Hatch Chili Stew

If you enjoyed the Hatch Green Chili Chicken Tacos recipe and had leftovers - here is a great idea to make a different meal with what was left.
What you need:
Leftover Hatch Green Chili Chicken and the Broth
1 Can of Pinto Beans
2 Cups of Brown Rice cooked
Grated Cheese
Corn Chips
Sour Cream & Salsa


Tonight I made some brown rice, and opened a can of pinto beans and just heated it all up together with the Hatch Green Chili Chicken leftovers. I served in a bowl with chips, grated cheese, and sour cream for me - salsa for my sweet man!  Dinner was ready in less than 15 minutes!

Whole Wheat Pizza

This is another recipe handed down through a line of wheat crust lovers!  While we lived in Ames, Iowa we were introduced to whole wheat pizza crust for the very first time.  On Main street there is this place called Great Plains Sauce and Dough Company  On the table were little bears of honey for your leftover crust!  It wasn't until I met Sarah that I tried to make a whole wheat pizza dough of my own.  It isn't as difficult as I thought it would be, and again, the kids love it. Give it a whirl and tell me what you think!

 Whole Wheat Pizza Dough

2 1/4 cups Whole Wheat Flour
2 Tablespoons Olive Oil
1 teaspoon Salt
1 Pkg of Yeast
1/4 teaspoon of sugar or honey

Dissolve Yeast in 1 cup of warm water with sugar and let sit for 7 minutes.
Mix flour, oil, yeast, and salt with a dough hook for 5 minutes. (I also have just used a fork for this)
Place in oiled bowl. ( I just spray mine with an oil Spray) Cover with plastic wrap or tea-towel for 1 hour.
Roll out and add all your favorite toppings!
Cook for 17-18 minutes on 475.

My favorite toppings:
BBQ Sauce +
Smoked Chicken (from Joshua's Smoker)  +
Grilled Red Onions +
Colby Jack and Mozzerella Cheese +
Cilantro =
Deliciousness!                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    

Aunt Modine's Cornbread Dressing

This is the best stuffing/dressing I have ever eaten and Im not just saying that because it's my Great Aunt Modine's Recipe.  Every year I would look for her specific pot to know I was getting hers! Aunt Modine was a very shy woman and when Dad would go on and on about it she would pat him on the shoulder and move to another spot in the room! One year we finally got her to tell us how she did it!  It is simple and delicious!

Aunt Modine's Cornbread Dressing :

Bake one regular batch of Cornbread, and Crumble.  (by that, we do not mean Jiffy - as much as I love Jiffy with my chili - make the Aunt Jemimah recipe on the back of the pkg of cornmeal!)
Dry out 1/2 loaf of bread, and crumble. (I run all my bread through the food processor)
Saute 1/2 bunch of celery and an onion chopped, in a skillet with 5-6 slices of bacon.
Add all of this, including bacon drippings in large casserole or roasting pan, along with 2-3 teaspoons of sage, salt and pepper to taste.

Optional add in's are, Pecans, Water Chestnuts, Dried Cranberries, or Raisins.

Add Chicken broth til the consistency is like the consistency of cornbread batter. You can use canned broth or broth from boiling your own chicken (this will give you the best flavor).  Also you can add 3 chicken bullion cubes dissolved to add flavor as well.  Bake this until done in a moderate oven (350 - 375) for 1 hour or longer if needed.
When it is done, I sprinkle crunched up bacon all over the top!

Hatch Green Chili Chicken Tacos

Ok Yall, I made this recipe up the other day.
It is THE EASIEST thing I have ever made that taste this Amazing!  My 6 year old son goes crazy for this - which I find quite shocking!  But if you blink you will miss it so Are you ready for this?

1.Get out your Crock Pot (that you got for a gift when you were married umpteen years ago - mine is 12 years old and looks so dated, but Hey it's a crock pot - they weren't pretty yet when I got married)!

2. Place Frozen Chicken breast, or Tenders in the bottom. - 4-5 Breast or about 10 tenderloins. (This last round for me was 5 tenders and 3 breast - whatever ratio you can fit in there!)

 3.Pour over the top Hatch Green Chili Enchilada Sauce *I do a couple cans at least!

