Four Recipes to Use with Homemade Chili

In my last post, I gave you a recipe for homemade chili. Some of the recipes I use with my homemade chili are below. Since much of the cooking has already been done, most of the recipes below can be ready in 30 minutes or less.

Enchilada Bake

Enchiladas are delicious, but require more time than I have available. A while back, I cut some corners and came up with Enchilada Bake. It tastes the same, but requires much less time to make than traditional enchiladas.

Ingredients:

homemade chili
shredded cheddar cheese
large package of corn tortillas (or make your own)

The amount of the above ingredients you need depends on the size container you are making the enchiladas in. I usually have a crowd and use a 10"X14" baking dish, but when it is just the two of us, I use a small 1 quart casserole dish.

First, pour a cup or two (depending on the size of the pan) of the chili in the bottom of the pan. Then layer the ingredients in this order: whole tortillas, chili, then cheese. Continue layering until the pan is full or has as much in it as you need for a meal, making sure you finish with a layer of cheese. Bake at 375 degrees F. for 20 minutes, or until cheese is melted.

Chili Mac

1 pound of macaroni, cooked and drained
3 cups of homemade chili (more if desired)
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

Mix the cooked macaroni and homemade chili in a large bowl. Pour into a casserole or baking dish. Top with shredded cheese and bake at 375 degrees F. for 20 minutes or until cheese is melted.

Mexican Pizza

Crust for one pizza
1 cup of homemade chili
 3 cups of shredded cheddar or Monterey Jack cheese
 chopped onion
 chopped peppers (bell peppers, jalapenos, etc.) to taste

Prepare the crust as directed. Spread the chili evenly over the crust. Sprinkle the cheese over the top evenly until all cheese is used. Top with your choice of onion or peppers. Bake for 20 minutes in a 425 degree oven or until the cheese is melted and the crust is done.

Frito Pie

1 large bag of original Fritos
2 to 3 cups of homemade chili, depending on taste
1 1/2 cups of shredded cheddar cheese

Mix the Fritos and the chili in a large bowl, then pour into a baking dish. Top with cheese and bake for 20 minutes or until cheese is melted.

For single servings, use individual lunch size bags of Fritos. Slit the package open along the long side (top to bottom), pour in 1/2 cup home made chili, and top with cheese. Serve with a spoon. Using individual bags like this makes clean up a breeze, and is especially good when you are on a camping trip or having a backyard party for teens.

Homemade Chili for a Crowd

My favorite way to make homemade chili starts with 5 pounds of lean ground beef. Some people like to brown their ground beef in oil, but I much prefer the softer texture that results from boiling it in a bit of water. Be sure you start with a large stock pot  and stir often!

Homemade Chili for a Crowd

• 5 pounds lean ground meat
• 6 cups of water
• 2 #3 (large) cans of diced tomatoes
• 4-8oz. cans of tomato sauce
• 2 large onions, diced
• 1/2 cup diced garlic (less if you don't like garlic that much)
• 2-4oz. cans of chopped or diced green chilies
• 1/2 cup chili powder
• 2-16oz. cans of dark kidney beans or black beans, drained and rinsed, if desired
• 1 tbsp. sea salt or to taste
• 1 tbsp. black pepper or to taste
• Additional water as needed

In an 8 quart or larger stock pot, break the ground beef up into small pieces in the water. Bring to a boil and cook until the meat is completely brown. Add the rest of the ingredients. Allow to boil for another 30 minutes, then reduce heat to a simmer, cover and cook for at least two hours. Check often to make sure there is enough liquid in the chili to keep it from burning, and add hot water when needed. Stir when you check it. Serve with grated cheddar cheese and crackers.
There's nothing quite like homemade chili. You can do so much with it, from eating it in a bowl, to making enchiladas, to chili mac, to Mexican pizza, to Frito pie, and more! Homemade chili can be the base for many recipes. Let your imagination be your guide!

Note: I just made this chili recipe using ground chuck, which is about 20% fat. I had to scoop off about two cups of fat from the top after it finished cooking. I used a coffee cup to do that, but if you set it into the refrigerator overnight, the fat will congeal on the top and you can just lift it off to discard. I much prefer using 97% fat free ground meat. It still tastes great with a lower priced ground meat, though.

 

My next post will have recipes I use with homemade chili.

