Chili Cookoff

I had so much fun at the 6th Annual Chili Cookoff at Fishhawk Ranch. It was very fascinating tasting all 18 of the chilis.

My favorite chili was #11 from The Broussard Family. It was beanless and they used red and green chili powder from The Hatch Chili Express in New Mexico. They also served it with Fritos, sour cream, cheese, Tobasco, and onions.

They won 1st place in the People’s Choice Awards. My aunt and I both voted for them, so we were very happy they won.

I am planning on entering next year, either with my aunt or by myself. Next year I hope that you can come, taste my chili and (hopefully) vote for me to win!

Mozzarella Sticks – A Super Bowl Snack

Now that its Super Bowl time I’ve decided to give you a snack recipe – and I know how my dad and his friends love their Super Bowl snacks. So here is a “perfect for Super Bowl” snack recipe – Mozzarella Sticks.

Slice mozzarella cheese into strips. Dip them in two eggs with salt, pepper, Italian seasoning, and red pepper flakes.

Then dip them in 2 cups of Italian style panko bread crumbs mixed with 1 cup of grated parmesan cheese, 1.5 teaspoons garlic powder, 1/4 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper, and two tablespoons of olive oil.

Place the sticks on a baking sheet coated with a little bit of oil. Pop the tray in the oven at 400 degrees for about 7 minutes – but watch them closely! They might turn into one big pile of goop and bread crumbs (and you don’t want that to happen). But you do want them to be gooey enough to stretch when you eat them like they are supposed to.

You can dip them in any sauce of your choice. I suggest 4 cheese marinara sauce.

And one more thing. Does anyone have any tips on how to make the breadcrumbs stick to the cheese better? They were pretty crumbly. Anyway, I hope you enjoy!

Food Truck Rally

I had so much fun at the Food Truck Rally!

Believe it or not, there was only one dessert truck and all they sold was donuts! But their donuts are heavenly and when I got them, they were SOOO good, hot and fresh. The way the cinnamon and sugar coated the fried doughy goodness – MMMMMMM! Their name: Ritter’s This n That.

There was also a truck called Jimmy Meatballs. We had to wait in line F-O-R-E-V-E-R.

So by the time we got to the front of the line all they had left were the Meatless Balls. They were actually the very last three meatballs they had. I tried them, they were ok, but I would have preferred one of Grama’s Meatballs.

My parents ate at a truck called Fire Monkey, but I did not. I did have a couple of bites. I tasted their Monkey Roll, but I did not like that it had plantains in it. I did like the bite I had of the Black Bean Cake.

The next food activity we are doing is a Chili Cookoff later this month. I’m looking forward to tasting all the chilis!

Will There be Dessert Trucks?

On Friday my mom told me that the following day we were going to a Food Truck Rally!

Then I started to imagine what it would be like if there were only dessert food trucks. The smell of chocolate filling the air, each line stretching across the Universe, people not being able to decide what truck to go to.

Well I hope that there will be at least one dessert food truck because I love dessert and some day I want to have one – with cupcakes!

I will tell all of my readers what I got and how many dessert trucks there are! Stay tuned for the results!

Lemon Honey Chicken

With all my new followers and the highest number of views EVER on my blog today thanks to Stuck At Home Mom, I thought I needed to get into the kitchen!

My mom couldn’t decide what to do with our chicken tonight, so I told her I would make it. So we went to the store to get the chicken. We had everything else I needed.

In a medium bowl I mixed a pinch of crushed red pepper, 1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper, 1/8 teaspoon Italian seasoning, 1 tablespoon olive oil, the zest and juice of 1/2 a lemon, 1/4 cup honey (ours is special honey from West Virginia that came from hives that used to be my Grandpa’s), 1 teaspoon salt, and 1 teaspoon pepper.

I cut the chicken into bite sized pieces, put it in a big ziploc bag and poured the honey-lemon mixture in too. Next, I made sure every piece of chicken was covered evenly by sort of massaging it around through the bag. Then marinate it for half an hour.

Cook the chicken in a grill pan or large frying pan over medium high heat until the honey is caramelized on the outside of the chicken and the chicken is cooked all the way.

I served my chicken with my mom’s orzo and asparagus with garlic and parmesan. It was SOOO good and surprisingly not spicy. I thought it tasted almost as good as candy!