Hello and HI, Happy Halloween if you're into that sort of thing, happy end of October, happy fall, all of the happy.
It's a really busy week so I'm thinking if I just type HAPPY over and over it will be come true?
Maybe I'll get lucky. What does NOT require luck, though, is the super simple ultimate refried bean dip we have here before us.
...We have a plan for this Sunday.
We are going to come home from yet another travel weekend, put on comfy clothes, clean exactly enough so that we can function on Monday, make some cozy food, and watch the sportsball while ignoring each other on our phones and willing Will to sleep.
It's going to be the greatest ever.
...I adore this, is what you should know first. Everyone else adores this, is a very close second. 
A million years ago when I started to like cooking but didn't have a huge skillset yet, I watched A LOT of Food Network, which morphed into me watching Rachael Ray nearly daily, which was probably a strange thing to do at age 23 or something. I learned a ton, though, and often mimicked recipes I saw on her and other's shows. This chicken chili was inspired by a talk show, is what you should know.
In the last ten years or so (why. how.), I've made versions of this chili over and over again, to great results and very few leftovers each time. The concept is simple: some kind of peppers that you roast yourself, chicken/garlic/onion, white beans, canned green chiles, stock, done. Sometimes I add lots of different types of peppers, sometimes an extra jalapeno or two. Sometimes I use leftover shredded chicken, sometimes I use ground, sometimes I poach and shred my own and use the poaching liquid instead of stock.
The end result is hugely flavorful each time, and the balance of flavors + nutrition is so satisfying here. Toppings are a must, as with any Mexican-inspired dish, and this should probably definitely be included in your weekend - this weekend if it's cold, or in two weeks for Cinco de Mayo! OR OR OR you make a double batch now and freeze half for Cinco. Meal prep.
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...because otherwise tbh football is a waste of damn time. 
So! Let's make a party on Sunday. I love a theme sometimes, like tacos, pasta, or chili with a ton of toppings, but I also love making a few really good snacky foods that don't necessarily go together. Buffalo anything shows up often, and here are a few other ideas for Sunday!
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Homemade ranch dip in just 5 minutes! This version has lots of yummy dill flavor and uses dried spices - no chopping or messing up a ton of dishes! This ranch dip recipe is particularly delicious with homemade pan fried potato chips or baked chicken tenders.
Unlike some people who love eating a wide variety of foods, I adore ranch. BUT, it has to be good. Hidden Valley is not good. Homemade bar ranch from a packet is good. Those packets are also Hidden Valley, so riddle me that. I think it's something about the combo of less preservatives, less or no mayo, that makes "homemade" ranch so wonderful.
I've seen a ton of no-packet homemade ranch ideas on the internet, and a lot of them call with powdered milk or something similar to achieve a more classic flavor. I don't love having ingredients around that only can be used for one or two things, though, so I don't use anything but spices and sour cream in my ranch.
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Another Super Bowl offering! Thai-flavored guacamole. I had some avocados that were perfect for once in my ever-loving life, and I wanted to make a new-ish but still easy guacamole recipe. We've been having this guac at a new restaurant near us that comes topped with bacon and goat cheese and cucumber, and I think cucumber and avocado is so nice together - creamy + fresh + green all at once.
Then! I realized that lots of Thai recipes include lime and chilies and cilantro...just like Mexican guacamole. So we did it.
...aka IT'S SUPER BOWL WEEK. 
It is no secret in this world that I don't care a lick about sports. I'll get excited by proxy when a home team does something good, and I care-ish about the schools I went to, but only as far as it relates to me brightening somewhat when someone informs me that they've won something. Brightening somewhat, that's as far as I'll take it.
The food, however, is an aspect of sports that I'm alllll about. And excuse to eat nachos or selections I'd rarely otherwise choose, basically. Why is it that watching really fit people do really fabulous things makes us want to eat the most garbagy garbage there is? Life is full of conundrums like that recently it seems.
Wings aren't garbage, for sure, and we healthy-ed these up even more by baking them and skipping a butter-heavy sauce, not that there's anything wrong with that at all. I'll be the first to say I love fried foods, but wings kind of don't matter to me. If the flavor is great and the dippers are yummy I honestly don't prefer a fried wing over baked or grilled, except for the crispy skin. Soggy chicken wing skin is just the most sad thing, so much so that I'll pull it off and not even eat it. So I wanted to bake wings, but I wanted them to be crispy. So I read up, used this recipe for inspiration, ADDED to the cooking time, and boom.
Twice-baked dry rubbed wings. The blue cheese ranch is just a bonus, but a bonus that you've more than earned.
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This spicy candied bacon recipe features just a few ingredients and a quick bake in the oven. Oven baked bacon means no mess, and sugar + spices give huge flavor for the best appetizer, brunch item, or snack! Bacon should always be a snack, let's just agree on that.
Well, well, WELL.
The vegetarian husband has glazed us some bacon.
