Rockin' White Chili, Orange Slice Bento & Some Fall Phoenix Blooms.

My kid sister makes the best White Chili I have ever tasted!  What I love most--IT'S QUICK & EASY!!!!
A one pot recipe that you literally open cans and dump, this gem can be ready in minutes and feed a crowd if needed!  Now my sister is a gifted artist and would tell you to keep as many of the ingredients white in color to stay true to the name, but I kind of just go with what I've got on hand (and what I love to eat!)

You will need


Pour all ingredients in stock pot. 


Stir over Medium heat until cheese melts.


Chili is done!


Serve with a dollop of Sour Cream and Tortilla chips (even though they are not white, we love Doritos with this chili)
My chili bowl (I realize that I have a romance with my dishes)



You can also add any of your favorite Mexican toppings, such as green onion, black olives, more shredded cheese...etc...

I've tied some sheets around the kids swing set to set up a little fort while I cook.  Grin.  I soooo remember how much I enjoyed a good fort as a kid!


The Lemonista has hooked up her lil' lemondrops with a popcorn and lemonade.


Moving on to some Bento.  I recently found these little Paperchase Pantry Peepers Bento boxes at Borders.  I LOVE them.  The rectangle shape is so fun to work with. 

Here's Elyse's orange slices this morning in one of my new boxes. The little decorations are listed as Bento food dividers on ebay. They are reusable plastic with animated characters that say happy little messages in Japanese (hmmm....wonder what they say???)




The thermos container holds leftover white chili!


I will leave you today with a few photos of what's blooming in the Lemonista's garden.  Here are the pansies we put in last weekend.  Just look at their smiling faces....makes me swoon. 


And my true joy


The roses have started their fall bloom and they are simply glorious!! I'm off to cut some of these and place them in a vase next to my kitchen sink.


White Chili
14oz (ish) jar of Medium Salsa (I do mild for the kids)
14oz can chicken broth (my big box of broth is in the photo since I use a lot of this stuff)
2, 15oz cans Great Northern beans or White Kidney beans, drained (whatever you can find)
2, 12.5oz cans Chicken Breast, drained (I get the Kirkland brand at Costco)
1 Tablespoon ground Cumin
Chopped cilantro (almost a whole bunch, no stems)
2 cups grated  Monterey Jack cheese (I had cheddar jack and that works fine too)

Combine all ingredients in large pot.  Stir over medium heat until cheese melts.  Serve with crushed tortilla chips and a dollop of sour cream. 

Happy Tuesday Y'all!!!

Thankful Turkey Bento ~ Bento Egg Molds ~ A Recipe to use up Halloween Candy!

Thankful Turkey Bento

After finding these cute Thanksgiving royal icing decorations at Fancy Flours. I couldn't resist buying them for my November Bento Lunches.


Yes, they are made of pure sugar.  However, they are tiny and the cuteness outweighs the small amount of sugar they add (in my oppinion).



For today's lunch I made a sandwich decorated with cheddar letters.  I made the letter with this alphabet cutter kit found at Michael's.  The fun turkey is one of my fancy flour guys.


For fruit we have orange slices and grapes with a red tomato food pick (I always like to add a touch of red).
The veggies are blanched green beens left over from dinner last night and a fresh mushroom decorated with almond slice ears, a face made with nori punch and ketchup cheeks.

Bento Egg Molds

I've had lots of questions on how to use a Bento Egg Mold and I've promised a step-by-step post--here it is :-)

• Place your egg in saucepan and cover with cold water.
• Bring water to boil and boil egg for 3 minutes.
• Turn off heat and let egg set in hot water for 8 minutes.
• Remove egg from pan. 

• *If you want a colored egg then pour some of pans hot water in cup and add food coloring.  If you want your egg to remain white, then skip this step.
• Run your egg under cool water until it's just cool enough to peel.  You want the egg to remain as warm as possible without burning your fingers.
• Peel egg.
• *Place egg in colored water for 1 minute and then remove egg from dye.  Skip this step if you want a white egg.

• Place egg in Bento egg mold and close.

• place egg mold in iced water and let sit for 15 minutes. 

• Remove egg mold from iced water and open egg mold.  Remove your super cute hard boiled egg.

• Now watch your kids gobble up health eggs loaded with protien!!!!

Ah...the inside of a perfectly boiled egg. 

Finally, I leave you with a recipe from my sweet neighbor Stephanie Heller.  This candy bark is a great way to use up some of that leftover Halloween candy!

Halloween Peanut Butter and Toffee Candy Bark by bon appetit

This Halloween Candy Bark can be made up to a week ahead. Chill it in an airtight container and let it stand at room temperature for 15 minutes before serving.
1 pound bittersweet chocolate chips

3 2.1-ounce Butterfinger candy bars, cut into irregular 1-inch pieces

3 1.4-ounce Skor or Heath toffee candy bars, cut into irregular 3/4-inch pieces

8 0.55-ounce peanut butter cups, each cut into 8 wedges

1/4 cup honey-roasted peanuts

3 ounces high-quality white chocolate (such as Lindt or Perugina), chopped

Reese's Pieces and/or yellow and orange peanut M&M's

Preparation

Line baking sheet with foil. Stir chocolate chips in heavy medium saucepan over low heat until melted and warm (not hot) to touch. Pour chocolate onto foil; spread to 1/4-inch thickness (about 12x10-inch rectangle). Sprinkle with Butterfinger candy, toffee, peanut butter cups, and nuts, making sure all pieces touch melted chocolate to adhere.

