Waffles

These were perfect for a Saturday morning brunch.

2 eggs

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 3/4 cups milk

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1 tablespoon white sugar

4 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

• Preheat waffle iron. Beat eggs in large bowl with hand beater until fluffy. Beat in flour, milk, vegetable oil, sugar, baking powder, salt and vanilla, just until smooth.

• Spray preheated waffle iron with non-stick cooking spray. Pour mix onto hot waffle iron. Cook until golden brown. Serve hot.

Broccoli Cheese Soup

I have cooked this up for dinner countless times this winter. It is so easy and I love to make it when there is fresh broccoli available at our local supermarkets. It's perfect alongside some hot rolls.

1 bunch broccoli (you can use frozen but fresh is MUCH better)
1/2 onion, chopped
2 T butter
6 T flour
chicken bouillon
2 c. milk
~6 oz cheddar, grated (the recipe calls for Velveeta but we can't get it here and even if we could I'd still use the real deal...)

Chop broccoli and cook in 1 cup of water with a sprinkling of chicken bouillon in a covered pan (don't overcook broccoli - keep it bright green). In saucepan, saute onion in butter. Then add flour. Stir and cook until the flour is browned. Add the milk all at once and stir until it is thickened. Add the cheese (I never measure and just grate the cheese directly into the pot until I'm happy with the cheesiness...) and stir until the cheese is melted. Then add to the broccoli.

Salt and pepper to taste.

Chili

This is my ole reliable chili recipe. Double it if you have more than 3-4 adults. The leftovers make for delicious chili dogs.

1/2 c. butter (I between 1/3-1/4c.)
1 lg chopped onion
1 chopped green pepper (I sometimes mix it up w/ red or yellow...)
1 tsp minced garlic
1 lb. ground beef, cooked and drained
5 T ketchup
3 T mustard
2 T chili powder**
2 cans tomatoes
1 can kidney beans
salt and pepper to taste
2 tsp sugar
dash of Worcestershire sauce

Saute onions, pepper & garlic in butter. Add other ingredients and simmer 30 minutes. Can serve over rice (to make it go further) with grated cheddar cheese sprinkled on top.

**I made this recipe while we were in the states and it didn't turn out near as yummy as it does here. I think part of the reason for that was the chili powder - the chili powder I use here seems to be a lot more concentrated giving lots more flavor.