Wendy's Chili

No restaurant recipe can remain a total secret. Either someone who cooks the recipe will eventually give it out or someone will eat it enough times that he/she will figure out what the ingredients are and how they are combined and prepared.

I have made the Wendy's Chili recipe from the Recipe Secrets ebook 4 times now, and a couple of things are obvious:

1. The recipe is so much like the one they use at Wendy's that you have a hard time telling the copycat from the original.

2. It is good to even the pickiest eaters because the stuff doesn't last over 2 days in my house (over 4 quarts of chili).

I think that each of the recipes I have tried from this ebook have to be as good, if not better, than the recipe that they attempt to copy. The care that has been taken to match the original is very obvious. Yes, I do stand to profit if you buy the book, but the price would be the same whether you buy it through my link to the author, or as a direct purchase. I hope you get the book and impress your family and friends.

Click here to get more info on America's Secret Recipes. After you have been on this page a few seconds they provide a form to get some sample recipes FREE by email - try before you buy!

God Bless and have a great day!

Snow Ice Cream

Snow Ice Cream is one of my favorite things in life. It is so simple a child can make it, and such a great treat that it should be enjoyed often. I remember having it as a kid and loving it. The winters in southeastern New Mexico are mild, so getting snow ice cream was a super treat. Now that I live in Colorado, I get to enjoy it several times each winter, and I plan on it every time we have a heavy snow.

The version I am offering here is for those that need to control their carbohydrate count, either for dietary or health reasons. Instead of using the Splenda, replace it with the same amount or more of sugar. I usually use twice as much sugar as Splenda, primarily because sucralose, the main ingredient in this sweetener is 10 times sweeter than sugar. You might want to taste the sugared version before adjusting it to suit your tastes.

The cream in the recipe is optional - I don't think that 2 percent milk is rich enough. Besides that, you gotta live once in a while!

Utensils:

1 large bowl - 12 cup capacity
1 large spoon
Glass - at least 20 ounce size

Ingredients:
Snow (mounded-over 12 cup bowl)
1/2 cup Splenda sweetener
1 to 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 or more cups of 2 percent milk (varies)
1 Tablespoon Heavy Whipping Cream

Collect snow - find an object that has a large, flat surface and scrape THINLY to get only the best snow. Even though snow has some dirt, large quantities of dirt will really mess this up. In other words, if the snow is brown due to dust contamination - forget it until you can get some cleaner snow. Make sure you pile the bowl full of snow, as it will melt a lot during mixing.

Put the sweetener, vanilla, cream and 1 1/2cups of milk into the glass. Add some snow to it and stir. The snow will make the solution cold enough so it won't destroy all the snowflakes in the bowl - texture is a good thing.

Slowly pour in the milk mixture into the bowl, starting in the center. As you add the solution, move the snow around to mix it well. If the Snow Ice Cream still has white spots in it, put some more milk in the glass, along with some more snow and add this to the bowl, stirring as you go.

The ideal mixture will not be slushy, but will be like partially melted snow. See the photo for example. For best serving, put into chilled bowls - they keep it from becoming liquid too fast.

Have a great day and God Bless!

Coffee Anyone - Part 2: Espresso Machines

In order to have good coffee, you must have 4 things:

1. Good Coffee - if you don't have this, you won't arrive at the goal.
2. Good Water - good water makes any coffee bean brew better coffee. For espresso you should use distilled or other water that has virtually no minerals in it. Hard water can damage the boiler.
3. Good Grind - whether you grind it at home, or at the store, finely ground coffee produces better coffee.
4. Good Equipment - it doesn't matter if it is a drip machine or an espresso maker - good equipment gives you better results.

That being said, we now focus upon item #4, the Equipment. At my home I have a Bunn drip maker which is my personal choice - no intention here to endorse, as I am not a sponsor. I just like having hot water always ready at 165° Fahrenheit - which is, according to another good cook, the "perfect" brewing temperature. For Espresso I have gone through three different machines: A Braun which lasted for over 6 years, a Krups that we had for 4 years and our most recent, a Hamilton Beach unit.

Each of the espresso machines had its good and bad points. It is difficult to compare them as the first two we had were steam machines and the latest is a pump machine. OK, I know I need to explain this to some folks out there...so here it goes: There are two common kinds of espresso machines today, steam driven and pump driven.