Last week when we had the epic snow that was very non-epic, my sister stayed the night because her power went out (a light breeze knocks the power out on her street, it's really remarkable), and since calories don't count on snow days Jay made us burgers on Saturday. They were EXCELLENT and involved caramelized onions and super juicy patties and onion buns, but the best part was this bacon on top of the burger. It was so good, in fact, that I decided it could stand alone, and boy can it. I made this last week for my fairly-healthy, mostly-vegetarian family, and it was GONE in approximately 4 seconds.
Now, the Green Jar Spice is famous in our family, we all keep a can around and find that it just fixes any number of sins food-wise. If you have another Cajun or Creole seasoning you like, by all means use that. You can also use my recipe for homemade blackening seasoning if you'd prefer - it's completely up to you.
.......with butter-braised chicken + blue cheese croutons. BLUE CHEESE CROUTONS!
As with any cool new thing that I put on this blog, this was one of Jay's ideas. We're all about buffalo anything, but the fried + butter aspect of it....sometimes leaves something to be desired in the pants-fitting department.
So we made soup! Chicken roasted in butter, croutons, a regular onion + celery + carrot base, and some extra raw veggies on top for that blue + buffalo + celery combo we all know and love.
I used chicken thighs in this, which I think work really well in soups. Boneless + skinless dark meat chicken only has 5 more calories per serving than white meat (I read once, it might be a lie), and to me 5 extra calories is well worth it for how much extra flavor you get out of it, RIGHT?
Right.
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Guys after working all this week and Saturday SUNDAY IS THE SUPER BOWL! 
Sporting events are only really fun if they revolve heavily around food. Doncha think?
This week is just....ugh. My weeks are like that recently - Monday and Tuesday are pretty productive and hopeful, and then by the second half of the week I'm flying though life with too much to do and not enough time or help and just GRUMPY. 
So we need to turn this frown upside down in the shape of appetizers, right?
RIGHT.
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To add to your footballfood repertoire, I give you A Healthy Appetizer. That you serve with chips, but whatever.
This was actually Jay's idea: he wanted something not quite so cheesy and fried, and we both love Mexican flavors and hummus so....refried bean hummus with roasted jalapeno was born. I'm all "pass the beer and cheese," but I aim to please this husband of mine, so this one's for him.
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I know. Dumb title.
But it's FRIDAY, y'all.
Two days until the Super Bowl! AKA the time football players are going to intrude on the Beyonce concert.
Whatever.
The other day we talked about some GREAT appetizers/snacks that you can make this weekend that are totally meat-free. Check out the post - there are some great ideas!
Now, you may not want to only serve vegetarian options on Sunday. I'm with you - I'm doing a mix. Here are my favorite options for meat-inclusive appetizers. All easy, all scrumptious.
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As a friend on Facebook says, someone appears to be planning to play football at the Beyonce concert this Sunday.
I love it.
I don't love Football, BUT, this season especially I've had a blast learning a TINY bit more about it thanks to Jay and some of our BFF's. Apparently when you buy a house with someone you don't get to ALWAYS sneer at what they like to watch on TV.
Whatever, I'm over it.
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This is the last recipe in our super duper sweet preparation for all things Super Bowl week - I've had fun!
This is easy, and delicious, and fun.
Like Jay!
Just kidding.
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Does your family have anything weird like our spaghetti with cottage cheese that is just SO delicious?
Sometimes I add some mustard too, which adds a nice thickness to the marinade, but you can do whatever you want.
I vary this lots, but the above portions will give you lots of marinade and a great flavor.
Fresh herbs are a nice addition, too!
So, you dump the liquids all into a bowl, and whisk them together. Duh.
Then taste it! It should be tangy, but if the vinegar is overwhelming add some more honey, sugar, and salt.
For the garlic, whack the cloves with the back of your knife, remove the skins, and dump them into the marinade too!
Nice. Now, for this, I was making 4 bags of frozen chicken tenders. I marinated them for about 7 hours, and that was perfect. Overnight or for 2 days is best for larger pieces of chicken - flavor is good!
I ladled the marinade into several large bags, then put the chicken inside and let the chicken marinate in the sealed bags in the fridge.
Ewwwww raw chicken! Not really.
When I was ready to cook the chicken I skewered each piece on a bamboo skewer since I was serving these at a party - like you should be doing this Sunday for the Super Bowl!
You can skip the skewers, though. The point of this post is the marinade.
The point is SO MUCH about the marinade that I have no pictures after this step in the process.
So, please envision chicken being grilled and eaten. These tenders are perfect because they grill quickly - larger pieces clearly take more time, but it's well worth it!
Enjoy this, and send me some pictures of COOKED chicken!
We remember from the last time that saying balls is fun, right?
Balls in your mouth, grab my balls, you could really go on forever if you get a bunch of guys all in one place and serve them meatballs.
Or girls, whatever.
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/This isn't really a recipe, this is a free plug for a company that makes really fabulous dip mix.
It's good, otherwise I wouldn't tell you about it.
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I love soups and chili's this time of year, and this is one of my favorites. It has ground beef and beef stock so it tastes super hearty, but there are lots of veggies and beans mixed in for added nutrition so you don't feel overly guilty about putting cheese and sour cream on top of it.
This is a SUPER great make-ahead: it'll keep in the fridge all week, so make a big pot on Sunday and let people eat as they come and go!
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