Danger, I Made This and I Will Be Making It Again

I made this Cinnamon Roll Monkey Bread this weekend for a baby shower brunch this weekend and it was heavenly and deadly. By that I mean, you go to heaven then you die cause all of your arteries are clogged by this thing. But it is GOOD. I mean, GOOD.

You won't be sad if you make this for your family this weekend. Neither will your family. Only your scale, your trainer and your jeans will be mad at you. But that is okay.

Do it anyway!

Cinnamon Roll Monkey Bread
1/2 cup sugar
2 teaspoons cinnamon, divided
2 cans Pillsbury refrigerated Cinnamon Rolls
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
1/2 cup dried cranberries
1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/2 cup butter or margarine, melted
Cinnamon Roll icing

Heat oven to 350°F. Lightly grease 12-cup fluted tube pan.

In large plastic food-storage bag, mix sugar and 1 teaspoon cinnamon. Separate dough into 16 rolls; cut each into quarters. Shake in bag to coat. Arrange in pan, adding walnuts and raisins among the biscuit pieces.

Mix brown sugar, 1 teaspoon of cinnamon, and butter; pour over cinnamon roll pieces.

Bake 28 to 32 minutes or until golden brown and no longer doughy in center. Cool in pan 10 minutes. Turn upside down onto serving plate. Warm the packaged icing in the microwave briefly (20-30 seconds) and drizzle over the bread. Pull apart to serve. Serve warm.

Note: Can be reheated in the microwave the next day.

Award Winning Chili

Last night we had a the fifth annual Chili Cookoff at our area wide leadership and our team won! Nikki Petty developed this amazing chili that is the best tasting chili I have ever had.

I know that it is the end of chili season, but if it turns cold again and you need a little something to warm you up inside, give this chili a whirl:

3 lbs. Ground beef
1 lb. Neese Sausage (hot)
½ lb bacon
1 lg. onion, chopped
1 lg. green bell pepper, chopped
3 – 4 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1 TBSP brown sugar
2 TBSP all-purpose flour
1 TSP salt
1 TSP cumin
1 ½ TSP chili powder
1 TSP oregano
1 ½ TSP cayenne pepper
3 cans red kidney, pinto, and Bush’s Chili beans (1 can of each)
1 can (28oz.) whole tomatoes, un-drained
1 can (14.5oz) diced garlic tomatoes, un-drained

• Combine beef, sausage, onion, bell pepper and garlic in a large pot and cook until meat is browned. Drain grease then return to pot.
• In a separate pan cook bacon. Be sure not to over cook the bacon. You don’t want it crispy but rather chewy. Cook it slightly; enough to give it form. Finely chop and add to ingredients in large pot.
• To large pot add brown sugar, flour, salt, cumin, chili powder, oregano and cayenne pepper. You can continue to add cayenne pepper for taste and heat, totally your preference.
• Let large pot simmer for approx. 1 hour for flavor to set in, stirring occasionally (this time is up to you as well, but at least let sit for 45 mins).
• Drain red kidney and pinto beans. Leave liquid in the Bush’s Chili beans. Don’t drain tomatoes, liquid will be need for chili. Chop up whole tomatoes.
• Add beans and tomatoes to large pot and let simmer for 20-25mins, stirring occasionally.