Beef Chili and Valentines' dessert

I've done Chicken meals so much this past month of blogging about dinners that I figured it was time for a change; yes Chicken is healthier, but c'mon. There is such a thing as TOO much Chicken.

So, Beef Chili was actually pretty good for something so simple and all just me going, 'I think this would be good... ' or 'yummy, lime juice!'

(Once again I'm mad at blogger for flipping my picture!!)

Ingredients:

-Vegetable Oil

-1 lb Ground Beef

-1/4 Medium Red Onion

-3 Cloves chopped/pressed Garlic

-1 Medium Red Pepper

-1 Medium Yellow Pepper

-3 Jalapenos

-14 oz diced tomatos (I did diced tomatos with green chilis)

-14 oz light red (or dark red) Kidney Beans

-1 Lime's juice

Begin by cooking the ground beef, you can season it with black pepper or chili powder; I actually did neither (Next time I will try to simmer the meat in the Lime juice).

Remove the beef, sepearating the fat from it and discarding. Allow the meat to sit off of heat but you do not need to refrigerate it.

Put about a tablespoon of oil in the bottom of a large skillet or wok sized pan and heat until it has the consistency of water or until it pops when water is flicked in it (a trick I mentioned in the second post when I made stir-fry).

Add the diced Onions and garlic to the wok until they become translucent. Add in ALL of the peppers allow them to cook for 2-3 mins followed by undrained diced tomatos. Finally add the meat and Kidney beans.

If you would like to add Lime juice to set off the spice of the peppers I would recommend it (again, I'll try next time to cook the meat with lime-juice and let you know how that goes).

Allow the whole wok to simmer for a few minutes, serve hot and with a side of cornbread for best experience.

Smoothies were pretty good too and rather healthy I believe.

Ingredients:

-3/4 Cup Skim Milk

-1/2 Cup berries (Combining raspberries, strawberries, blue berries)

-1/4 Cup Nonfat yogurt

Place all ingredients in a blender and blend for 1-2 mins adding more milk to improve on the consistency.

Chocolate Covered Strawberries were presented to me for two reasons; 1-It's actually a semi-healthy dessert, only 70 calories from the chocolate and it's fresh fruit, and 2-It's Valentines day. What says Valentines like Chocolate and Strawberries?

Things you'll need:

-15-20 Strawberries (I was lucky enough to find long stemmed strawberries which I would recommend if you can find too)

-5-6 oz semi-sweet bakers chocolate (You can also use white chocolate if that tickles your fancy)

Place the chocolate in a heat-proof bowl (I cut them into smaller chunks to make it a faster melt).

Wash the strawberries and pat them dry. Lay out a sheet of wax paper on a cookie sheet for easier transportation to the fridge when you are done.

Put 1-2 inches of water in a small sauce pan that the bowl will be able to act as a top for and bring the water to a boil. Remove the water from heat and place the bowl of chocolate on top to simmer.

Stir the chocolate until you get a smooth chocolate completely melted. Leave the bowl on the pan to make sure it does not turn hard.

Take the dry Strawberries and dip them in the chocolate making sure to cover them to your heart's content.

Place on the wax paper and store in the refrigerator to harden. Eat after about 10 mins of cooling or until chocolate has hardened.

There you have it. A relatively easy dinner and dessert idea for anyone.

Until next week, Enjoy!