Photo credit: EmilyClaire1824

Hot Cocoa for a Crowd

Most of the time, we are doing bulk-cooking to prepare for many meals at once. Occasionally, we do bulk-cooking to feed a large group. I recently came across this recipe to make Hot Cocoa for a crowd and decided to share it here.

Hot Cocoa

# of Servings	25	50	75	100
Cocoa	1 1/4 cups	2 1/2 cups	3 3/4 cups	5 cups
Sugar	1 3/4 cups	3 1/4 cups	5 cups	6 1/2 cups
Salt	1 1/2 tsp.	1 tbsp.	1 1/2 tbsp.	2 tbsp.
Cold Water	1 pint	1 quart	1 1/2 quarts	2 quarts
Hot Milk	1 1/2 gallons	2 1/2 gallons	3 3/4 gallons	5 gallons
Vanilla	1/2 tsp.	1 tsp.	1 1/2 tsp.	2 tsp.

Instructions:
Mix the cocoa, sugar, and salt well. Add water to the mixture and mix using a whisk to break up clumps and lumps. Heat the mixture to boiling. Boil 5 minutes, then add hot milk and beat until frothy. Add vanilla. Serve in heat proof cups.

Bulk Cooking Hamburger: Ready to Go Meal Prep

Recently, our local grocery store had a huge sale on ground chuck and ground round. I purchased about 15 pounds, then had to decide what to do with it. One reason I bought it was that I wanted to make some homemade chili, but it was too much ground meat, even for chili. My solution? I cooked it all, then put it up in the freezer in 2 cup portions. The 2 cup portions were just about what I would put in a hamburger casserole or stovetop hamburger pasta meal. Because this advance bulk cooking was done, in the future, when I want to make my hamburger stroganoff or a mac and cheese hamburger dish, it will only take long enough for the pasta to cook, since the ground meat is already done.

It is important to note that if you are cooking ground meat to use later, you shouldn't put salt in it. Salt in meat will keep it from freezing completely, which could cause the meat to spoil in the freezer if not used immediately.

For the past several years, I have used a FoodSaver to prepare my foods for freezing. Since I have vacume sealed all my foods before freezing, I have not lost any food to freezer burns, even when leaving them in the freezer longer than recommended. When I am bulk cooking foods for later use, the FoodSaver is my favorite tool for preparing my food for freezing.

Bulk cooking is not only helpful when it comes time to prepare meals, it allows you to take advantage of sale prices, too!

Spruced Up Spaghetti Sauce

A Guest Blog by Susan Elliott

The typical cook for a day eat for a month menu involves a lot of preparation and little to nothing more than defrosting and heating at meal time. This is not that type of recipe. However, preparing key ingredients in bulk, like a fabulous pasta sauce, will allow you to have a fantastic meal without a lot of work at meal time.

Spruced Up Spaghetti Sauce

Let’s be honest, store bought spaghetti sauce is store bought spaghetti sauce. It doesn’t matter the brand or the ingredients. Store bought spaghetti sauce is often just repackaged sauce that sells anywhere from .99 cents to over four dollars.
I have a secret that I have been doing for years, and something that I saw with my own eyes done by a chef friend of mine. Buy the cheapest spaghetti sauce and add ingredients to make it your own.

Cooking spaghetti sauce from scratch is extremely time consuming, but using store bought sauce for a base cuts down on hours of cooking time. The following recipe makes enough sauce for at least four meals for a family of five and can be frozen for later use.


Ingredients
Diced onion
Diced bell pepper
Extra virgin olive oil
2 Tablespoons minced garlic
2 lbs Italian breakfast sausage
3 lbs ground chuck
Salt
Pepper
6 cans premade spaghetti sauce
2 cans diced tomatoes
¼ cup aged balsamic vinegar
3 Tablespoons Italian seasoning

Dice the onion and bell pepper into small bite size pieces. Place the vegetables into a heated skillet with about three tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil and two tablespoons of minced garlic. Cook the onions and bell pepper until they are soft.

Add ground sausage and ground chuck. Brown evenly. If desired, add salt and pepper.
Drain the meat, but retain the vegetables and minced garlic. Place the meat, onions and bell pepper into a large stock pot. Add six cans of spaghetti sauce, 2 cans of diced tomatoes and mix thoroughly. Add the balsamic vinegar and Italian seasoning.

