Chili Pasta Bake and a Cooking Planit and T-Fal Giveaway!

In my last post I did a little demo of how to use the cool new Cooking Planit application.  This time I am going to talk a little about my experience using the T-Fal cookware that was sent for me to review and GIVEAWAY!  I made this awesome Chili Pasta Bake which is perfect for chilly weather that is right around the corner this fall.  YAY!  

First I drizzled a little canola oil in the skillet to get things going.  As you can see there is a thermo-spot in the middle…just watch...

Once the skillet gets hot, the little target in the middle disappears.  To the naked eye, it truly was gone but in this picture it still shows up a bit.  Awesome!

From there I added the onions and let them sauté a bit...

I then added the ground beef

And seasoned with a bit of salt

And plenty of black pepper. From here, let the meat cook until no longer pink.

Meanwhile, I brought the stock pot out and filled it with hot water.  How pretty is she!?

And how smart, it has the measurements inside of the pot!  Awesome!  I brought this to a boil and cooked my pasta--yeah I didn't take a picture of that but you can handle cooking pasta, right?

Once the ground beef was cooked, I added tomato sauce

And diced and fire roasted tomatoes with green chilis.  LOVE that stuff.

Gave it a quick stir

And added a few kidney beans.

Next came the seasoning, lots of chili powder

Cumin

Cayenne powder

And a bit of water

Gave it a stir and let it bubble for a bit

I drained the noodles and added them back to the pot

I then added the chili mixture to the noodles 

And gave it a quick stir to combine.

After that, I poured everything into a 9x13 pan

And sprinkled with a three cheese mix.  I popped it in the oven for 30 minutes until it came out looking like...

THIS!

Cheesy chili pasta goodness.

We topped ours with a  little sour cream and green onions, just like we like our favorite Perfect Chili.

This will definitely be a staple in the Schwartz Household this fall and winter!

Chili Pasta Bake

• ½ Tablespoons Canola Or Vegetable Oil
• 1 pound Ground Beef
• 1 whole Onion, Chopped
• 1 dash Salt
• 1 dash Black Pepper
• ½ pounds Cooked Pasta
• 15 ounces, fluid Tomato Sauce
• 14-½ ounces, weight Diced Tomatoes And Green Chilies
• 15 ounces, weight Kidney Or Black Beans, Rinsed
• 1-½ Tablespoon Chili Powder
• 2 teaspoons Cumin
• 3 dashes Cayenne Powder
• ¼ cups Water
• 2 cups Shredded Cheddar Cheese
• ½ cups Sour Cream, For Topping
• 4 Tablespoons Green Onions, Chopped

Start by preheating the oven to 350 degrees.

Drizzle the oil in a large skillet on medium high heat. Add the onions and sauté for about 3 minutes. Add the ground beef and season with salt and pepper. Cook until no longer pink.

While the ground beef is cooking, cook your pasta to firm al dente. Once cooked, drain and set aside for now.

After the ground beef is cooked, add the tomato sauce, diced tomatoes and green chiles, beans chili powder, cumin, cayenne and water. Give it a stir and let it simmer for about 5 minutes.

After 5 minutes, stir in the cooked pasta. Stir to combine.

Pour the chili pasta mixture into a 9×13 pan. Flatten out with a spatula and sprinkle with cheese. Place in the oven for 30 minutes or until the edges are bubbling and the cheese has fully melted.

Spoon into serving dishes and top with sour cream and green onions.

Enjoy!

(NOTE MY FORMATTING IS ALL DIFFERENT BECAUSE I COPIED AND PASTED THIS FROM MY TASTYKITCHEN PAGE.) 

Isn't this cookware set just about the prettiest thing you have ever set your eyes on!?  Well, not only are they gorgeous, they are oven safe to 500 degrees, are dishwasher safe, have a limited lifetime warrantee  and have a stainless steel interior!  I have to say, I also made eggs the other day in the skillet and wow, that baby cooked my eggs to perfection cleaned like nothing! 

So, after all of that, have I convinced you that this cookware is awesome?  Well good, because you can WIN it! Use the Rafflecopter widget below and let me know if you have any questions!  

You will need to create a Cooking Planit account to enter and your an do so by going here.  Or you can download the FREE or for purchase app by going to the app store on your phone.  

a Rafflecopter giveaway

The giveaway started on August 19th and goes until August 25th.  I will be announcing the big winner on Monday, August 26th.  If you don't win on my blog, please check out the other 49 bloggers who are participating below:  

