A RealFamilies RealFun Blog

May 7 2009

Five way chili

Category: Come and Get It

I love my slow cooker almost as much as I love my family. Maybe I exaggerate a little, but my slow cooker has made life much easier. I frequently make chili in several of its variations like picadillo (with raisins and apples), white (with chicken, corn and white beans) or chili con carne. One of our favorites is Cincinnati style chili because it combines foods Nathan and Lucie love -- chili, spaghetti, beans, and grated cheese.

John Kiradjieff, the founder of the Empress Chili Palor, created it in 1922. The dish is called "Five Way" because of its five layers. The first layer is a serving of spaghetti covered by a layer of chili. Next is a layer of kidney beans followed by chopped onions. The entire dish is then covered with grated cheddar cheese.

I use the recipe in Heartland Cooking Crockery Favorites by Frances Towner Giedt. While this seems like a weird combination of spices, Nathan and Lucie -- who love salsa and spicy foods -- really like it.

Cincinnati Chili Five Ways*

Servings: 6

Prep Time: 25 minutes

Cook Time: 7-9 hours on low or 3 1/2 to 4 1/2 hours on high

Ingredients:
1 1/2 pounds ground beef round
2 medium yellow onions, chopped (2 cups)
1 medium celery rib, chopped (1/2 cup)
4 large garlic cloves, minced
2 tablespoons chili powder
1 tablespoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon dried basil
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper
1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
salt, optional, and black pepper to taste
1 28-ounce can peeled tomatoes in puree undrained
1 8-ounce can tomato sauce
1/2 cup water
1 pound dried spaghetti, broken in half

Toppings:
3/4 cup grated Cheddar cheese (3 cups)
1 medium yellow onion, chopped (1 cup)
1 15 1/2-ounce can dark red kidney beans, heated and drained
Oyster crackers (optional)

Preparation:
1. In a large skillet, brown ground beef, onions, celery, and garlic over medium-high heat until the beef is browned and the onions are limp, about 5 minutes. Drain off all the fat.

2. Transfer meat mixture to a 31/2-quart or larger crockery slow-cooker and combine with remaining ingredients except spaghetti and Toppings. Stir to mix well. Cover and cook on low for 7 to 9 hours or on high for 3 1/2 to 4 1/2 hours.

3. About 30 minutes before serving, cook spaghetti according to package directions. Drain and keep warm.

4. Stir the chili. Serve in wide, shallow soup bowls, ladled over a serving of hot spaghetti. Garnish with cheese, onions, and beans. Serve with oyster crackers on the side.

Kid friendly tips:
1. If you have very young little ones, you may want to break the spaghetti in thirds. If you forget to break up the spaghetti before cooking, you can always use clean scissors or kitchen shears to cut up the noodles.

2. Place the toppings in separate bowls and let the kids serve themselves buffet style. Your kids may want to skip some of the toppings and have "three way chili" (spaghetti, chili and cheese) instead.

3. If you have one of those kids (or are one of those adults) who don't like different kinds of food touching each other, have the chili by itself with a bowl of buttered spaghetti on the side.

4. This is great heated up in the microwave the next day. You can also take the chili and use it in burritos or tacos with a little salsa, shredded jack/cheddar cheese, sour cream, and avocado slices.

*From Heartland Cooking Crockery Favorites by Frances Towner Giedt

 

May 6 2009

Diorama dilemma

Category: At Home

The fateful note appeared in Nathan's Friday Folder. No it wasn't a "please contact me about your child." Instead, it was about one of those homework projects parents fear -- dioramas.

"Build a diorama of an animal in its habitat," the teacher wrote. "Please use a small shoe or tissue box. Also, write two sentences about the animal and its habitat. Your child will present this project to the class."

As a child, I remember struggling to make dioramas with the limited supplies I could scrounge around the house. I didn't get any help from my parents since they felt that I should do my homework myself. (What a unique concept!) Still, I felt since Nathan's in kindergarten, he needs a little assistance from me.

First, I got the dialog started. I gave him an animal book to look at, and we discussed various animals and habitats. Then I asked him what animal he wanted in his diorama. Nathan immediately suggested deer. This was not a surprise since my husband hunts, and we eat venison on a daily basis. So I did a web search, found some easy to color deer and woodland habitat cutouts, and printed them out.

I set Nathan up at the dining room table with the printouts and crayons, and told him to color while I finished putting laundry away. A few minutes later he announced that he was finished. When I went downstairs, I wasn't surprised to see a few scribbles and only a corner of each sheet colored in. Arts and crafts bore Nathan and he only has the patience for a few minutes of coloring at a time.

I told Nathan to color in all the trees and grass while I cut out construction paper for the background. Nathan declared he was done several more times. Then I'd point out things he hadn't colored, and nagged at him to color them in properly.

Finally, Nathan finished and it was time to cut and paste. He cut out the animals and trees, and put glue on the backs of the construction paper I had cut out. I placed in the sky and grass pieces, and then looked over at what he had done. Like any six-year-old, his cutting was jagged and rough. OK, no big deal, I told myself. Everyone else's in his class would be like that, too.

Then Perfectionist Mama reared her ugly head, and neatly trimmed everything he cut out. Honestly, I couldn't help myself. I wanted his diorama to look good and to have a nice 3-D effect. I told myself I was just cleaning it up a little. After pasting in the last pieces, Nathan and I were very happy with the results.

After Paul congratulated Nathan on the nice diorama his mother made for him (thanks, hun) I wondered if I crossed the line. Embarrassed that I had helped too much, I confessed to his teacher about assisting and pushing Nathan to complete the diorama. Amused at my dilemma, she assured me that what I did was fine. The point of the assignment was to introduce the children to the diorama concept and to have them work on larger projects, she said. She had assumed that parents would be working closely with their kids.

Assured that it does take a village to make a kindergarten diorama, I felt a lot better. However, I hope the next time Nathan gets a diorama assignment that he'll be old enough to work on it alone without Perfectionist Mama's interference...uh, help.

 

May 5 2009

Walk the walk

Category: Family Fun

Hands on hips, Lucie sashays into the kitchen and announces, "I'm a hottie." She pivots, and walks away, her hips exaggeratedly swaying from side to side.

I stand there mouth agape, wondering where she learned that maneuver. Could it be from Jenny and Sadie, our friends' daughters who are 7 and 10? No, there hasn't been a meeting of The Secret Girls Club (as Paul likes to call them) in many weeks.

Then I realized it's all Tyra Banks fault.

I'm enthralled by her reality show "America's Next Top Model." I find it fascinating to see how photographers and models work together and how stylists combine clothing, hair styling, and makeup. I only watch it because of my interest in the fashion industry and not the contestant dramatics. Really, I swear.

One evening I made the mistake of watching "Top Model" with Paul and the kids in the room. I vaguely remember him and Nathan discussing which girls they thought were hotties. Lucie must have picked up on that and the models doing their runway walks. Ever a mimic, she perfected her catwalk in a few minutes and showed it off the following evening.

Lucie's "hottie walk" is cute because she's three. If she were older, I'd have a serious talk with her about the media's impact on girls' and women's body image. Nevertheless, for now "Top Model" will be mama's guilty pleasure after the kids are in bed.