Cook on low to medium heat for about one hour.

Allow the spaghetti sauce to cool completely.

Write the words spaghetti sauce and the date on four one-quart size freezer bags. Divide the sauce between the freezer bags. Place the bags into the freezer. Make sure that the bags are laid flat. They should keep for up to six months in the freezer.

Remove a bag of spaghetti sauce from the freezer on the morning of the day you plan to serve spaghetti. That evening boil the water for your spaghetti, and place the defrosted spaghetti sauce into a stock pot. Heat the sauce thoroughly and add to your cooked noodles.

In our household, we place the cooked noodles into a dish and ladle the spaghetti sauce onto the top of the noodles. If desired add parmesan or mozzarella cheese to the top of your spaghetti.

Fish Chowder for a Crowd

This recipe feeds up to 12 people.

3 lb. fresh or frozen cod or orange roughy filets
2 lb. red potatoes, washed well and chopped
3 cups chopped onions
3/4 cup chopped celery
1/3 cup butter, cut into pieces
3 bay leaves
2 tsp. sea salt
3/4 tsp. drid dill weed
3/4 tsp. black pepper
3 3/4 cups water
3 cups whipping cream
1/3 cup snipped fresh parsley

Thaw fish, rinse well and pat dry. Cut fish into 2" pieces, cover and chill until needed. Using a 6 quart crock pot, combine potatoes, onions, celery, butter, and seasonings. Stir in the water and mix. Cover the crockpot and cooke on high for 3 1/3 hours.

Place fish on top of the vegetable mixture. Cover and continue to cook on high for 35 to 45 minutes, or until fish flakes when stroked with fork. Remove the bay leaves. Using a fork, stir the fish into the vegetable mixture, breaking it into bite-sized pieces. Stir in whipping cream and parsley. Heat for 10 to 15 more minutes. Serve with crackers.

Fish chowder is a favorite on a cold winter day. For a little variety, you might add a cup of small cooked salad shrimp, a small can of crab meat, or a cup of cooked scallops. Instead of crackers, hushpuppies go well with this soup.

Sloppy Joe Sandwiches for a Crowd: A Great Ground Beef Recipe

A simple, quick, and fairly inexpensive way to feed a large crowd is to give them sloppy joe sandwiches. If you don't want to go to the trouble of measuring out all the ingredients below, you can use 14 oz. to 16 oz. bottles of your favorite store bought barbeque sauce. If freezing this for later use, freeze in 2 cup freezer containers. Two cups of sloppy joe meat will make between 6 and 8 sandwiches, depending on how much you put in each. To use straight from the freezer, place 2 to 4 tablespoons of water in the bottom of a medium saucepan. Add the frozen meat, and slowly bring to a low simmer and cook for 15 minutes or until hot and back to the original consistency (water you added has evaporated). This is a great crowd pleaser, whether your crowd is a family of four, or a family get-together of 40 or so.

Barbecued Hamburger Sloppy Joes

1 cups chopped onions
4 lbs. ground beef
1/2 cup water
2 tbsp. lemon juice
1 tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
1/2 tsp. dry mustard
1/4 cup butter
1-14 oz. bottle catsup
1/2 cup chopped celery
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 tsp. salt

Sauté onion in butter in large soup stock pan. Add ground beef. Brown lightly. Drain off excess fat. Add rest of ingredients and simmer. Cover for 30 minutes. Use to fill 30 to 40 warm buns. Or cool and freeze in 1 pint freezing containers. One pint will make 6 to 8 sloppy joes. Serve with sliced onion, cole slaw, and pickle wedges.

This hamburger recipe is a family favorite!

Two More Recipes for Use with the Six Meals from One Chicken Recipe

The last two chicken recipes for use with the Six Meals from One Chicken recipe require either biscuit dough or cornbread. I have included recipes for both biscuits and cornbread below. These are great for family meals or for quick meals when unexpected guests arrive. Serve either of these meals with salad and iced tea for a true southern experience.

Homemade Chicken and Dumplings

1 container of chicken from six meals from one chicken recipe, thawed
1 tsp. pepper
1 tbsp. minced garlic
1 tsp. salt
3 containers of chicken broth from six meals from one chicken recipe, thawed
1/2 tsp. tarragon
1 quart water, or as required to have your soup pot 3/4 full of liquid


Biscuit (Dumpling) Dough:
3 cups flour
1 1/2 tsp. salt
4 tsp. baking powder
1/3 cup oil
1 cup and 1 tbsp. milk

In a large stockpot, bring chicken, pepper, garlic, salt, tarragon, broth, and water to a boil.

