Fresh Natural Chili Recipe

Created this chili recipe using only real foods it makes a good size pot, great to take for lunch and a couple of dinners thru the week.

Fresh Natural Chili

4 C Pinto Beans Raw

1 lbs Hamburger

1 Bell Green Bell Pepper (Diced)

3 Cloves Fresh Garlic (Minced)

4 Roma Tomatoes Fresh (Pureed)

4 Roma Tomatoes Fresh (Diced)

4 Serrano Chilies Fresh (Diced)

2 Tbs Salt Plus some for boiling beans

3 Tbs Chili Powder

1 Tbs Cumon

2 tsp Pepper

5 C Chicken Stock

    In Large pot add beans, fill pot with water and add some salt. Cover and cook on med/high heat for 2 hours. Strain beans and set aside, in large pot brown hamburger. Stir all the remaining ingredients into the pot with the cooked hamburger, bring to a boil and cook for ½ hour. Last add the 5 cups chicken stock, stir and let cook on med heat for 1 hour.

This recipe takes a good amount of time to prepare, thats why its great to make the full batch. Have it ready for meals for a couple days thru the week. I also used all fresh ingredients for my diet to avoid any processed sugars and other added chemicals. If you have a great brand of canned beans or any other ingredient you would like to use just substitute them to speed up the process.

Spicy Chicken Strip Recipe

Day 43
14 Recipes
2 Projects in Progress
1 Restaurant Review
1 Ingredient Article

I told myself I would not eat fast food for a year and I am sticking to that. On occasion I have a little deli food, I want to cut that out to. This does not mean I am eating very healthy it just means I have to fix everything myself, cutting out most preservatives, extra sugars, and chemicals. Since the beginning of the year just cutting fast food out I have lost 45 pounds. But I do have the cravings sometimes for KFC. The following recipe is of a slightly spicy chicken strips recipe I came up with as I was trying to copy their recipe.

Spicy Chicken Strips

3 Boneless Skinless Chicken Breast (Cut into 1/3 inch thick strips diagonally across the grain)
1 Cup Flour
1 Cup Bread Crumbs
1 ¾ Cup Buttermilk
1 Tbs Cayenne Pepper
2 Tsp Black Pepper
2 Tsp Salt
1 Tbs Baking powder
2 Tsp Oragano
Enough oil to deep fry in

In large bowl add all ingredients except chicken, mix until you have a thin paste. Pat the chicken dry with a paper towel, add to the mix. Stir the chicken in until it is completely coated. Bring the oil up to 325 degrees, with tongs add coated chicken strips one at a time making sure not to overcrowd the fryer. Fry for 5-6 min until nice and golden brown, remove and place on a paper towel.

Spanish Rice Recipe

Day 14
9 Recipes Completed
2 Projects in progress

Did not get to a post yesterday for anyone that is following. Went to San Francisco for the day, I did review a nice little bakery in Sausalito, so check that out in tomorrows post. Today I am sharing my recipe for Spanish rice, it is really simple and works great as a side for almost any Mexican dish.

Spanish Rice

2 Cups Rice
½ Cup oil
2 Cups Chicken Stock
½ Cup water
3 Tbs Chopped Onion
1 Tbs Minced Garlic
1 Jalapeno (Minced)
3 oz Tomato Paste


Heat oil up in pan on med high heat, add rice to hot oil and stir until rice turns bright white. Strain out oil add rice back to pan with chicken stock, water, onion, garlic, tomato paste and jalapeno. Stir once and cover, reduce heat to med low for about 30-40 min until all liquid is gone. Fluff with fork and serve.

Be sure to follow me on Twitter, and Facebook

Chicken Tacos

Day 12
8 Recipes Completed
2 Projects in progress

Not much to explain here, we all know of tacos. I created this dish as a way to use up some extra salsa I had. It turned out so moist and flavorful that every time I make my salsa I put some aside for this tacos. The recipe is not very complex and is more about what you have sitting around so don’t worry if you need to modify it a little.

Tacos
Meat
1 Pound boiled Chicken meat (I use the thighs but any meat is fine just make sure bones are removed)
1 ½ Cups Salsa Quemada (This salsa is my choice as it has a perfect blend of spice and freshness)
1 Tbs Fresh crushed oregano
1 tsp Chile flakes
1 tsp cumin
1 Tbs olive oil

Condiments
Greens (I used spinach)
Cheese
Avocado Cut into thin strips

And tortillas (I highly recommend the la tortilla factory hand made style white corn tortillas)

In skillet heat up oil on med high heat. Toss in chicken, chili flakes, cumin, oregano and ¾ cup Salsa. Fry for about 5 min, stirring until most of the moisture from the salsa is gone. Add the remaining ¾ cup of salsa, mix for a min or two to make sure it is hot then place on warm tortillas add your choice of toppings. Makes about 8 tacos.


