Triple D Chili

Last night my DH and I were watching "Diners, Drive-ins and Dives" and it seemed like every episode we watched had hot dogs, so of course we both got hungry for hot dogs!  Chili cheese dogs to be precise.  One particular episode the owner showed how to make chili from scratch.  So that is   what I am attempting to replicate tonight.

There is no set recipe, and there are no measurements aside from the pound of hamburger.  So you will need to gather

Canola Oil and Olive oil

Beef Soup base

Ketchup and Mustard

White Vinegar and
Worchestershire sauce (not pictured)

Paprika

Chili Powder

Oregano

Garlic Powder

Cumin

Ground Pepper

Onion and Carrots

 After spending several hours at the Zoo for a birthday party I used the easy route and used the food processor to chop up the carrots and onion.

Set a pan on the stove and pour in a blop (yes this is a technical term) of each of the oils.  The sweat the carrots and onion.

Once they are sweating good add the hamburger

And the spices, all just kinda thrown in depending on how you think you will like it.  And I forgot to mention that you need some water (12-ish ounces) too...so add that now.

Yes, at this point the hamburger is raw but that is OK because this is going to cook and simmer and make you drool for 30-45 minutes.  After 15 minutes or so taste the chili to see if you like the flavors, and then you can add more of any of the spices, whatever you think it needs.

Almost done!

Once the chili is done it's time to assemble the chili dog!  Bun, grilled or boiled dog, top with chili and cheese.

ENJOY!

Oh what to do with Zucchini?

Summer is in full swing, and gardens are popping out loads of fresh vegetables and TONS of zucchini and yellow squash.  So what to do with it all.  Some like it raw, or you can microwave it.  You can even shred zucchini and put it into your baked goods (chocolate cake especially) and you can't taste it at all!

This weekend while at my parent's house we decided to grill up some steak for Sunday Dinner, and for a side I decided to try to grill the zucchini and squash so I sliced it into rounds, nice and thick, put it in a ziplock bag with some Italian dressing (although you can use olive oil and any seasonings you want) and using a straw suck out all the air (seriously)

Sucking out the air helps force the flavors into the veggies...unless you have a professional vacuum sealer...ah a girl can dream right?

Allow the rounds to marinate for a hour, or overnight, then throw them on the grill, turning several times to get those lovely grill marks!

It takes about 10-12 minutes total, to get them just right!

Then serve them up as a meal, or as a side.  It's your call!