Stir together the dry ingredients to the dough. Add oil to the center of the dry ingredients, then pour milk onto oil. Stir until dough forms a ball. Drop by 1/4 cupfuls into boiling chicken mixture, tapping each to force it to submerge. It will float back up--this is ok. Once all dumplings are in the pan, bring pan back to boiling, then reduce heat. Cover loosely and allow to simmer for 20 minutes. Serves 4 to 6.

Chicken and Dressing Casserole

2 pans of cornbread, baked, cooled, and crumbled (recipe below)
3 boiled eggs, sliced
1 cup chopped celery
1/2 tsp. poultry seasoning
1 tsp. pepper
1/2 loaf of bread, stale or day old bread is best, toasted
1 medium onion, chopped
1 tbsp. sage
1 tsp. sea salt
3 containers of chicken broth from six meals from one chicken recipe
1 container of chicken with liver and heart from six meals from one chicken recipe, thawed
1 can chicken broth, if needed--everything is cooked, so it is safe to taste to determine if you need more broth or seasonings

Mix all ingredients. Add a little water if too stiff to pour into pan. Pour into a large baking dish, and bake for 1 hour at 350 degrees. Cover for the first 30 minutes.

Homemade Cornbread

2 cups yellow cornmeal
1 cup flour
2 tbsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
2 eggs, beaten
1/4 cup oil
Milk--enough to make a medium consistency dough (usually about 1 1/2 cups--depends on the weather)

Mix all dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl. Pour oil and eggs into the dry mixture and stir until it forms small pea sized clumps of dough. Add 1 cup of milk and stir. If needed add 1/2 cup more milk. Do not over stir. Pour into well greased pan (works best in a cast iron skillet), and bake for 20 minutes at 420 degrees. Serve with beans or soup, or freeze for dressing casserole. Left over pieces can be frozen to add to other recipes, too.

Additional recipes for homecooked meals can be found at Moms Red Kitchen and Around Moms Kitchen Table Blog.

Two Chicken Recipes for Use with Six Meals from One Chicken Recipe

Here are a couple more chicken recipes that take only a few minutes to prepare using precooked chicken and/or precooked rice. Precooking makes meal preparation much quicker and more enjoyable. When the family is asking what's for dinner, whip up one of these tasty recipes. These recipes work great with the Six Meals from One Chicken recipe.

Chicken Asparagus Casserole

1 can cream of mushroom soup
1/3 cup milk
1 container of cooked chicken from six meals from one chicken recipe
1 cup 14 oz. or 15 oz. can asparagus spears, drained
1/2 cp crushed corn chips
Dash nutmeg

In a medium bowl, mix soup and milk until well blended. Mix nutmeg and chicken into the soup mixture. Pour the soup mixture into a 1 1/2 quart casserole dish, then arrange asparagus spears on top of soup mixture. Sprinkle corn chips over the top. Bake at 375 degrees for 15 to 20 minutes. Makes 4 servings.

Chicken and Rice Casserole

1 16 oz. can peas with carrots (can use 10 oz. frozen instead)
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 1/2 cup water
1/3 cup milk
1/2 tsp. sea salt
1 1/3 cup precooked rice
1 container of cooked chicken from six meals from one chicken recipe
1/2 cup grated Cheddar cheese

Combine vegetables, soup, milk, water, and salt in saucepan. Bring to a boil and simmer for three minutes. Stir in the rice and chicken. Top with cheese. Pour mixture into a 2 quart casserole dish and bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes. Makes 4 to 6 servings.

First Two Chicken Recipes for Use with Six Meals from One Chicken Recipe

There are so many ways the chicken from the Six Meals from One Chicken recipe can be used. Here are two I think you will enjoy.

Chicken Quesadillas

1 container of chicken from Six Meals from One Chicken recipe
1 cup medium salsa
2 tsp. garlic
1 tbsp. chili powder
1 tsp. pepper
1/2 tsp. salt.
8 flour toritillas
sour cream
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese, divided into fourths

Put thawed chicken, salsa, chili powder, garlic, pepper, and salt in a saucepan and simmer until bubbly. Warm electric skillet to 300 degrees.

