Try something new

Hello blog readers!
It is a classic Monday full of laundry and other household duties which have fallen to the wayside during the course of a busy weekend.

Today I would like to introduce you to a few of my new kitchen friends. You may have met these happy helpers before, or you may be like me and need to make their acquaintance.
I have a buddy who is an outstanding cook (and all around wonder!) I found it interesting that she is the one who first introduced me to all three of these products over the course of the last few years!
I have so much to learn, and am glad to have friends with more experience to guide me along and to teach me new things!

So, here you have them!


Of course this is in no way a product endorsement or advertisement, this is just stuff I like to use.
Okay, got that out of the way.

I used all three of these things in what I am calling "3 bean chili" that I made yesterday.
I thought about sharing the recipe, but of course I was making it up on the fly and didn't measure a single thing. That makes for frustrating recipe writing!!
It was basically chili with three beans. Ha, ha, ha...helpful aren't I? I was determined to get some nutrition in my family and took the bean route.
I had left over black beans, a can of white kidney beans, and also a can of navy beans.
See... 3 beans.
I also used a can of tomato puree, (love that stuff) and the items found in the Product Highlight Section of my blog.
Don't go looking around for that particular section...I just made that up.
You can actually just keep reading below.
But it sounded cool right? Product Highlight Section...
Maybe you should just ignore my weirdness and keep reading.

Our first product highlight is Kitchen Basics Stock!


This comes in several varieties including chicken (in a gorgeous school bus yellow box), and vegetable (in a fantastic kelly green box). Oh, color how it invades my life!!
It is a staple on my grocery list. I mainly get the chicken stock, but have found that there are times when beef stock is a necessity! I am not a Martha-make your own stock kind of gal. Not that I am opposed to that kind of behavior, I just don't have time or energy in my life for that right now.
This stock is excellent right out of the box. I really like the fact that it doesn't have any crazy weird stuff in it too.
Like what you ask? Well, MSG for one thing.
Autolyzed yeast extract for another...actually that is a type of MSG. Look it up!
I stay away from that stuff cause it makes me feel bad.
I am a feel good kind of gal.

Next up, Wondra Quick Mixing Flour!

I am in theory, opposed to enriched and bleached flour and go out of my way to not use it in my baking where it is the main ingredient in a recipe. However, I do make an exception for this Wondra Flour. I had no idea this was even on the planet until just a few months ago.
This is an outright tragedy for a girl who believes gravy to be a food group.
It is light and airy and fine. It is to flour what powdered sugar is to sugar.
It doesn't clump and glump when you are trying to whisk it in to make something thicker!
If you make gravy or sauces at all, it is a must have kitchen companion!
Yesterday I knew I would want my soup to have a little thickness so I simply added this in to cook with my ground beef a bit after it had browned. When the stock went in, it thickened up nicely!

Last thing to introduce today...
Ancho Chili Pepper


YUM!!! This has a slightly sweeter, milder flavor than classic chili powder.
You know how you get in a rut of just buying the same old ingredients. That is me, I bet that is you too. We know what works and we stick with it.
What a travesty!
What a devastation to all those other miraculous flavors out there waiting to be discovered.
This chili pepper when into my 3 bean chili yesterday too! It was the star of the dish, giving a subtle spiciness and terrific chili taste. Oh YUM!!

To finish my 3 bean chili off I added some corn tortillas cut up in small pieces.
It was a hit and everyone said it should be added to the "hey, you should fix this again" list.

I hope you are getting out there and trying new things....maybe this short list will inspire you to do just that today.
Have a great week!