Week 2 Saturday: Cereal, Chili Californio with Cilantro Cream, Baby Carrots and Caramel Popcorn

It's Saturday morning of Week Two.

Saturday is the only day of the week I don't cook something for breakfast. I grew up watching Saturday morning cartoons - and cereal goes so well with that! Today the kids and I are heading out to play at a Fun Center. So we are eating our cereal quickly while we head out the door.

 

On tonight's menu is Chili California with Cilantro Cream. This is a chili without beans. It's very tasty and cooked in the crock pot the meat is really tender. The lime and cilantro infused sour cream mix in perfectly making it almost an indulgent treat. This is a perfect meal for a cold, rainy night - but really tasty on any night.

 

For dessert we are having caramel corn. This is by far the best caramel popcorn recipe I've ever tried - and I've tried many. I like to make it with maple syrup instead of corn syrup which makes it even better. It is rich, golden caramel, rich, sweet and buttery all at once. This recipe can be put in the oven to crisp, but everyone (except my husband) prefers it chewy. So I'll leave it soft and chewy tonight. It'll be the perfect ending to a fun day together. It's so rich and gooey - it's so hard to stop eating!

 

Chili Californio with Cilantro Cream, Baby Carrots and Caramel Popcorn

DINNER

 

1. Cut roast into 1 inch cubes. Place in crock pot.

2. Chop onion, bell pepper and jalepeno.

 3. Slice olives.

 

4. Dump onions on top of roast. Add garlic.

 

5. Add salt and diced tomatoes.

6. Add chopped bell pepper and jalepeno.

7. Add flour and brown sugar.

8. Add chili powder and New Mexico chili powder.

9. Add oregano and bay leaf.

10. Add olives, red wine vinegar and water.

 

11. Stir well. Cover and cook on LOW for 5-6 hours or until meat is cooked and tender.

12. Meanwhile, snip leaves off of cilantro into small bowl (I use scissors for this).

13. Add sour cream and lime.

14. Stir well and refrigerate until ready to eat chili.

15. When chili is done, remove bay leaf.

16. Serve in bowls with a dollop of the Cilantro Cream. ENJOY!

DESSERT

 

1. Pop 4 bags of microwave popcorn.

2. I use two large bowls and dump the popcorn from the microwave bag into one.

3. Then I take the popped kernals and transfer them to the other bowl, leaving the unpopped kernals in the other bowl. Then I dump them in the garbage. I do that with each bag so that there are no hard unpopped kernals in the caramel popcorn. Then I keep two bags of popcorn in each bowl.

4. Melt 2 cubes of butter in a medium size saucepan over medium heat.

5. Add 2 cups of brown sugar and 1/2 cup of maple breakfast syrup.

6. Add a little salt and let it cook, stirring until it comes to a boil. Boil over medium heat 5 minutes.

7. Remove from heat, add 1/2-1 tsp. of baking soda. It will foam up thick and turn golden.

8. Stir in a teaspoon of vanilla.

9. Pour caramel over both bowls of popcorn. With a large spoon stir the caramel and popcorn until all the popcorn is coated.

10. Bring the caramel that goes to the bottom up to the top and keep doing that until it is uniform. ENJOY!