The steam driven is similar to the first espresso machines in the fact that water is boiled, steam is created and it is sent through the ground coffee to produce the wonderful, dark liquid we know as espresso. The pump driven unit delivers hot water to the coffee by pumping it through the grounds. Both are effective, but the pump driven unit is what is in most commercial machines and some of the better home units. The pump unit delivers more of the frothy crema on top of the espresso, making it produce a better cup. For more info on this go to Wikipedia .

With the Braun machine, it produced good coffee, that wasn't bitter. The machine was well-constructed and cost us about $80 in 1995 (as I recall). The only weak link was the handle on the filter holder - it was plastic and it broke after several years of heavy use. I repaired it using some JB Weld steel and we got 2 more years out of it before the boiler failed.

The Krups machine was purchased after this. The unit cost around $80 and it produced coffee that was good in quality. Unfortunately, the machine started to leak after a couple of years of use. The leaking got so bad that we were losing one-third of the water! To make 2 ounces of espresso, you had to put 3 ounces of water in the boiler. Since we made a lot of espresso for cappuccinos and making americanos, the leaking water trickled down to the counter where it made a big mess. I don't think most people brew as much espresso as we do, so the leaking may have something to do with the very heavy use it got...and the coffee was good. This may be a good option for you if cost is a concern.

Our latest machine from Hamilton Beach, is a pump unit. It produces excellent espresso and is less expensive than either of the units I bought before. One thing I noticed is that to get the best results out of the unit, I have to use coffee that is a little coarser than true espresso grind. If you use a finer grind, this machine produces much less of the crema, which is a big part of the flavor. When the unit was brand new, I used espresso ground coffee and it worked well, but with time, the quality started to falter and the brew time increased. I went to a coarser grind (I found this tip in a review on the machine on amazon), I found that brew time returned to normal and quality is back to what it was when I first got the machine. If you grind beans when you buy them, go for a setting on the grinder that is slightly coarser and you will always be pleased with the results. I will say the coffee from this pump machine is better than it was from the other 2 units, mainly because the water is coming through at a lower temperature. The resulting coffee is less bitter and isn't overheated as it is when straight steam hits the beans. Gooooooood stuff!

Check out the links to products on this page for more info. I apologize for no link on the Braun machine - they don't make this model anymore, but the other two are still available, and the Krups machine is less expensive than when I bought mine. If you do check them out, I think you will learn a lot, get some great info, and perhaps get a machine that will provide you with Awesome Coffee! I like to put a 20 ounce cup under the spouts and brew it until the cup fills up. This stuff isn't espresso and it isn't regular coffee - it is strong and flavorful. I love this in the morning.

Hope you enjoyed the information. Go out and enjoy some really good coffee!

Have a Great Day and God Bless!

Coffee Anyone - Part 1: Grinders

I love coffee. When my wife and I met, I liked coffee, but it was something that I drank, more often than not, to help keep me alert. Over 16 years have passed, and now I am a confirmed coffeeholic. I still enjoy the pick-me-up that it provides, but I have to say that I can be found, more often than not, with a cup of joe in hand. I have also become a bit of a coffee snob. I must not only have coffee, but it needs to be a well-roasted arabica blend with lots of natural oils and flavor. Coffee aficionados will agree with me. Any coffee can be good, but the "quality stuff" is so much better.

Coffee is good, but espresso, cappuccino, or a latte is even better. For that you need special equipment - enter the espresso machine for home use, and of course, the coffee grinder. Grinding your own beans is the best way to stretch your coffee dollar. The reason for this is that once the beans have been ground, the quality starts to deteriorate - rapidly.

Part 1 of this article is about getting the most out of the beans with a good grinder. The reason I had to get a new grinder was that my old faithful Braun grinder had a bad crack around the bottom of it. You had to hold in down on the counter so it would still grind beans, so I figured that when we purchased our new espresso machine, we NEEDED a new grinder. (Note: I kept the old one for occasional spice grinding...waste not, want not!)

My first trip was to the local Megamart to purchase a grinder. They had 3 models - a Black & Decker Burr Grinder, a Hamilton Beach Coffee Grinder that would do several different grinds, and a Mr. Coffee Grinder.

My first choice was the Hamilton Beach unit. It looked cool, had auto shut off, a safety lock on the cap, and it would grind coarse to espresso grind. It also had a retractable cord - nice! So, out comes the checkbook and I go home with a Hamilton Beach espresso/cappucino maker and coffee grinder.

