut into 1/4"-thick rounds)

~ 3 Tbsp fine shopped red onion

~ 1 Jalapeno chile pepper, seeded and finely chopped

~ Juice of 4 limes

~ Pinch of salt

~ 1/2 cup roughly chopped cilantro

~ 1 small mango, peeled, pitted and chopped

1. Combine scallops, onion, chile pepper and lime juice in medium glass bowl. Cover and refrigerate at least 1 hour.

2. Remove scallops from refrigerator. Drain marinade and discard. Toss with cilantro and mango. Divide among 4 glasses and serve topped with corn relish, if desired.

******

Thank you for reading !

Month of August Guest; creJJtion

I found creJJtion through an e-course Blogging Your Way Decor8 I took back in July. Instantly I love this little blog with it's charming  photographs. This blog is showing about how the author 'Maaike' is passion about knitting.

 I  love how Maaike incorporate her creativity, passion, hobby and story in a beautiful color of picture collages. Her narrative is short and simple and yet captivating those collage images that she took and created herself. 

I can assure you that you should go and check out her blog; creJJtion and you would be captivating and enjoy seeing and reading her posts.

I have been thinking about inviting  'a guest' in my blog and I bravely emailed Maaike a few days a go asking her to be my blog month of August Guest . What a pleasant surprise that she responded so graciously and agreed to be my very  first blog guest. 

"Thank you Maaike ! I do hope you like this little post !"

 

 Source: Last Week 
{I just love the blue hue of this collage; it is simple, sweet and elegance !}

Source: Last Week

Source: Last Week
{This grouping of images just made me smile each time I see it. Those simple little cakes looks so delicious. The flower and knitting yarns just lovely. And the tile is gorgeous. The contrast of the white rustic fence ties this collage together; sweet vs. rustic; soft vs. hard. Just lovely !}

creJJtion is very much inspiring me with it's lovely, sweet and simple photographs. I have not learned on how to knit yet {it is my intention to do so but there are so many things I want to learn and you can only learn so much at a time; oh well......} But I must say because of creJJtion I am thinking seriously about learning how to knit, one day !  Maaike's  knitting are available in her Etsy store; here. {Or feel free to check and browse around in her blog here}

Once again, "thank you so much Maaike!"

I do hope 'you my audience' like this post as well as I enjoy looking and reading Maaike's blog. 

I do hope you had a lovely week-end.
 Happy Monday Everyone !

Heavenly Apple Cake

The simple title of this cake speaks for itself; it's divine and heavenly delicious cake.

You can't go wrong with 'cinnamon' and 'apple'; it's just a perfect combination.

This simple cake as in it's title is easy to make and you will want to make it more and more. It is moist, melt in your mouth tasty cake. Good company with a cup of tea in the cold winter month to come or just as good to have as any days.

Oh, I have to put this image as I was playing around setting for this cake photoshoot. I think it is lovely !

I like to modify a simple cake by adding a cinnamon creme sauce. I made the cinnamon creme sauce myself; and to my surprise it tastes even better with the cake.

As you can see I am having fun doing the photoshoot and eating the cake at the same time.

And the piece of cake is getting smaller and smaller !

Did I see an empty plate ?

Recipe

APPLE CAKE

12 servings

- 2 tablespoons unseasoned bread crumbs

- 1/2 cup granulate sugar

- 1/2 cup packed light brown sugar

- 2 Granny Smith apples

- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

- 4 tablespoons (1/2 stick ) unsalted butter at room temperature, plus more for greasing the pan

- 1 large egg

- 1-1/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour

- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- Pinch of salt

- 2/3 cup half-and-half ( I used low fat)

- 2 teaspoons confectioners' sugar

1. Preheat the oven to 350 deg. Butter a 9-inch springform pan and coat with the bread crumbs. 

2. Toss together the granulated sugar and brown sugar. Set aside.

3. Peel and core the apples, then slice on apple into 16 wedges. Combine the cinnamon and 1/3 cup of the sugar mixture in a medium bowl. Add the apple wedges and toss to coat. Roughly dice the remaining apple.

4. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat together the butter and remaining sugar mixture on the medium speed until light, fluffy, and lemon-colored, about two minutes. Add the egg and mix until combined. Reduce the speed to low and add the flour, baking powder and salt mixture. Slowly add the half-and-half and mix until combined. Fold the diced apple into the batter.

5. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and spread evenly. Arrange 14 of the apple wedges fanned a long the outer edge of the pan and place the two remaining wedges in the center. Bake for 35 to 40 minutes, or until the center is golden brown. {Note; I like my cake a little moist so when inserted tooth pick comes out clean or still with a little pieces of cake I remove the cake from the oven. I found that over baked the cake will come out dry textured cake.}

6. Remove from the oven to a wire rack to cool completely. Run a small offset spatula around the edges to release the cake from the pan and remove the springform. Sprinkle with confectioners' sugar, then cut in to 12 wedges.

 Cinnamon Creme Sauce

- 2/3 cup half-and-hal

- 1/4 cup confectioner's sugar

- 1 teaspoon cinnamon

Mix and stir together in a low heat until thickens. Do not over cook and boil the mixture.

******

 Have a lovely week-end Everyone !

"Hearty Chicken Salad with Rice Vinegraette"

This is one of my own creation and favorite healthy light meal.

This single dish is just perfect for you and 'your love one' when you want an easy light dinner meal. {Which we always like to have during week days.}

The sweet and sour taste of the seasoned rice vinegar mixed with olive oil and low fat mayonaisse is blending with the tart of apple and sweetness of raisins.

The sauteed breaded chicken can make your dinner meal just feels light and not too heavy in the stomach. This is definitely one of your diet delicious meal.

Recipe

Serves 2 

- Spring salad

- 1/2 apple of your choice; preferably Honey Crisp but I am using Fuji Apple

{cut into thumb nail sizes}

- 1 small box of dark raisins

- pistachio nuts

- 5 tbsp seasoned bread crumbs in a plate

- 5 tbsp flour in it's own plate

- 1 egg lightly beaten mix with 4 tbsp of water in it's own plate

- 4 stripes of chicken tenderloin

- 2 tbsp. Weight Watcher low calorie butter

- 1/4 cup olive oil

 Breaded Chicken

1. Season flour with pinch of salt. 2. Season egg with dash of salt. 3. Dredge and shake stripe of chicken in the flour. 4. Then dip the chicken in the beaten egg. 5. Roll the chicken in the bread crumbs. 6. Heat olive oil and butter in shallow pan then put several breaded chicken and sautee both sides until golden brown. 7. After 15 minutes cut the chicken on an angle about 3/4" thickness. Put a side.

Rice Vinegraette Dressing

- 6 tbsp Seasoned Rice Vinegar available in Asian grocery store

- 3 tbsp. olive oil

- 2 tsp mayonaisse

- salt

Mix well all together.

{Note: Measurements of above are depends to your like. When the first time making this try to use a small amount first and then adjust to your like. I do not have the exact measurement on this salad dressing recipe. The taste is depend on your taste personally.} 
You can also use any of your favorite dressing. My husband Steven loves the Raspberry Vinegraette Dressing.

Raspberry Vinegraette Dressing
- 4 tbsp Italian Balsamic Vinegar
- 6 tbsp olive oil
- 2 tsp raspberry jam
- salt
Mix well all together. 
Again, adjust the measurement accordingly.

Mix Spring salad, apples, raisins, pistachio nuts and rice vinegraette dressing. Then arrange the chicken on top of salad.

******

Good Luck Everyone, and thank you for reading !