Place 1 flour tortilla in the skillet. Using 1/2 of one of the divided cheddar cheese, sprinkle cheese on the tortilla. Spoon 1/4 of the chicken mixture onto cheese. Top with other 1/2 of the divided cheddar. Place another tortilla on top, and press down. Cook until bottom is browned and cheese starts to melt. Using a large spatula, flip quesadilla and brown the other side. Lift out onto a plate. Repeat this process three more times. Serve with sour cream. Serves 4.

Chicken and Chile Casserole

1 medium to large tomato
1/2 cup chopped onion
1 tbsp. chili powder
1 tsp. minced garlic
1 tbsp. oil
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 small can (4 oz.) diced green chilies, drained
1/4 cup sour cream
6 corn tortillas, torn into small pieces
1 container of chicken from Six Meals from One Chicken recipe
1 cup shredded Monterey Jack cheese
Chunky salsa

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Chop the tomato. Add tomato, onion, thawed chili powder, garlic and oil to a small skillet and cook until onion is almost clear. Stir in soup, peppers and sour cream, and remove from heat. In a 9x9 inch pan, spread about 1/2 cup of the sauce over the bottom, then layer half of the torn tortillas and 1/2 the chicken on top. Cover with 1/2 the cheese, and repeat the layers. Cover with foil and bake for 35 to 40 minutes. Serve with your favorite chunky salsa, refried beans, and fried rice. Serves 4 to 6.

More to come! Two more recipes will be posted soon. Enjoy!

For more great recipes, visit Moms Red Kitchen.com.

Six Meals From One Chicken

Bulk cooking and pre-cooking make life through the week much easier, since meals will only take a fraction of the time they usually require. Chicken continues to be a good value. Many recipes will use a cup of diced chicken. By preparing ahead, you can have pre-cooked chicken and broth for six meals from one chicken.

First, purchase a large roasting hen and remove it from the bag it was sold in. Make sure there are no small feathers. Remove the gizzard, heart, and liver from inside the chicken and set aside. Wash the chicken, then place the whole chicken in a large soup pot. Cover the chicken with water and put the pan on a burner on high heat. When the water begins to boil, cover the pan loosely and reduce the heat until the water just simmers. Cook the chicken until the bone pulls loose when you pull the leg, then cool. Do not add salt or seasonings. Salt will keep chicken from freezing well, and seasonings will prevent using the chicken in multiple types of recipes.

While the chicken is cooking, place the liver, gizzards, and heart into a small saucepan, cover with water and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer until liver turns brown instead of dark red. Remove from heat and cool.

When the chicken is cool enough, remove it from the soup pot and place in a large bowl or on a platter. Remove and discard the skin. Remove the meat from the bones and tear or cut into bitesized pieces, putting these into a medium sized bowl. Once the meat is removed from the bones, place the bones back into the soup pot and boil for another 30 minutes. Add more water, if needed.

While the bones are boiling, cut the heart and liver into small pieces and replace in the water in which they were boiled. Remove the tough outside of the gizzard and put the inside meat into the water with the other meat. Add about a cup of the chicken pieces removed from the bones to this mixture. Cover and set aside to cool enough to freeze. This mixture will be used in cooking homemade chicken dressing casserole (recipe to be posted later). When it is cool enough, pour into a freezer container and freeze.

After the bones boil, remove them from the pot and discard them. Strain the broth into another pan to remove small bones and bits of skin. If any pieces of chicken meat are strained out, add them to the bowl of chicken pieces. Divide the chicken pieces into five equal parts. Put each part into a freezer container, and freeze.

When the broth has cooled enough, refrigerate for 4 hours or overnight. After it had cooled thoroughly, remove the hardened fat from the top. Leave the gel beneath the fat. Place the broth pan on the stove and warm until the gel dissolves. Pour equal amounts into six different freezer containers. Allow to cool completely, then freeze. Be sure to mark the date on each item that goes into the freezer to make it easier to rotate items, using the oldest first.

Bulk cooking allows you to prepare, or partially prepare, meals for later. One container of chicken pieces and one container of broth can be used in many chicken casserole recipes. Recipes using this chicken will be included in the next post.