I got home with my new goodies and proceeded to grind up some coffee beans - after skimming over the instructions, of course. (Note: READING instructions is not a guy thing, but skimming is considered acceptable...) I noticed that even on the finest setting, the coffee wasn't perfect for espresso which should be almost powder-fine, but it was acceptable for drip coffee. I discovered that by running the coffee through the process 3 times, I could get a very good espresso grind. This grinder worked OK until a few days later, the top cracked. The top did seem a bit stiff and it was hard to twist shut - so it cracked when my other half was closing it. After a bit of, uh, discussion, I went to the store to return it and get one of the other grinders.

I came back with the Mr. Coffee grinder. It had similar features, said it had an auto shutoff feature, so I figured this would be the one. Wrong again, even though the grinder did the job, it had a short cord and required you to press and hold the button down until it reached one of the three grind settings - coarse, medium or find. It did do the auto shutoff, you just had to hold the button until it did. So I was in search of yet another replacement...

I was in another store where I noticed a Cuisinart Burr Mill. I looked at it closely and I decided to get it. I finally found a better fit to my needs, even though I was hoping for a super fine grind, this one is still much closer to meeting my needs. It makes a fine grind that is very small and does produce a decent espresso. It is even better if you run the coffee through a couple of extra times to get a finer grind. The extra passes through the grinder are NOT according to manufacturer's specs - just mine - it may void your warranty, so do so at your own risk.

I guess that I am too picky. I do like the burr grinder the best because for everyday use it does produce a grind that is more consistent, and is, even when regrinding the coffee, easier to use. Time will tell as to whether this grinder will remain at my house - but I think it is a better fit. I am too cheap to spend $200 to $300 for a grinder - it is just too much for my budget.

All three grinders are nice and do a good job and produce great coffee - I just need more income and a much larger budget for coffee. I will post an update if I find a better grinder. If you find a better one, please post a comment - I would LOVE to hear about it.

I could have saved myself a lot in gasoline and auto wear and tear by simply buying online, so I have given you links that go to purchase pages for these items.

My next post will be on the espresso/cappuccino maker - it is another INTERESTING story...

Until then, May God Bless You and Yours and Have a Great Day!

Anybody for a BLAND dish?

I am a firm believer in tradition. Traditions are good stuff - they keep us in balance and provide stability in our lives. One of my favorite New Year's traditions is eating black-eyed peas as part of a meal - or by themselves. These are an awesome food that are supposed to bring good luck for the upcoming year.

Personally, I don't believe in luck...unless you follow the equation: luck = preparation meeting opportunity. All the same, I always have black eyed peas every year on New Year's day. This year I didn't use the canned variety, or fresh ones, for that matter. I cooked up some that were dried, but I noticed something about the recipe - it would be great if you want really bland food. Let me explain further...

The package directions go something like this...

Quick Soak Method:
For every one lb. beans, soak in 1 to 1-1/2 quarts water. In a large pot, heat beans and water to boiling. Boil for 2 minutes, then let stand for 1 to 4 hours.

Maybe I am missing something, but this recipe seems to be lacking in flavor! There is no mention of salt, butter, bacon, ham, onion, jalapeños or any other seasoning. This recipe as written, would result in something that would be suitable for the creatures that commonly are fed these - cows. In fact, the common name for these wonderful little beans is cowpeas.

My grandfather was shocked when he moved from Arkansas to New Mexico and he found out people were eating cow fodder for human food! Since it was during the depression, I am sure he thought times must REALLY be tough here in the Southwest, so that had to be why people were resorting to eating cowpeas. Like most of us that have eaten them, he quickly fell in love with them.

There is also one other item that bothers me - soak for HOW LONG? Maybe a couple of days or so? I soaked mine for around 2 hours, which seems to work well.

Now, on to the seasoning. Take the recipe above, soak for 2 hours, then add 1/4 cup of ham, bacon or butter to the boiling mixture, along with 1/4 of an onion, diced. Add 1 or 2 teaspoons of sea salt and you have a really tasty dish. You could also add a clove of garlic or a tablespoon of butter to further enhance the flavor and make them even better.

This will give you a great dish for your New Year's table, or for almost any other meal you want to have them with.

That's it for now - Have a Happy New Year and God Bless You and Yours!

