This recipe is wonderful.  It’s so good for you and it’s simple to make and even better the next day.  It’s a new staple in my kitchen.  It’s that good!

Makes 12 (1/2-cup) servings

4-6 cups peeled sweet potatoes, cut into small dice

Salt and pepper to taste

1.5 tablespoons olive oil

1/2 cup chopped red bell pepper

1/2 cup chopped red onion

2/3 cup frozen corn, thawed

1 15 oz. can  black beans, drained well and rinsed

3 tablespoons lime juice

2 teaspoons minced garlic

2 tablespoon jarred jalapeno slices

1. Preheat oven 425°F. Coat foil lined baking sheet with nonstick cooking spray.

2. On prepared pan, toss together sweet potatoes, salt and pepper and spray with cooking spray. Roast about 20-25 minutes or until potatoes are crisp and cool.

3.In a large bowl, combine sweet potatoes, red bell pepper, red onion, corn, and black beans

4. In blender, puree lime juice, garlic, jalapeno and remaining 2 tablespoons olive oil.  I used an immersion blender for this step, so much easier

Toss all together, let marinate a few hours and serve

*Nutritional information per serving: Calories 113 Calories from fat 28% Fat 4g Saturated Fat 0g Cholesterol 0mg Sodium 99mg Carbohydrate 19g Dietary Fiber 3g Sugars 4g Protein 2g Dietary Exchanges: 1 1/2 starch, 1/2 fat

*Nutritional Information is approximate, always double check to be certain of calorie count

It wasn't until after I was grown that I realized not everyone ate pickles with their chili.  It was a staple at our house, and looking back, it was probably mother using what she had.  We always had sweet pickles and dill pickles with chili, no peanut butter sandwiches, no cornbread, just pickles and crackers and always in the fall apple pie.

I loved it then, and I love it now.  I make really good chili, you want to know how I do it?  Okay, here goes...

First of all, I’m a slow cooker kinda girl, it’s easy, you set it and forget it.  But if you don’t use a slow cooker, I’m a fan of putting it in a big pot, adding the lid and baking it in the oven.  You don’t have to watch it or stir it to make sure it doesn’t stick like you do if you cook it on top of the stove, I’m all about easy in my old(er) age.

2 lbs. ground chuck browned with a large chopped onion, two onions if yours aren’t really big, seasoned with salt and pepper
1 can of Brooks Chili Mix with Beans

Thought you might like a picture, so you can see what it looks like.  If you can’t find this, just substitute a couple of cans of chili beans with sauce 

Now back to the recipe...

1 large can of crushed tomatoes
1 can of tomato sauce
1 small can of tomato paste
2 or 3 cans of light red kidney beans, drained
sometimes I use 2 cans of light red kidney beans and 1 can of chili beans with sauce, I don’t drain the chili beans with sauce
1 can of Rotel tomatoes
1-2 teaspoons of sugar to cut the acidity
1 dry packet of chili seasoning mix - I like Brooks best, it’s hard to find, but any dry mix will do 

Brown the ground beef and onions, stir into chili mixture and cook on high in your slow for 4 hours or low for 8 hours.  If you bake it in the oven, cook it at 350-375 degrees for an hour.

If you like more heat, add a dash or two of cayenne pepper to the ground beef as you are browning it.  Then taste it after it cooks to see if you need additional chili powder.

The Hoosier way of eating chili is to stir in macaroni.  I don’t do this at first but a day or so later, I cook jumbo elbow macaroni, put it in the bowls and ladle chili over it like I did in the picture above.  I never chili mac as a kid, it’s strictly an Indiana thing, but it is good.

Mother didn’t make her chili like this, she just used hamburger, onions, a quart of her home canned tomatoes and added cans of chili beans.  Hers wasn’t highly seasoned, but the pickles took it over the top.

Oh, the pickles - the best pickles EVER, EVER, EVER are these - 

Oh my, I can’t say enough about Famous Dave’s Signature Spicy Pickle Chips.  They are absolutely wonderful, just the right combo of sweet and hot, they are YUMMY!  We buy these at Costo in big jars, I add them to so many things. tuna salad, macaroni salad and sandwiches and they are gone before our next trip back.  Amazing pickles, if you’ve never tried them, look for them in your market, they are delicious!  If you can’t find them, of course Amazon has them, Amazon has everything... 

This recipe from Stella Parks sounds too good to be true.  It’s pie crust like we’ve never made it before, but this lady knows what she’s doing and this looks like it just might be a winner.