Put white chocolate in heavy small saucepan. Stir constantly over very low heat until chocolate is melted and warm (not hot) to touch. Remove from heat. Dip spoon into chocolate; wave from side to side over bark, creating zigzag lines. Scatter Reese's Pieces and M&M's over, making sure candy touches melted chocolate.

Chill bark until firm, 30 minutes. Slide foil with candy onto work surface; peel off foil. Cut bark into irregular pieces.

Kicking off the Festive Weekend with Some Southwest Gardening! It's Tulip Time!

I remember my parents battening down the hatches this time of year in preparation for the long winter ahead.  So the irony never escapes me when we start planning our winter gardens in Arizona.  We just finished putting in our winter lawn and this weekend we planted our winter flowers.  If you live in the Southwest, now is the time to plant all those pretty flowers and it's also the time to plant bulbs.  The flowers we will enjoy all winter long, but the bulbs will hide beneath the dirt until Easter time when they will make their glorious debut!



We start by digging the sun cooked earth out of our flower gardens. 


Followed by the kids and I taking a trip to the plant nursery for some fresh dirt and pansies (making a quick stop at Sonic for some slushies on our drive home).   I always buy the kids a bag of live ladybugs when we're planting (our bag this year contained 2000 ladybugs!).  It gives the kids something to do while Mike and I work and the ladybugs are a wonderful natural pesticide. 








The bulb are planted 5" below the surface, so they will go in first.  Just look at these Dutch pretties!  I've selected a bright rainbow mix for this year.


Each Garden will get 33 bulbs so I separate the bags into their locations.


Next we removed the bulbs from their bags and space them around the garden.
The Lemonista's helpers makes holes with a bulb planting tool and tucks the bulbs safely inside--point side up.

A fresh blanket of dirt is layered over top to achieve the needed 5" depth.


Finally, the lovely pansies are planted.

(My Mother says there's nothin' sexier than a man doing the dishes...but a man planting my garden comes pretty close! *Grin*)

A heavy dose of water later and the front garden is finished!  Now we enjoy our pansies and wait 'till spring to see our gorgeous tulips!


This afternoon we will carve pumpkins and gear up for a neighborhood gathering...and of course, tricker-treating!  I'll leave you with a few festive photos from around our house to get you in the mood.










Have a safe, happy, Halloween!
The Lemonista and Staff ;-)

Ramen Noodle Slaw Salad

I had such a craving for this salad one day.  I posted on the chat boards for recipes and got several different versions.  I ended up trying them all and then taking what I liked best out of all the recipes to make this one.  I really enjoy the Asian tangy sweet flavors in this salad but I think what I love most of all is the crunch. 

You will need

*my salad oil looks white because I keep it in the frig--oil gets rancid quick here in AZ ;-)

In a large bowl combine canola oil, sesame seed oil, sugar, vinegar, seasoning packet from Ramen and sesame seeds.


this is the vinegar I use (I photographed the wrong bottle in the ingredients above)


Whisk together.


Add I bag coleslaw (I get the one with the purple cabbage and carrots shredded in it because it looks pretty~but the grocery store was out, so no pretties today), 4 chopped green onions and sunflower seeds.  Toss to combine with dressing.  Cover and refrigerate.


In a skillet melt butter.  Add almonds and crushed Ramen noodles. 



Saute, stirring occasionally, until lightly toasted.  Keep a close eye on these as there is no cure for burnt.


Right before you are ready to serve combine the slaw mixture with the toasted almonds and Ramen.

I sprinkled a little edemame on top since I had some left over.

Happy Salad eating from The Lemonista :-)
Ramen Noodle Slaw Salad

1 bag Coleslaw mix (with shredded carrots & purple cabbage)
4 green onions chopped
1 package Ramen noodle, Asian flavor
1/2 c. sunflower seeds (I get the ones roasted with sea salt at Safeway)
1  2oz package slivered almonds, toasted
1/3 cup canola or peanut oil
1/3 cup sugar
1/3 cup Rice Vinegar
2 Tbls butter
1 tsp. sesame oil
1 tsp. black sesame seeds

In a large bowl combine canola oil, sesame seed oil, sugar, vinegar, seasoning packet from Ramen and sesame seeds. Whisk together.  Add I bag coleslaw, 4 chopped green onions and sunflower seeds. Toss to combine with dressing. Cover and refrigerate.
In a skillet melt butter. Add almonds and crushed Ramen noodles.
Saute, stirring occasionally, until lightly toasted. Keep a close eye on these as there is no cure for burnt.
Right before you are ready to serve combine the slaw mixture with the toasted almonds and Ramen.