WHITE CHICKEN CHILI RECIPE

As promised here is the chili recipe we are obsessed with. It's our family's Halloween tradition to make chili before trick-or-treating. Since we are a bit too old for the trick-or-treating part, we decided that we would just keep the chili part of the tradition alive. So add this to your list of must try Fall dishes!

Ingredients:
2 cups cooked diced chicken
1 medium onion, chopped
1 1/2 tsp garlic powder
1 TB Vegetable oil (used to cook chicken if needed)
2 cans (15 1/2 oz) Great Northern Beans (rinsed)
1 can (14 1/2 oz) Chicken Broth
2 cans (4 oz) chopped green chilis
1 tsp of each: salt, cumin, oregano
1/2 tsp pepper
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1 cup greek yogurt (you could also use sour cream)
1/2 cup whipping cream

Directions:
In crockpot place cooked chicken, onion, garlic powder, beans, broth, chilies and seasonings. Heat thoroughly. (3-4 hours on low) Or bring to boil over stove, simmer uncovered for at least 30 min.

Remove from heat, add yogurt and whipping cream. Serve immediately.

HAPPY HAUNTING: OCTOBER 2013 HALLOWEEN MOVIES

This week is Halloween, I love Halloween, its probably one of my favorite holidays. I'm not to jazzed about candy, or having people scare me- but I do love seeing all the great costumes, and driving past houses with pumpkin leaf bags, oh and watching all the spooky movies that come on in the last weeks of October. If you are anything like me scary movies are not your thing- Silence of the Lambs is pushing it for me on the fear spectrum. I'm more of a "It's Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown" kind of girl. Another of my favorite Halloween traditions is making chili and corn bread on Halloween night, we did it when I was a kid and I carried into adulthood, because it just feels right. Later this week I'll share the white chicken chili recipe I'm obsessed with lately. It's the perfect Autumn pick me up on cold, rainy,spooky nights.

But let's get back to the flicks, here's my list of Halloween movies on Netflix and TV 2013:

NETFLIX:
Ghostbusters - also on TV Comedy Central on 10/31
ParaNorman
The Nightmare Before Christmas - also on TV ABC Family on 10/29
Rosemary's Baby
Scream
The Mummy (Not The Brendan Fraser Version)
Carrie (The Original)
The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (I had to watch this for a German History Class once, it was weird, But I kinda liked it)


CABLE:
Tim Burton's Corpse Bride - ABC Family on 10/29
Twilight - on ABC Family 10/30
It's Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown - ABC on 10/31
The Addam's Family - ABC Family on 10/31
The Addam's Family Values - ABC Family on 10/31
Hocus Pocus - Lifetime on 11/1 (They are airing this on Friday...)

HOMEMADE MARINARA FROM FRESH TOMATOES

One of my favorite parts off Autumn is harvesting our garden. We had some early frost warnings so a lot of our tomatoes were picked early, most were still green. I tried letting them ripen up in a bowl last year, but learned they do better in boxes and paper bags. So this year we corrected our error, and had a bounty of tomatoes all at once. We diced some for salads, made a round of Ketchup, and ate tomato-filled foods for a week- I am surprised I haven't turned into a tomato, seriously like Violet Beauregarde from Willy Wonka turning into a blueberry.

But we still had 7 huge tomatoes left and they were on the brink of getting too soft. Usually if something was about to rot, I would throw it in the worm composting bin but we stopped feeding them so we could transition them to winter. (More on that next week)   I couldn't stand wasting them, and I wasn't about to dive into the deep abyss really homemaker-ey moms call vegetable canning, NO, not over 7 measly tomatoes. Long story short, I made this marinara sauce, and it was so good, beyond good even. You can actually taste the flavors, it was so easy that I will never buy the canned stuff again. Seriously, your mouth is gonna be like, WHAT?!

Ingredients
6-8 large tomatoes, chopped
2 small onions, diced
1 clove of garlic, diced
1/2 T fresh basil
1/2 T fresh thyme
1/2 T fresh oregano
salt and pepper to taste

Directions
Chop the onions and garlic and saute in a sauce pan. When those have caramelized stir in  chopped tomatoes. Incorporate the fresh herbs. Let the sauce simmer stirring occasionally, the water from the tomatoes will cook off and you will be left with a thick, hearty sauce.

SEPTEMBER ECO FRIENDLY FINDS

The changing of the seasons not only signals a change in wardrobe, but adjustments to your home as well. Think about it in the same way you would your wardrobe. Adding lush fabrics, texture and warmth can be easy if you start of small. A knit toss pillow, a wool throw, and some wooden accessories can cozy up a space, just like that. This month's favorites are a collection of small things you could add to your home to warm it up for fall. I just ordered #2 and I can't wait to snug it right onto the guest bed.

1/2/3/4/5/6/7

DIY TEACUP CANDLES (EMERGENCY CANDLES)

I have been a little MIA in the last month because we had a forest fire, it was kind of scary, I won't lie. You can read about it here. I have never had to evacuate my home before, and we had about an hours' notice- let me tell you, you really realize what is important in a crisis. Fortunately, we had our important documents all in the same place, and it was a matter of tossing in medicine and passports. Oh, and John hadn't come home from work yet, so I was doing all of this alone, and as organized as I am- I really almost forgot about the cat... Pet owner of the year right here ladies and gents!

But we made it through, and thankfully everyone and everything was safe. But in the wake of our evacuation I realized we are woefully ill-prepared for other types of emergencies. We had no water/food stores, and didn't even own a proper flashlight that wasn't attached to our phones, until last week. So in addition to my other emergency prep, I wanted to make some emergency candles- but I wanted them to look good.  I had empty teacups just sitting in the cupboard and they needed a purpose in life. So that's how this DIY was born. I would estimate from my previous candle-owning knowledge, that these will burn for close to 40 hours each.

Supplies:
Scissors
Teacups
Soy Candle Wax
Flat Braid Wicks (at least 3" longer than your container)
Microwave Safe Container/ Double Boiler
Hot Glue/ Wax Adhesive

Directions:
1. Clean your cup and dry completely
2. Place your wick in the center of your cup and glue it down with hot glue. You can also use wax adhesive for this step. Support your wick with a pencil/skewer/huge ugly stick. I had a huge ugly stick handy as you can see.
3. Heat wax according to package instructions. This is where you will add dye or scent if you choose to. I added a few drops of lemon and orange scent.
4. Pour into container. You can adjust the wick to make sure it is straight after you poor the wax.
5. Let sit until the wax is cool until the candle is solid. (If you have an uneven settling you can add more wax to the top to make it a level surface.)
6. Trim wick down to 1/4″.