Guest Post: F.B.I.T.

Today, I bring you all a very special post from a very special friend of mine. You may remember her from a few posts this summer, so, without further adeiu, I bring you Sarah!

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Okay, so I am not that used to writing a blog like this so, please, bear with me. For those of you who don’t know, F.B.I.T. stands for Food Blogger In Training. I work with Mara at camp during the summer, and we went out to eat many times this summer. During that time Mara and I talked about food and she said that I could (Mara’s note: and SHOULD), someday, become a food blogger myself! So, I guess here’s me trying!

I recently moved back to school, and this year I am living completely on my own. No roommates to deal with! However, now I really have to cook everything myself, and clean up after myself. Of course, like every college student, in my freezer I do have some frozen dinners, but try to use those in case of emergency when I need something extremely quickly before running out of the apartment again to go somewhere else.

I have all the essentials: elbow macaroni, rice, bread, margarine, milk, eggs. Then add in cheese, jam, and some packages of spaghetti-o’s and ramen, what more does a college student need? The answer is, a way to put things together that I find to be tasty and so that I don’t get bored. The obvious macaroni and cheese can tend to be a little repetitive when always done the same. I definitely like to switch it up, between the box mixes and then also switching up which kind of cheese I use. One time I may just use mozzarella, next it might be an American and Swiss kind of mix, guess it all depends on what type of cheese I want that day.

There is one thing, however, that I am very proud to say that I have created! It is by no means anything special, and has probably been done many, many times before. But I would like to believe I am creative because I did not get it from any recipe, nor any suggestions Mara may have given me. I guess it could be called a breakfast sandwich, but I never eat it at breakfast so, in my creativity, I am going to call it the “Breakfast Lunch Sandwich”.

In this fantastically named sandwich are the basic essentials in almost every college students apartment fridge; bread, margarine (or butter), jam, eggs, cheese. It’s simple! Toast the bread; spread with margarine then jam (I use raspberry preserves, it’s my fav!). Then, scramble the eggs, put in the cheese, then cook like normal scrambled eggs. Put eggs and cheese on top of toast with margarine and jam, and wah lah! Breakfast Lunch Sandwich has been made.

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Very simple. Very fast. Very delicious. Very proud, of herself, college student! JHope you enjoyed my first blog. Hopefully I can come back again and share something new! J

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See? She should blog, right?? I hope she’ll take our advice and start a blog of her own…

Have a great Thursday!

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The Quest Continues…

I feel like I’m on an endless quest for the perfect chili recipe.

I’ve talked about it before, and even talked about it over at EatingBender once… and my quest continues. Every time I make chili, I tweak the recipe justalittlebit and I kid you not, it just keeps getting better.

I’m a fan of a simple chili. I know a lot of people like a lot of “stuff” in theirs, and while it’s good like that sometimes, I like a chili that tastes, well, like chili. I love a lot of beans (sorry Adam…wait, he ate it too…) and a tomatoey base, but not SO tomatoey that it’s like chili-flavored meat sauce. For now, at least until the next time I make chili, THIS will be the best I’ve made.

Besides this one.

And maybe this one.

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Yet Another Chili Recipe

Serves 8

Ingredients

1.5 lb. lean ground beef (or equal amount by measure of ground turkey, TVP, or raw bulgur wheat)

3 large cloves garlic, finely chopped

1 small onion, chopped

1 Tbsp. olive oil

1 small can (4 oz) diced green chiles

1 can original Ro-Tel tomatoes with chiles

1 large can (32 oz) crushed tomatoes

1 can dark red kidney beans, drained and rinsed

1 can light red kidney beans, drained and rinsed

1/4 c. (yes really) good chili powder

1 tsp. cumin

1 tsp garlic powder

1 dried Red New Mexico chile, stem and seeds removed

Salt and Pepper to taste

Directions

Heat the oil in a large pot with the onion and garlic. Lower the heat to medium-low and slowly brown the onions and garlic until translucent and golden brown. Add the ground beef (or turkey, or TVP, or raw grain). Brown thoroughly (or lightly toast the grain) and then add ingredients from green chiles through cumin (add 2 c. water or stock if using a whole grain). Lower heat to low and simmer, uncovered, for 15 minutes. Add the dried chile and garlic powder, stir well, and simmer another 30 minutes over low heat. Before serving, remove the dried chile from the chili, add salt and pepper to taste, and serve with desired toppings.

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Adam said this was “REALLY good” chili. Part of the trick, he said, was that the meat was in bigger pieces rather than small, which made it more “like chili” instead of sauce. I say it was the more complex flavor added by the dried chili, cumin, and chili powder I used. I also let it simmer for long enough (probably an hour or so total) and let it cool enough before eating it.

In other news: My “Clicks for Books” Fundraiser campaign for the A to Z Literacy project begins TOMORROW! Every click on this blog for the month of September will earn money to help kids in Zambia get the books they need for a good education. It’s free and takes two seconds! Please pass the word around, link back, tweet, whatever you can do!

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