4. Also open a Large can of chopped green chili's and pour over the top.

5. Sprinkle Garlic Powder and Cumin Powder on the top.

6. Stir it up. Put the lid on the Crock Pot, and Cook it on low for hours and hours!
I put it on LATE at night right before I crawl into bed, or in the Early morning (but if I do it in the morning -  I do it on High and just turn it down to low later on in the afternoon.  This allows the chicken to literally fall apart and the enchilada sauce to cook down, and the flavors to intensify.

I serve this as I would taco meat, with cheese and sour cream as toppings, - but this is really a jumping off point.  This could be the base of an Amazing soup, Enchilada's, etc.... The possibilities are endless.
Dont over complicate it - This meat will do the talking for itself!

Whole Wheat Waffles

My beautiful friend, Sarah shared this recipe with me over a year ago.  They are delicious and much more healthy than the ones Grandma used to make, but hey - no one is judging Grandma here - or knocking her waffles, just to make that perfectly clear.  These, I just feel less guilty eating!

Start with whole wheat that has been freshly ground *this is a huge note - if you don't have freshly ground wheat - they don't seem to turn out the same - mix half regular flour and half whole wheat flour from the store if they don't seem to turn out quite right from the store bought bag of whole wheat flour.


1 3/4 Cups of Whole Wheat Flour
1 Tablespoon of Baking Powder
1/2 Teaspoon of Salt
1/4 Cup of Honey
2 Tablespoons of Oil
2 Eggs (I prefer fresh eggs from Sarah's chickens)
2 Cups of Milk (soy can be used if that is what you prefer)
1 Tablespoon of Vanilla
Throw in some flax seeds or a little flaxseed oil - the kids will never know.

Place in a bowl all of your dry ingredients, then stir in the liquids.  All Waffle Irons cook differently, but mine takes 2.5 minutes for a half cup of batter.

Okay - now last but certainly not least is how to dress these babies up for the table.  I like mine with fresh blueberries and strawberries and a little syrup.  My son prefers them with lots of syrup.  They are delicious many ways, but for quick serving take a jar of pure maple syrup and a stick of REAL butter, and melt them together on the stove and whisk up and ladle over the top.  Honey, it is worth putting in your mouth.  I would never lead you wrong on this - its food were talking about here! Yummy!

Grandma Branham's Beef Stew

Beef Stew

Note: This is exactly how she wrote it down - you know how Grandma's are - No exact measurements! You have to taste it and see what you think!

Taking Stew meat - chop it into tiny chunks and fry with 1 Onion and 1 Green Bell Pepper in a small amount of Olive oil.

After its browned add:

1 qt. canned tomatoes
1 can tomato sauce
6 or 7 potatoes peeled and cubed
3 or 4 stalks of celery, plus the leaves, chopped
1 can of green beans drained
Gobs of carrots
1 cup frozen corn
2 teas crushed basil (she loved basil)
salt and pepper
Bring to a Boil and then Simmer for 2 hours.

She always served it with cornbread! YUMMY!

Dara's Notes

After making this today - I wanted to add a few pictures of the yummy stew and note a few changes.  I didn't put in the bel pepper.  I only added 2 Large red potatoes as apposed to the 6-7 Grandma suggested.  Her pot was obviously bigger than mine!  As well, I had to add some beef broth to this.  Her tomatoes were always fresh home grown canned tomatoes and I used Organic stewed tomatoes from the store.  Their consistency was thicker than what hers was - so therefore I needed more broth!

Austrian Jam Cookies

Some would call these thumbprint cookies. We grew up calling them Austrian Jam's.  They are a must have at our house around the Holidays.  However - these are worth putting in your mouth any time of the year especially with a spot of hot tea!


1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup sugar
1 teas. vanilla
1 egg separated
1 1/4 cups sifted flour
2/3 cup chopped almonds or pecans
Raspberry Jam

1) Beat butter, sugar, vanilla and egg yolk in a medium sized bowl until fluffy. Stir in Flour, gather dough into a ball; Chill several hours
2) Roll level teaspoonful of dough into balls. Dip into slightly beaten egg white; roll in almonds.  Place on un-greased cookie sheets 1 inch apart.  Press an indention with finger in each; fill with 1/4 teas. jam.
3) Bake in slow oven (300 degrees) for 20 minutes, or until lightly golden.  Cool on wire racks.

Dara's Notes: I usually double this batch. Also this freezes well.