White Chili

Our ward chili cook-off inspired me to look for something new to make. The bishops's wife and I made almost the exact same recipe, but she modified the amount of chicken broth and cayenne pepper and took first prize! This recipe reflects those adjustments. This is a really yummy recipe and I enjoyed making something a little different than the traditional red meat-red bean chili.

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 onion, chopped

2 cloves garlic, minced

4 cooked, boneless chicken breast, chopped

2 (14.5 ounce) cans chicken broth

1 (4 ounce) can diced green chilies

2 teaspoons ground cumin

2 teaspoons dried oregano

1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

5 (14.5 oz.) cans great northern beans, drained (puree 2 cans of beans in blender)

1 cup shredded Monterey Jack cheese

1. Sauté onion and garlic in olive oil for 10 minutes, or until onions are tender. Add the chicken, chicken broth, green chili peppers, cumin, oregano, and cayenne pepper and bring to boil.

2. Reduce heat to low and add the beans and pureed beans. Simmer for 20-30 minutes.

3. Pour into individual bowls and top with cheese.

Originated from http://allrecipes.com/recipe/white-chili-ii-2/detail.aspx

Nutella Pinwheel Cookies

We are a household of Nutella addicts so we decided to find a recipe we could put our yummy nutella into cookies. I really liked this recipe. I'd go a little heavier on the Nutella next time, but still very good. The texture is similar to a shortbread cookie, and we all thought they were even better the next day!

Yield: 25-30 cookies

1 stick butter, softened

½ cup sugar


1 egg yolk


1 tsp vanilla

1 heaped cup sifted flour


¼ cup Nutella to spread, a little more won’t hurt, but be careful not to overdo lest it ooze!


2-3 tablespoon, toasted, chopped hazelnuts

• Preheat oven to 175C/350F.

• Mix the butter and sugar together till creamy.

• Mix in the egg yolk and the vanilla. The mixture should be light and well combined.

• Stir in the flour and refrigerate the dough for 15 minutes so that it can firm up and facilitate easy rolling.

• Next, roll out the dough into a rectangle of ¼ inch thickness.

• Spread the Nutella making sure to leave one finger space on all four sides. Again, we don’t want the Nutella to ooze out!

• Sprinkle over the chopped hazelnuts and roll up the dough.

• Refrigerate for another ten minutes before cutting the slices.

Lay the slices on a lined baking sheet and bake for 12-15 minutes till slightly golden at the edges. Baking time will vary depending on how thick you’ve cut them. Color is a good indication of doneness.

Originated from http://purplefoodie.com/nutella-pinwheel-cookies/

Really Good Chicken Fajitas

This a family favorite of ours, especially during the summer. It's quick and easy to make and we even make it on camp trips too! We just chop everything ahead of time and bring some topping and tortillas and eat outdoors in-style!

2 tablespoons olive oil

3 large bell peppers, julienned

2 cloves garlic, diced

1 small onion, chopped

1 1/2 cups chopped, cooked chicken

4 teaspoons chili powder

1 teaspoon salt

1/8 teaspoon pepper

1 teaspoon cumin powder

1 tablespoon lemon juice

1/2 jalapeño, seeded and diced

1/2 bunch cilantro, chopped

Sauté onion, garlic, jalapeño and bell pepper in olive oil in a large saucepan over medium heat until very peppers are tender (15 minutes or longer.) Add lemon juice, chopped cilantro, spices and chicken and cook 2 minutes longer.

Serve over warm tortillas with your favorite toppings.

Note: Any bell peppers will do, but I usually use a mix of red, yellow and green.

Shared with me by Teri Gerber

Icy-Cold Banana Milk

This is perfect on a hot day, light and refreshing but not as heavy as a shake!

2 cups milk

2 bananas

1/4 cup maple syrup

a handful of ice cubes

Place in blender and blend until frothy, about 1 minute. Serve immediately. Enjoy!

Savory Spaghetti

This was a recipe that resulted from some creativity in the pantry. I didn't have what I usually use to make my regular spaghetti. So I improvised and the result was actually quite tasty! The herbs used in this spaghetti give it a yummy robust flavor. The sugar is used to cut the acidity of the the tomatoes and it also adds just a hint of sweet to the sauce.

2 tbsp. olive oil

6-8 large mushrooms, sliced

1/2 onion, chopped

3 large cloves garlic, chopped

1 lb ground beef or Italian sausage (or a mix of the two)

2 medium tomatoes, diced

1 can diced tomatoes

1 can stewed tomatoes

1 can tomato paste

3/4 tablespoon salt

1/2 tsp. pepper

1/4 tsp. savory

1/4 tsp. oregano

1/4 tsp. thyme

1/2 tsp marjoram or sweet basil

1 tbsp. sugar

Sauté onion and garlic in olive oil, (If adding meat, remove onion and garlic mixture from pan and brown meat.) Add onion and garlic mixture back to pan and add spices, herbs and sugar. Add tomatoes and tomato paste and stir until all is combined. Cover and let simmer until sauce thickens and tomatoes are tender, about 1/2 an hour.

Serve over your choice of cooked angel hair or spaghetti pasta.

Tirza Hellyar

Belgian Waffles

1 3/4 cups flour

1 tablespoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup oil

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 tablespoons sugar

3 eggs (separate yolk and egg white and save whites until the end.)

2 cups milk

In a Medium size bowl, beat egg yolks and sugar until sugar is dissolved. Add oil, vanilla and milk.

In a separate bowl mix baking powder and salt. Gently stir dry mixture into wet mixture until well blended.

Beat eggs whites until soft peaks form. Slowly fold egg whites into batter mixture until evenly incorporated. (Do not overmix.)

Cook in waffle iron until golden brown, serve warm with your favorite toppings.

Super Chocolatey-Chip Cookies

I originally posted this recipe on my family blog then I realized I should start a food blog since I'm always cooking something up and would like to share it. I came up with this recipe after trying a bunch of different chocolate chip cookies. I knew what I liked in a chocolate chip cookie, including an insane amount of chocolate chips! So I finally figured out a recipe that gave me all of the things in chocolate chip cookies that I love. A little chewy and little crunchy; they have lots of chocolate chips in every bite! WARNING: the dough is very addictive and you may be burned out on cookie-dough by the time the cookies get out of the oven!

1 cup sugar

1 cup brown sugar

1 cup butter, softened

3 large eggs

1 1/2 tsp. vanilla

4-4 1/2 cups flour

1 tsp. baking soda

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

3 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips

1. In a large mixing bowl, beat together soft butter, sugars, eggs and vanilla. Beat until light and well blended.

2. Add flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt to creamed mixture. Blend until well mixed. Start with 3 cups of flour and add more flour until desired consistency is reached. (I like less sticky dough for rounder, higher cookies.) If dough does not have enough flour, cookies will tend to bake very flat and sometimes run together.

3. Add chocolate chips and mix by hand until chocolate chips are equally mixed in.

4. Spoon small spoonfuls of dough onto a greased baking sheet. Press down tops slightly. Bake at 375 degrees for 9-12 minutes until golden-brown on the tops.

Makes about 60 2 1/2-3 inch cookies

Tirza Hellyar