Cocoa Pecan Cookies

This recipe is a spin-off of my Reduced Sugar Chocolate Chip Cookies. It is very similar in the area of ingredients and preparation. I was out of vanilla extract, so I used some sugar-free caramel syrup to kick up the flavor a bit. I do recommend to mix the wet ingredients with the mixer but to fold in the flour and other dry ingredients by hand to get the best results.

Thes are good when cold, but for the best taste, warm them up briefly in a toaster oven to make 'em crunchy and warm!

I apologize for the lack of photos, but the cookies disappeared too fast. I should have done it while I was baking - oops!


Utensils:
2 bowls, 4 - 6 cup capacity
1 spatula
1 large spoon for mixing
Measuring Cups
Measuring Spoons
aluminum foil, silicone sheet or parchment paper
1 or 2 cookie sheets
Mixer
small spoon


Ingredients:
4 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
2 teaspoons salt (iodized sea salt is awesome!)
2 squares semisweet baking chocolate squares, finely grated
1 tablespoon Cocoa Powder
2 tablespoons sugar-free caramel syrup
3 tablespoons molasses
3 cups Splenda sweetener (or another sucralose product)
2 cups I can't believe it's not butter sticks (slightly softened)
4 large eggs
1 1/2 cup pecans



1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees fahrenheit.
2. In one bowl, mix together the flour, baking soda and salt, grated chocolate and cocoa powder.
3. Put I can't believe it's not butter and Splenda in the other bowl and cream them together.
4. Add the Molasses and mix well to incorporate into mixture.
5. Add the caramel syrup and mix well.
6. Add the eggs and mix well.
7. Set the mixer aside and add the flour mixture in a little at a time, then mix with a large spoon. Only mix enough to incorporate - DO NOT OVERMIX.
8. Fold in the pecans with the spatula.
9. Place dough on cookie sheet. Each cookie should be about 1 1/2 to 2 tablespoons in size. I use a tablespoon rounded over to keep size even. Do not press them or flatten out - this makes them a lot "heavier." A regular cookie sheet should hold 12 cookies easily.
10. Bake for 17 minutes until golden brown.
11. Enjoy!

What can you do with leftover turkey?

Leftover turkey is a common item around the holidays, so I decided to give a few suggestions on what to do with all that leftover bird.

The best thing to do with leftover turkey is to mix it into something. This meat is versatile and can be used in many dishes instead of beef, chicken or pork. I put together the following list to give you some ideas on what to make. Most of these items in the list are links to recipes that I thought would be good ones to try out. You may find that some of these recipes come back to your table after you have made them once - if it tastes good, it will be eaten!

Other items in the list have my suggestions or a brief recipe summary, just to keep this post reasonably short.

• Turkey Salad



Chop up turkey into 1/4" to 3/8" pieces, mix with Miracle Whip or Salad Dressing, some chopped pickles, onions and celery. Add salt and pepper to taste. You may want to add other spices such as tarragon, lemon pepper, curry, sage, rosemary, thyme, or garlic to the mix. Experiment by taking some of the "base" and mixing a test batch up to see what really tastes best, THEN adjust the spices on the entire batch of salad. Serve on lettuce leaves or in a sandwich of your favorite bread.



• Turkey Noodle Soup



This is fairly easy and it can use up other leftovers you have from your holiday meal. Cut turkey into 3/8" pieces. Put 2 tablespoons of oil into a pan, then add 1-2 cloves of chopped garlic, 1/4 of a medium onion, diced, 2 diced carrots, 1 rib of diced celery. Saute until the vegetables are translucent, then put in your turkey, some chicken or turkey stock. If you like, You can use up leftover giblet gravy here instead of stock or broth. Add water to bring the soup to the desired volume. Bring to a boil and add your noodles. Homemade egg noodles are the best, but just about any noodle will work for this one.



• Turkey Enchiladas



Use my Enchilada Casserole recipe, substituting turkey for the chicken or beef. If you want to you can fry your corn tortillas in the microwave.



• Turkey Rice Casserole


• Turkey Pot Pie


• Turkey Crockpot Surprise



Put bite-sized pieces of turkey into a crockpot or large pan. Put in other leftover vegetable items such as carrots, green beans or broccoli. Add some celery, onion, and garlic and anything else you think might be good. Put in some canned tomatoes, stock, broth or water to bring to the desired volume, then cook on low heat until any raw vegetables you have added are tender.



• Turkey Chili


• Turkey Loaf