Habits and Halloween

My Mom came to town this past week. It was a nice visit. She came in on Monday and left early this morning and got to spend lots of time with the girls. Unfortunately, it rained for almost her entire visit, so all of our outdoor plans - going to the Zoo, the Botanical Gardens, the Missions - were kyboshed! We ended up doing lots of crafts, eating out a lot, and hitting up the mall.

Mom visits, for me, are always nice because all of a sudden you have these extra set of hands that help you get everything done around the house, along with the added bonus of a totally trustworthy babysitter. There's something wonderful about going to unload your dishwasher and realizing it's been done for you, or opening the dryer and finding it empty and discovering a folded basket of laundry on the foot of your bed. And being able to run out during naptime to do an errand on your own is totally magical. I mean, I love the girls, but when you have multiple children not yet fully school-aged, having some free time during the day is like a rare, double rainbow sighting!

Now my Mom is gone and I'm getting back into my routine. As much as I loved having her here and all her help, I also love getting back into the groove with the family. It's crazy how quickly routines and schedules and habits can be altered by something as simple as a short visit. Having someone help with chores is super nice, but it's far too easy to start getting lax with your own responsibilities and get into a bad habit in a short period of time. And like most things in life, good habits are hard to start and easy to break, but bad habits are easy to form and hard to stop.

So, time to get back on the good habit track! No more lunches out and dinners ordered in. No more sleeping in and not waking up to work out. No more eating a bag of Doritos and watching horror movies into the late night...we'll make it popcorn instead and try to start the movie before 9:00 pm!

And, speaking of horror flicks, if you haven't watched any yet this month, it's time to get on it! Halloween is next week and there's only one more weekend and a few days to finish the month on a spectacularly, spooky note! If you need any helpful hints for what to watch (if you care), here's a list of my faves:

Erica's Top 10 Halloween Flicks

10. Ghostbusters (1984)

9. Tremors (1990)

8. Halloween (1978)

7. Young Frankenstein (1974)

6. Scream (1996)

5. Psycho (1960)

4. The Cabin in the Woods (2011)

3. A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984)

2. The Silence of the Lambs (1991)

1. Alien (1979)

Chili for a Chilly Day

Autumn has arrived in Texas, and man did it come out of left field! On Sunday it was in the low 80's, and on Monday it dropped to the high 40's. And although it was drastic and quick, I've been embracing the crisp temperatures and non-humid air.

When I lived up North I always longed for September because I knew by the end of the month I would be wearing jeans and sweaters, drinking pumpkin spice lattes and feeling the brisk sting of the cool wind on my cheeks during an afternoon walk. In the South, however, sometimes you have to wait all the way to November before you can put on leggings and tunics and feel justified in buying a maple pecan latte. So, needless to say, I'm pretty pumped I only had to get halfway through October before I could warrant pulling out all of my autumnal decorations and my big chili pot.

Nothing tastes quite as good as a hearty bowl of chili on a cool, fall day. And whipping up a pot for a tailgate, or right before your weekend viewing of your favorite college or pro game, makes it even better.

So, if you're looking for a new twist to your old chili, let me go ahead and share my go-to, crowd-pleasing, would-definitely-win-a-blue-ribbon-if-I-entered-it-in-a-chili-cookoff recipe!

Erica's Amazing Turkey-Chorizo Chili

Ingredients:

1lb ground turkey, 85% fat (the fattier the better)
1lb ground chorizo
1 small onion, yellow or white, chopped
1 bell pepper (any color), chopped
1 can black beans
2 diced tomatoes -or- 1 can diced tomatoes with liquid
1 small can of green chiles, diced
1 packet of Tex-Mex or Texas Blend chili seasoning
2 tbsp. EVOO

Directions:

In a large pot or dutch oven, warm EVOO over medium-high heat. Add the turkey and chorizo, frequently breaking the meat up with a wooden spoon or my secret weapon - the potato masher!

While the meat is browning, chop up and dice the veggies. I was lucky enough to have my sous chef in the kitchen with me on the evening I was cooking the chili, who was happy to do the task for me!

Once the meat is browned, remove from the pan and drain the fat. Add a little more EVOO to the pot and then add the vegetables. Saute until just softened and translucent. Then return the meat to the pot and add the tomatoes, green chiles, black beans and seasoning packet. Stir to combine. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer. 

Let cook over low heat for at least half an hour - which is the perfect amount of time to make some cornbread to serve alongside. I used Krusteaz Fire Roasted Cornbread and made the muffins in a madeline pan because I never really have any other use for the pan, and they're the perfect size!

When ready, serve big portions of chili in your favorite bowls, accompanied by the cornbread, and topped with anything that suits your fancy - sour cream, grated cheese, jalapeños, and/or diced onion.

Enjoy! And if you ever enter this in a chili cookoff, make sure to let me know if it wins!

What's for Dinner?

