Adventures in Married Life

• 1 Tbsp olive oil
• 1 lbs lean ground beef/ l lb ground turkey
• 1 large yellow onion, finely chopped
• 3 cloves of garlic, finely minced
• 2 (14.5) oz cans diced tomatoes with green chilies
• 3 (8 oz) cans tomato sauce
• 2 1/2 Tbsp chili powder
• 1 Tbsp ground cumin
• 1 Tbsp paprika
• 2 tsp cocoa powder
• 1 tsp granulated sugar
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
• 1 (15 oz) can dark red kidney beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 (15 oz) can black beans, drained and rinsed 
• 1 (15 oz) can refried beans
• Serve topped with:
• Cheddar and Monterey Jack cheese, sour cream, chopped red or green onions, cilantro, roasted peppers, or hot sauce
• Optionally serve with:
• fresh cornbread or biscuits, baked russet potatoes, saltine crackers or tortilla chips

• Heat olive oil in a large nonstick saucepan over moderately high heat. Once oil is hot, carefully crumble ground beef into oil and cook, stirring occasionally until beef has browned. Drain most of fat from beef, leaving about 2 - 3 Tbsp in with beef (this is optional, I think it ads flavor but you can drain it all if you'd prefer). Pour browned beef into a 6 or 7 quart slow cooker. Add in onion, garlic, diced tomatoes, tomato sauce, chili powder, cumin, paprika, cocoa powder, sugar, and season mixture with salt and pepper to taste. Stir in black beans and light red kidney beans. Cover with lid and cook on low heat for 6 hours.
• Serve warm with desired toppings 

The Best Banana Bread

Ingredients

2. In a small bowl, use a fork to finely mash bananas (I used 3). Stir in lemon juice and set aside.

3. In a large bowl, sift flour, sugar, baking soda and salt together. Stir in brown sugar.

4. In another bowl, use a whisk to combine eggs, buttermilk, oil, applesauce and vanilla extract.

5. Pour your liquid ingredients and mashed bananas into the dry ingredients. Use a wooden spoon to stir just until combined.

6. Stir in walnuts or chocolate chips.

7. Pour batter into prepped loaf pan. (If you want, cut a piece of parchment paper to fit the pan, but leave enough to come up over the edges. Once your bread is baked and cooled, you can lift those pieces of parchment paper to easily remove the bread. See photo)

8. Bake bread for about 1 hour. Check the done-ness of your bread by sticking a toothpick or knife into the center. It should come out clean. If it isn't, leave the bread in for more time.

9. Let cool in pan. As always, banana bread is better the next day. Enjoy!

  Cherry New York Cheesecake 

Ingredients

 

1 crumb-crust recipe, made with finely ground graham crackers below 

5 (8-oz) packages cream cheese, softened  

Crumb Crust Recipe

• 1 1/2 cups (5 oz) finely ground graham crackers or cookies such as chocolate or vanilla wafers or gingersnaps
• 5 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1/8 teaspoon salt

Stir together crust ingredients and press onto bottom and 1 inch up side of a buttered 24-centimeter springform pan. Fill right away or chill up to 2 hours. 

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