Green Chili / Chili Verde

Hi! Isn't this perfect weather for chili! It is suddenly so cold. And so windy. And a pot of fragrant chili warms are hearts as well as our tummies.

Admit it, doesn't cold weather make you extra hungry? I know I am starving,lol, after a long cold beach walk. And my family loves chili, especially chili made with lots and lots of colorful veggies. So when my Colorado internet friend Lise mentioned, oh so casually, that she was making GREEN chili, I was intrigued. And you know me, always with the Crock Pot experiments.

I'll put a couple recipe links for green chili at the end because it seems that Lise is a ''toss some in the pot'' cook like me. You know, all little of this , a little of that. She did kindly send directions though..and a wonderful link for the spices which I cannot buy here. Savory Seaonings

Aren't they beautiful! And great fast shipping too. For the Chili Verde I needed the green adobo and the green chili powder.

Lise pan sears everything first. I was too lazy.  I cut boneless pork cutlets into strips;

I also used some leftover ground beef, mostly just to use it up...sauteed with a diced Vidalia/ sweet onion and garlic.

That went in the slow cooker, along with a can of fire roasted tomatoes, four small cans of diced green chilies [mild, not hot],  2/3 of a box of chicken broth.

Added cut up peppers, carrots, squash...
 [summer yellow Plus butternut.

My family really loves their veggies.]
Fresh cilantro.

Lise told me not to add okra but I did it anyway. Was fine....and I added a bag of frozen corn towards the end of the cooking time.

Seasonings to taste: besides the green adobo and green chili powder I added a bit if  Savory Seasonings black chili powder, a T. of  ''sugar''[Splenda], salt , pepper, cumin, paprika, Mexican spiced chocolate-chili powder, a hint of cinnamon. This is a mild favorful chili. If you like your chili hot, you could add some jalapeno peppers or hot chili power. Be careful, though. I notice the slow cooker enhances spicy peppers and things get too hot to eat.

More fresh cilantro added at the end.

Lise mentioned her onions weren't quite as cooked as she'd have liked, so I cooked the Crock Pot on high for two hours then 6 hours on low.

Serve  on a bed of shaved lettuce, with cheese and sour cream.

Trader Joe's Veggie-Flax seed taco chips for a bit of crunch.

I have no idea why these not-corn chips are ''healthier''---or even if they are?--but we love flax seed and these were great, very tasty and so thin and crisp.

Verdict: wonderful chili!

It got yummied up and eaten before I could freeze half. A wonderful winter [or summer!] easy meal. Only drawback..it would have been better, more caramelized and richer tasting, if it had been cooked in my le Creuset dutch oven, in the regular oven...instead of the Crock Pot. The Crock Pot steams instead of roasting. Next time: into the oven for this new favorite.

PS Good for Super Bowl Sunday? You can serve this to your football fans and feel happy they are eating something delicious and healthy.

Thank you, Lise!

for recipes, try: Martha Stewart's Green Chili 

                          http://mexicanfood.about.com

                          The Soup Chick's Green Chili Stew

 

 

 

I read over half a dozen recipes, via Google search. Bottom line, you put everything in the pot, add seasonings, and voila~ easy-peasy!

love

           lizzy

            gone to the beach.....

 

 

 

 

 

pls enlarge the photos by clicking on any one pix.

Bunny!

Hi! Look who came to my house!

The Valentine Bunny? Easter Bunny? He is certainly an adorable  breath of spring on this suddenly frigid day in January.

Bunny is from Olde Farmhouse Simple's Michelle, one of her folk art creations.

Look at that face! I love him!

See his tiny toes! (and beautiful grungy patina!)....

And his overalls! Cute!

He has a sweet punch needle heart. Like a tiny hooked rug...and you all know I love hearts. Michelle specializes in punchneedle pieces. like this group

Michelle makes exceptional primitive folkart and she also sells great Maine rusty musty farmhouse prim antiques. She sells both on her eBay site: here

Here's a neat bluebird make-do: here I have my eye on that birdie!

And another bunny: here (sold but I believe Michelle takes orders)

I always want ALL! But sometimes I just visit her selling pages to enjoy her great photos and funny descriptions.