It's been a while since I posted a foodie blog. I have a ton of pictures of dinners I've been making that I keep meaning to share on here, but life has been busy - as I'm sure you can all relate to - and cataloging recipes has been at the bottom of my to-do list.

Once upon a time I used to love taking my time in the kitchen and getting lost in cooking while I sipped leisurely on a glass of wine and listened to Edith Piaf on my iTunes. Then I had kids. Gone were the days of making Beef Bourignon for three hours or savoring a glass of wine while waltzing around the kitchen to French music. These days I'm lucky if my kids don't barge into the kitchen, run through the galley, or throw a projectile from the playroom at me while I'm trying to get dinner together. I listen to old school rock or alternative licks because the beat keeps me up-tempo while I throw my thirty minute delicacy together.

So I went back through my pics and figured I would start with a recipe that is super easy and delicious, surprisingly quick (don't let the list of ingredients fool you!), and totally filling:

Carne Asada with Beans, Rice and Greens

Marinade & Steak:

1/3 cup soy sauce

1/3 extra virgin olive oil

1/3 cup lime juice

1/4 cup orange juice

1/4 cup lemon juice

3 cloves garlic minced (or 1 big tbsp. of jarred minced garlic)

1 tbsp. cumin

1 tbsp. chile powder

1 tbsp. Goya Recaito (culantro cooking base) - in the international food aisle

1 tsp oregano

1 tsp cracked pepper

2 lbs flank or sirloin steak (pounded to 1/4 in thickness)

Place steak in a shallow rimmed dish. Combine liquids together and then add all dry herbs and recaito. Whisk together and pour over steak. Cover with cling wrap and refrigerate. Marinate at least 6 hours, preferably overnight, turning once halfway through marinating.

When ready to cook, lightly oil outside grill and heat to medium-high. Cook steak for about 5 minutes on each side for medium rare. 

Black Beans:

1 can (15 oz) black beans, drained and rinsed

1/4 cup pico de gallo

1 tbsp. hot sauce (I prefer Cholula or Franks)

Salt to taste

Combine all ingredients in a medium pot and bring to a simmer on the stove over medium heat. 

Plate:

1 cup cooked white rice (I prefer Basmati)

1 bag mixed green salad of choice 

1 cup guacamole

1 cup pico de gallo

1/4 cup chopped cilantro

1 lime, wedged

Carne Asada 

Black Beans

Chop up steak into bite size pieces and portion the carne asada, black beans, rice, salad, guacamole and pico de gallo on plate or bowl. Garnish with cilantro and lime (lots of lime!). Eat each section separately, or mix it all together for pure, unadulterated, heavenly deliciousness!

Serves 4 adults or 2 adults and 3 small children :)

Bon apetit!

The Pearl and The Riverwalk North

Well, it's been an interesting week. I went out and about on a little expedition with my littlest last Wednesday to two of my favorite "stroller cruising" venues in the city, and the next day was racked out with the flu. The following day my hubby got struck. Friday night my littlest got it. And last night it struck my eldest. I'm officially over flu season, and it's just started. 

Of course it was a long weekend where we had plans to do a multitude of things with friends and the kids, to include a BYOB paint night, the Khabib vs. McGregor fight, and wandering the hill country at a pumpkin patch. All of those things got eighty-sixed, except the UFC fight, which the hubby and I watched late Saturday night thanks to Twitch, and which didn't disappoint with its post-bout debacle!

So, finally the long weekend is over, as is the plague on our house....I hope! Why do sicknesses always seem to come on days off/vacations/important events? 

Anyways....as I mentioned earlier, I was able to get out and do some exploring last week with "L" before we got sidelined, and got some great photos of a few of my favorite places to take family and friends when they come to San Antonio:

The Pearl

and

The Riverwalk

While the Riverwalk extends for miles along the course of the San Antonio River's journey through the city - starting in the north near the University of the Incarnate Word, and going as far south as Mission Espada - I love walking its northern course. The sidewalks are wide enough for strollers and joggers to share space, the landscape and architecture of its old buildings and museums are beautiful, and there are cool art "spaces" along the route, as well. And while you're walking the northern boulevards of the rio, you can hop off at any time and explore cool sites like The Pearl.

Originally part of the old San Antonio Brewing Assn. and Lone Star Brewery Complex, which operated between 1883-2001 in San Antonio, The Pearl was repurposed and converted into a "mixed-use" retail, restaurant, hotel and entertainment venue for the city around 2009. It's home to tons of quaint boutiques, the third satellite location of the Culinary Institute of America, cute restaurants and lots of green space. It's where all the hipsters hang out every weekend at the city's farmers market, so you know it's cool...(I'm totally raising my eyebrows sardonically while I write that last line). Alas, though, it truly is cool and I love walking the paseos of the old brewery and checking out the shops, the eateries, and the way they totally repurposed everything, to include old mechanical components which now serve as installation art. 

If you haven't been in a while, there's always something going on there, and the vibe is always friendly. And if you ever plan on visiting San Antonio, it's a must for things to see and do in the city!