It is looking especially cheery and beautiful in our home today with the addition of daffodils, and a beautiful new plant that were gifts.  Thank you so much I absolutely love them!! J

Flowers make me so cheerful!  If you live in the Vancouver, BC area and are interested in finding some good deals on flowers please see the link a good friend of mine added to the comments on the post Flowers Make Me Happy.  Thank you for the tip!
And the beautiful plant
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The kids have been spoiled the last couple of days with gifts from both family and friends, including some new toys, and awesome cloths!  Thanks guys!!

Last night for dinner we made a slow cooker Chilli.  It was our first time using the slow cooker to make Chilli and we thought it came out well so I thought I would share the recipe.  The original recipe is from AllRecipes.com but we changed it a little bit.

Here is the link to the original recipe if you would like to see it.

Slow Cooker Chilli II – AllRecipes.com

 

This is how we made it:

 

Slow Cooker Chilli

Ingredients:

1 pound ground beef (we used a wonderful organic ground beef that Hubby’s parents gave us, thanks!)

1 onion diced

3 stalks celery diced

2 green bell peppers diced

2 cloves of garlic minced

2 cans of tomato paste

2 – 15oz cans kidney beans, rinsed and drained

1 – 15oz can pinto beans, rinsed and drained

1 cup water

½ Tbsp Chilli powder

1 tsp salt

¾ tsp dried basil

¾ tsp dried oregano

¼ tsp ground black pepper

1/8 tsp hot pepper sauce

Beef, Chicken, or Vegetable Stock (whichever you like or have on hand, we used chicken)

 

Directions:

In a skillet on medium heat cook ground beef until brown and cooked through.  Drain any excess fat.  Add beef to the slow cooker.

Mix in the rest of the ingredients, except for the stock.

Once ingredients are mixed together, add enough stock just to cover chilli mixture, stir.

Cook on low setting in slow cooker for 8 hours.

 

We served the Chilli with crusty bread for dipping, and salad.  Slow cooker meals are wonderful for when you have guests over.  You can prepare them ahead of time so that you can better enjoy the time you have with your guests.  Also, after it is done cooking you can leave the slow cooker on the warm setting keeping it perfectly hot for when you are ready to serve it.

Following dinner we had a delicious array of desserts that our lovely guest baked.  They were so good, and we are still enjoying some today! J

Last night I was so focused on taking pictures of people, and having a wonderful time with everyone that I forgot to snap some photos of the food.  Oh well, I think there is something to be said for enjoying the moment and avoiding spending the whole time behind a lens.

Do you have any favorite slow cooker meals?
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Comments

pat
02/10/2010 6:10am

Here's my meat slow cooker favorite:

Chuck roast approx 4 lbs
2 carrots
2 potatoes
1 parsnip
1 small turnip
1 onion (chopped)
garlic
mixed frozen vegetables
pkg of stewing seasoning for slow cooker

Sear roast in hot oil then Put in crock pot
In the same pan fry onions and garlic until soft Then add 1 c. of water and bring to a quick boil. Pour over roast

Cut up vegetables into large chunks (1 inch at least) and add to pot

add stew flavor pkg.
add frozen vegetables

Cover and cook on low 8 - 10 hours

Play around with it and add anything you want. Ex. bouquet garni, wine, any other vegetables or spices

It's delicious and the cheaper the cut of meat the better it turns out. Plus once you get it done in the morning you are free for the day!

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Alicia
02/10/2010 10:40am

We use Yves ground round to make a vegetarian version. It doesn't have any fat and is quite nutritious. I buy plain and add some taco seasoning to the pack and crumble it(Mexican flavour is available but then I can't use the remaining packs for other recipes).

When all of your other ingredients are mixed and cooked through, however this is done, add the Ground Round and serve when it is just heated through.

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