And now Michelle has a wonderful blog, filled with great prim how-tos, shopping details---supplies and antiques...and updates on her newest creations and finds. It's such a fun blog to visit--if you love primitive Armericana or just want to have a taste of an old fashioned simpler creative way of living...join Michelle in snowy Maine.  Check it out! Farm Simples blog

Oh and from me, here at the beach...a couple of funny little Cupids. Definitely Valentine guys: Cutey Pie and Honey Bunch!

 

Thanks Michelle! I love Bunny! And he'll have a wonderful home here with my other Spring prims from you too.

love

lizzy

..........gone to the beach

pink sand at sunset

 

 

 

                                                       a snowy day

   

 

 

                     
                          another treasured heart from my internet dear friend LN.

blogger update: yay! They fixed the download system! Boo..they still don't allow more than two photo enlargements. Or embedded cations. So pls click on the pix for full screen versions, so you can enjoy Bunny's sweet sad face [not a beach guy, B?] and my snowy sunset!

l

In the Winter, Far Beneath the Bitter Snow...

"...lies a seed, that in the springtime, becomes a rose."  Bette Midler, "the  Rose"

Hi everyone...Okay, no snow---and no roses here, lol. But you get the gist, right? It's winter and not much is growing in our gardens outside. Every year on this holiday weekend I start my spring flower bulbs for indoor blooming.

This past autumn I was unable to buy much in the way of bulbs to force. The usual stores, like Lowe's and Home Depot had shingles and lumber not flowering bulbs. I picked up the paperwhite narcissus at the Christmas tree place, a garden store that had somehow survived the flood. And I bought the red tulips at the supermarket in Manhattan, I think.

 

I didn't have time to pre-plant and chill off the tulips.

I planted some in my deck flower containers [with the pansies!] and I kept these, already sprouting, to try indoors. [I used a favorite Stafordshire bowl, a c. 1810 "slop bowl". Used for tea somehow, not for, um, slop. see edit note at end]

This year the narcissus are in the found tin from the thrift shop. I like it more for flowers than as a retro jello mold.

Narcissus are foolproof and meant to grow indoors. Fast. These could bloom in ten days!

Since I don't have pots and pots of bulbs started, I decided to make my terrariums instead. I LOVE this one:

It was from Marshall's, I have been saving it for two or three years.  I've been looking for an affordable small greenhouse box for years.

I love the descriptions of what were called Wardian Cases, in Victorian times. more here   and here where the writer calls them Cabinets of Curiousity. Don't you just love the oldfashioned words and ideas, the 19th century wonder at natural things. We're so jaded sometimes....

So I had my Wardian box. And I just knew the tiny plants I found at Trader Joe's would look so cute. Cylamen, miniature monkey orchid, African violet, variagted thyme.

But I was surprised and amazed by the bag of ''dead'' brown moss from Joann's. It had languished in my found junk basket since last spring, bought on sale for I think 2.00 a bag. And it sure looked hopeless. BUT overnight, once set gently into the soil and sprinkled with warm water...look how beautiful and green it is! Many different kinds. A tiny woodland scene, springtime in January.

Then this smaller terrarium from the thrift shop.
I over-planted it the first time. last summer. Now I moved those flowers to the bigger box and just did a moss garden. Again, I think it is so sweet.

I'll add some fairy mushrooms or miniatures later, once the soil has settled.

I was pleased...but then:

 My kids came home and my son peered into the boxes: "Well but what's it for, mom?" 
"It's not for anything," I replied. "It's just for fun...to have something green growing in the midst of winter."
"Huh." He then went into the kitchen, opened the fridge and peered inside! I hope he didn't find anything green that was actually growing, in there!?

Kids. What can ya do? I just picture someday he'll try to explain a terrarium to his kid, who looks dubious too. Yeah, that'll happen.

love

lizzy

           .... gone to the beach

 

more on slop bowls:

here

 

and here though Wikipedia implies all slop bowls were silver, wch is, I believe incorrect, see above description, for example. 

 

 

ps I still can't get the blogger pix download to work right. i couldn't elarge the terrarium shoys, too bad. But I think if you click on the pix they'll go to full screen & a larger image. enjoy.