I haven’t tried this yet, but it intrigues me.

Read about it here, it just might intrigue you, too.  ~ Jan

Oh my, there are no words, this was indescribably delightful.  We had it for Easter this year, I tweaked Betty Crocker’s original recipe and it was a huge hit.  It tastes just like a lemon drop.  It’s so moist, but not a heavy cake, it’s very lemony and tart, just the perfect spring dessert.

Here’s my version, I added pudding to the cake mix, extra lemon juice to the poke part of the recipe and used two cans of lemon frosting, with zest on the top.  The two cans of frosting worked so well, it wasn’t too much, but you had enough to spread without having to spread it thinly.

This one is a winner, winner, chicken dinner for sure!  You can all thank me later for the recipe.  ~ Jan

Oh, you sweet talker, Betty Crocker  XXo

1 box Betty Crocker™ SuperMoist™ lemon cake mix
1 box instant Jello Lemon Pudding
 4 eggs
1 cup water
1/3 cup oil

1 cup powdered sugar, I sift this so it’s smooth
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice (1 large lemon)

2 containers Betty Crocker™ Rich & Creamy lemon frosting

Lemon drop candies, crushed, if desired - I didn’t use the lemon drop candies, I zested Lemon Rind on top of cake instead

Directions

Heat oven to 350°F. Line two 9" pans with foil, letting foil hang 2 inches over 2 opposite sides of pans. Grease or spray bottoms and sides of foil.

Make cake batter as directed above, using Pudding, eggs, water and oil.  Pour into pans. Bake 25 to 32 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center of cake comes out clean. Cool 15 minutes.

In small bowl, mix powdered sugar and lemon juice. Poke top of warm cake every 1/2 inch with long-tined fork or you can use the handle of a small wooden spoon, wiping fork or spoon handle occasionally to reduce sticking. Drizzle and spread lemon mixture over top of cake. Refrigerate about 2 hours or until chilled. Remove cakes from pans by lifting with foil; peel away foil.

On serving plate, place 1 cake, rounded side down; trim if necessary so layer rests flat. Spread with half of frosting. Top with second cake, rounded side up. Frost top of cake with remaining frosting. Garnish with lemon drop candies. Store covered.

Ingredients:

1 pkg White Cake Mix, plus ingredients to prepare

1 pkg Lemon Cake Mix

½ cup Sour Cream

1 tsp Vanilla Extract

1 Lemon, juiced

1 cup Whipping Cream

1 pkg Mascarpone Cheese

1 cup Powdered Sugar, sifted

4 Tbsp Melted Real Butter

Directions:

Prepare the white cake according to the directions on the box, adding the sour cream and vanilla. Bake in a 10 inch round baking pan and cool the cake completely.

For the lemon cream filling, whip cream until stiff peaks form, then fold in the mascarpone, sifted powdered sugar, lemon juice, and lemon zest of half the lemon.  For the crumb topping, combine 3/4 cup of the lemon cake mix with the melted butter to make a crumb topping. To assemble the cake, cut the white cake in half to spread the lemon cream filling between the two layers of white cake. Frost the top of the cake with a thin layer of cream filling and sprinkle the crumb topping.

Helpful Tips:

 The secret is the mascarpone cheese.

A little lemon zest always makes things better :)

NUTRITION:

544 calories, 34 grams fat, 55 grams carbohydrates, 5 grams protein per serving.

This recipe has been all over FaceBook.  The prep reminds me of Hammie Sammie’s, which were such a big hit last year.

1 pound lean ground beef
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon pepper
1 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon mustard powder
½ teaspoon smoked paprika
2 cups diced onion
3 – 4 cloves garlic, minced
1 (10-oz) can Ro-Tel Diced Tomatoes and Green Chiles, drained
12 slices cheddar cheese, and 12 Hawaiian dinner rolls

Glaze:

1/2 cup butter
2 Tablespoons Brown Sugar
1 Tablespoon Worcestershire Sauce
1 Tablespoon Mustard
1 Tablespoon Sesame Seeds 

Preheat oven to 350 and spray a 9x13 baking dish with Pam.

Brown beef, salt, pepper, cumin, mustard powder and paprika.  Add garlic at last so it doesn’t burn.  Then stir in drained Rotel Tomatoes

Place half of buns in the prepared pans, add the beef, then the cheese slices and top with other half of bun.

For glaze, mix all ingredients in a saucepan over medium heat until melted.  Pour over buns and bake for 25 minutes uncovered.