Creamy Queso Chili

One of our childcare providers, who frequently joins us for meals, eats mostly vegetarian meals. So I use that as an opportunity to help our family enjoy a few more meatless meals. It's a great reason for us to add variety into our meals and help with sustainability of both our planets and ourselves (although most meatless options that come to mind are things like grilled cheese, ice cream, etc., so perhaps not our own sustainability). 

This recipe from Eating Well caught my eye because it was vegetarian, quick and involved copious amounts of cheese. I adapted it because we don't have an Instapot, and it worked out well. We all enjoyed it, although my son said he only liked it when it was scooped on tortilla chips. We'll definitely repeat this variation.

Creamy Queso Chili
1 Tbsp. olive oil
1 large bell pepper, chopped
1/2 large onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 1/2 tsp. chili powder
1/2 tsp. cumin
15-oz. can pinto or great northern beans, rinsed and drained
14.5-oz. can diced tomatoes
4-oz. can diced green chilis
1 cup chicken broth or vegetable broth 
1/2 tsp. salt
1 cup Mexican-style cheese, shredded
2 oz. cream cheese, cubed
1 Tbsp. lime juice
Tortilla chips for garnish or dipping
Cilantro for garnish

Heat a large pot with the olive oil. Add pepper, onion and garlic. Stir until softened, about 3 minutes. Add spices, and cook 1 minute until fragrant. Add beans, tomatoes, chili peppers, broth and salt. Cover and simmer about 20 minutes. Blend using an immersion blender to thicken. If you don't have an immersion blender, blend approximately half the soup to thicken it. 

Stir in cheeses until melted and smooth. Stir in lime juice and garnish as desired. Serves 4, so make a double batch to enjoy leftovers. 

Frankenstein Macarons

As I whipped up skillet cookies the other night, I told our babysitter that it's a double-edged sword. Most people would think that a skillet cookie sounds good but need to go to a restaurant, find a recipe, buy ingredients or have some other roadblock. I though skillet cookies sounded good and was eating a cookie  less than an hour later. 

Something similar happened with this recipe from Sugar and Charm. It wasn't quite as instantaneous, but it was an impulsive bake. I had all the ingredients on hand, so I whipped them up prior to Halloween. I just never got around to posting them, and I'm not going to share the recipe. I'll leave it in the link and simply share my (not perfect but still cute) efforts. 

Key Lime Cheesecake

We fell in love with key lime desserts when we visited the Florida Keys way back in 2010. Chocolate will always be my first love, but there's something so delicious and refreshing about key lime treats. That pucker cuts through the sweetness. This beautiful cheesecake from SprinkleBakes won my heart for our Christmas dessert. (I opted out of the yule log this year since we had a smaller crew, and this was tempting me.) 

I had such high hopes for this dessert. It looked amazing. It smelled wonderful. I cut it and served it to my family first, like a good hostess. When my husband took his first bites, I asked how it was. He said that it wasn't as sweet as he expected. I paused, thought back through my preparation of the recipe and realized I forgot to add the sugar to the cheesecake! I told him to tell the rest of the family (in the other room) that the cheesecake wasn't good and that they didn't have to eat it.

Well, I'm not sure if they were just good sports or just that hungry because most of them already had the cheesecake mostly gone by the time I told them that I forgot the sugar (because my husband made me confess my own error). My mom left most of hers (because she gave me my sweet tooth), my aunt said she didn't need anything that sweet anyways and my grandpa gets a pass because he's possibly too old (he's 98) to realize it was gross. I was so disappointed because I had such high hopes for it. 

So, I tossed the rest of the cheesecake and recreated it for New Year's Eve (because I really wanted it). It was worth remaking and quite delicious. Just be sure you add the sugar. If you don't want to go through the effort of the pomegranate touches, it will still be delicious, but they are the perfect accompaniment. 

Key Lime Cheesecake
Crust
1/2 cup butter
2 cups graham cracker crumbs
1/4 cup sugar
Cheesecake
24 oz. cream cheese, room temperature
1 1/4 cups sugar (don't forget this!)
3 large eggs
8 oz. sour cream
2 tsp. lime zest
1/2 cup key lime juice
Pomegranate Syrup
1/2 cup sugar
3 cups pomegranate juice
Toppings
3/4 cup whipping cream, plus dash of powdered sugar, whipped to stiff peaks
1/2 cup pomegranate arils

Preheat oven to 350°F. To make the crust, combine all ingredients together. Press into a 9-inch springform pan, going 2 inches up the sides. Bake for 10 minutes, and cool completely. Reduce oven temperature to 325°. 

To make the cheesecake, beat cream cheese until fluffy. Gradually add the sugar, and beat until well combined. Add the eggs one at a time, and beat well after each addition. Stir in the sour cream, lime zest and juice. Poor into the crust. Bake for 70 minutes. Turn off the oven, and prop the door open for 15 minutes. Remove from the oven, and cool completely. Then store in refrigerator for at least 8 hours or overnight.

To make the syrup, combine the pomegranate juice and sugar over medium-high heat, stirring until the sugar dissolves. Bring to a boil, and reduce until syrupy and reduced to about 1 cup, about 25 minutes. Cool to room temperature before topping cheesecake. 

To serve cheesecake, top with syrup, arils and whipped cream. Serves approximately 10-12. 

Panna Cotta

This was a first for me as I've never eaten (nor made) panna cotta. However, this recipe from SprinkleBakes sounded delicious, simple and a good reason to try something new. This was incredibly easy to make, although I definitely didn't have the right containers to set nicely in an egg carton to match her lovely tilted appearance. I nailed that look for about one of mine and managed to dump about 2 in the process. Ooops. 

This is something I would make again or try another recipe as it's fun, simple and tasty. I didn't have strawberries and cranberries she used, so below is my raspberry adaptation.

Panna Cotta

White Chocolate Panna Cotta

1 envelope (.25 oz.) unflavored powdered gelatin

2 cups half and half or whole milk

4 oz. white chocolate, finely chopped

1 cup sweetened condensed milk

1/2 tsp. vanilla

Coulis

18 oz. raspberries

1/2 envelop (.12) unflavored powdered gelatin

1/2 cup sugar

1 cup champagne

For the panna cotta, in a saucepan, sprinkle gelatin over 1 cup of milk. Let stand 2 minutes. Place the saucepan over medium heat, and cook while stirring constantly until gelatin is melted. Remove from heat, and add in white chocolate. Stir until melted, and then whisk in remaining ingredients. Divide mixture evenly among four 4-oz. dessert glasses or jars, angling if you're brave and want to make them look super cool. Let chill at least 4 hours or until fully set.

For the coulis, combine berries, gelatin, sugar and champagne. Bring to simmer over medium heat, and stir until sugar is melted. Remove from heat and puree once slightly cool. Let cool to room temperature, push through sieve and the divide evenly among the panna cotta. Refrigerate until serving. If desired, top with gold star sprinkles right before serving. Makes 4 servings.