Hope you enjoy,

Be sure to follow me on Twitter, and Facebook

Mexican style Boiled Meatloaf Recipe

Day 8
5 Recipe Completed
2 Projects in progress

    After pushing threw second place the last 4 throwdowns I have emerged the champion once again. My Mexican style boiled meatloaf came out on top but it was not easy I had some major competition, from friends Sabrina and Chris. I will go over the whole throwdown in tomorrows post, for now I would like to share my meatloaf recipe with you.

Mexican style Boiled Meatloaf
Meatloaf
½ Pound Ground Beef
½ Pound Ground Pork
1 Egg
2 tsp Chopped Fresh Mint
2 tsp Crushed Oregano
2 tsp Salt
1 tsp Cumin
½ Cup bread crumbs
¼ cut onions chopped fine
2 tsp garlic minced
½ cut raw uncooked rice
ketchup

Vegetables and serving stock
4 Cups chicken broth
2 Roma tomatoes chopped
2 Serrano chilies chopped
2 tsp garlic minced
1 large carrot cut into med size pieces
1 tsp oregano
1 tsp salt (2 if the chicken broth has no salt)
¼ pound of fresh green beans (remove tips and slice into 1 inch pieces)


Start with the Vegetables and stock add all the ingredients together and turn on a med high heat and cover.

In Bowl add all ingredient for the meatloaf except the ketchup and mix together. Place in large muffin pans and bake at 350 for about 45 min. Once you take them out remove from muffin pans and add each one into the vegetables and stock turn to med heat and boil for ½ hour. Remove meat loafs from liquid and place on oven sheet, cover with the ketchup and place back in the oven for 20 min. Slice and serve with a spoon full of vegetables and juice


I got my inspiration from the Mexican soup albondigas with a little traditional meatloaf twist.

Salsa Quemada Recipe

Day 6
4 Recipe Completed
2 Projects in progress

I know salsa is one of those things that every buddy thinks they make the best, a little secret those peoples pallets are as good as a cows backside. Maybe that is a little to far, I do love trash talking when it comes to competition. And this recipe I am sharing was in two cookwithnick throwdowns, came in second both times. Ya ya I know second is not as good as first, I just don’t have an excuse other than the judges sucks. Now that I pissed off some of my friends that judged and are reading this I will get back on track. This salsa was one I learned in Tempe, AZ. I can not remember the exact way it was made but the general idea and ingredients. I been making it for years now modifying it a little each time tell I have a recipe that is just as amazing as the original.

Salsa Quemada
3 Pounds Roma Tomatoes
6 Serrano Chilies
1 Large green onion (I use the Mexican or barbecuing onions the ones with the large bulb at the end) 
1 Tbs chopped garlic 
2 tsp salt 
1 Bunch of cilantro 
1 tsp pepper 
juice of 2 limes


Put the green onion and cilantro aside. Cut the tomatoes in half and dice the garlic. In a large skillet on med high, heat a brush with olive oil and sear the tomato halves until they are nice and dark on the bottoms, then flip them over and do the outside. If you have a blow torch, that will work great for searing the outside of the tomatoes. Remove them and set them aside. Add a little more oil and place the chilies in and sear them until all of the sides are brown and the chilies are soft to touch; right before you pull the chilies out, throw the green onion in and fry it just until it's soft and begins to sweat. In a food processor, add the tomatoes, green onions, cilantro chilies, and garlic and blend until everything is about uniform in size. Once it's all blended, add the white pepper, salt, water, and lime juice, adjust the salt to taste. Place in the fridge over night to let the flavors mix well, giving you an overall better taste.

The throwdowns were fun and a lot of amazing and unusual salsas where entered so check them out HERE. If you have a great salsa recipe or ideas post it in the comments bellow.

Montreal Steak Rub Recipe

Day 5
3 Recipe Completed
2 Projects in progress

    Day 5 hell yes this is the longest I have ever stuck to a project. Thanks to my roommate helping sponsor my blog, and what I mean by sponsor is, buying food for me too cook. He bought a nice Tri-tip the other day and wanted me to cook it for him. The first thing that came to mind was my recipe for my own Montreal seasoning, this recipe saved Christmas last year. We where having prime rib for the Christmas dinner and I love adding the Montreal Rub to just about any beef roast, it has the perfect combination of saltiness and spice. The only problem was I forgot to buy it and all the stores had already closed. I was not sure what to do, someone mentioned you can try and make it yourself. I do have a impressive spice cupboard so I looked it up, I had to make a few slight changes to make it work with what I had but the end result was one amazing Rub.

Montreal Steak Rub
2 tsp Garlic Powder
4 tsp Coarse ground Coriander Seeds
4 tsp dill weed
2 Tbs Salt
4 tsp paprika
4 tsp Crushed red peppers
4 tsp Fresh ground black pepper

Mix all ingredients in a bowl. Spread evenly over roast or steak and rub into meat.

I have not bought the pre-made product since, an I don’t have any plans on buying it again. This recipe can be altered to your likening easily depending on your taste.