THE COOKING PLANIT AND T-FAL 2013 GIVEAWAY
Start	End	Flight 1	Flight 2
8/19/13	8/25/13	Baby Boomster	Mrs. Schwartz’s Kitchen
8/20/13	8/26/13	CopyKat Recipes	Daily Dish Recipes
8/21/13	8/27/13	Lisa Cooking	Lark’s Country Heart
8/22/13	8/28/13	ME Redone	Hot Eats and Cool Reads
8/23/13	8/29/13	Mother Would Know	The Two Bite Club
8/24/13	8/30/13	Sophistishe	Citron Limette
8/25/13	8/31/13	Kitchen Concoctions	Cupcakes and Kale Chips
8/26/13	9/1/13	I Can Cook That	Leave a Happy Plate
8/27/13	9/2/13	Peaches & Cake	i love my disorganized life
8/28/13	9/3/13	Diddles & Dumplings	Yates Yummies
8/29/13	9/4/13	basilmomma	Cooking With Libby
8/30/13	9/5/13	Persnickety Plates	Creole Contessa
8/31/13	9/6/13	Ancestral Chef	Bite Sized Blog
9/1/13	9/7/13	The Staten Island Family	Mamal Diane
9/2/13	9/8/13	Food Fash	Recipes For My Boys
9/3/13	9/9/13	The Wicked Noodle	Hungry Little Girl
9/4/13	9/10/13	Unorganized Mommy of 3	The Tasty Fork
9/5/13	9/11/13	Yi Reservation	Dixie Chik Cooks
9/6/13	9/12/13	Chicago Foodie Sisters	The Fountain Avenue Kitchen
9/7/13	9/13/13	Cooking from a SAHM	FoodThoughtsOfaChefWannabe
9/8/13	9/14/13	Bobbi’s Kozy Kitchen	Rants from My Crazy Kitchen
9/9/13	9/15/13	What Jew Wanna Eat	Sumptuous Spoonfuls
9/10/13	9/16/13	The Mama Report	Busy Mom of Two
9/11/13	9/17/13	Culicurious	Huppie Mama
9/12/13	9/18/13	Three Diets. One Dinner.	Spice’s Bites

• FINE PRINT: Contests open to US only. Limit one winner per household/per family from the 50 blogs participating in the promotion. Individuals winning more than one giveaway will receive 1 set of cookware and the other winning entries will be disqualified and an alternate winner will be chosen. 

• 
  

I was given a set of T-Fal pans as a promotion to try before giving a set away.  Please know that all of the opinions are my own, as always, you cannot buy my love baby. 

White Chicken Chili

If you haven't noticed lately, I am on a bit of a soup kick.  When the temperatures start dropping all I can think of is soup.  Soup, soup and more soup.  

This one is totally a winner.  I get sick of eating regular (yet tasty) red chili.  This soup was so easy to make and I really enjoyed the unique flavor it had.  This one is definitely going on our soup rotation.  

Start by melting butter in a large Dutch oven or stock pot.

Finely dice up an onion

And introduce it to it's new friend, butter.

Open a can of green chiles and add it to the pan as well.

Finely, FINELY, dice up a few pickled jalapeños.  I'm sure you could use fresh but this is what I had on hand.

Add them to the pot. Let this cook for about 5 minutes or so.

Meanwhile, drain and rinse the beans.

Add them to the pot

Along with chicken broth

Garlic powder

Cumin

Mexican (or regular) oregano

Salt

And pepper.  Let this simmer for about 15 minutes and wait for your house to smells ah-maze-balls.

Oh hello BFF.  Can I get a hallelujah for rotisserie chicken!?  I love it.  I especially love it in soups because the chicken doesn't get dry.  Have you ever noticed how weird and dry chicken gets if you cook it then add it to a soup.  I'm not into weird chicken.

So, shred the chicken.  I used mainly the breasts

Into the pot it goes.

Don't forget all of the juice at the bottom of the tray.  Sorry for the blurry picture, the dog bumped me as I was snapping.

Shred two cups of Monterey Jack cheese.   When I know I'm going to be shredding cheese, I pop it into the freezer for a few minutes so it hardens a bit.  Just a little tip for ya...

Add sour cream

Half and half

And cheese.  I wanted it a bit thicker soooo...

I added a bit of corn starch to cold water.

Pour it into the soup while stirring it…until it is thick and creamy.

Then I realized I wanted corn in it too.  So I added some corn.  Let it simmer for another 5-10 minutes or until heated through.

That's it!

Delicious, creamy, spicy soup!

Sluuuurp.

White Chicken Chili 

1 1/2 tablespoon butter
1 onion, finely chopped
1 4 oz can green chiles
2 tablespoons pickled jalapeños (more or less depending on your taste)
1 15 oz can Great Northern (white) beans
3 14.5 oz cans chicken broth (reduced sodium preferred)
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 heaping teaspoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon Mexican (or regular) oregano
1 teaspoon salt
15 cracks black pepper
2 chicken breasts (rotisserie preferred)
8 oz sour cream (fat free is okay)
1 cup half and half
2 cups Monterrey Jack cheese
1/4 cup cold water
2 tablespoons corn starch
1 12 oz bag frozen corn

Start by adding the butter an onions in a large Dutch oven or stock pot.  Toss in the green chiles and jalapeños.  Cook this for about 5 minutes on medium high heat or until the onions become translucent.

Drain and rinse the beans, add them to the pot along with the chicken broth.  Sprinkle in the garlic powder, oregano, salt and black pepper.  Let this simmer, uncovered, for about 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, shred the chicken into bite sized pieces.  Add the chicken, sour cream, half and half and cheese into the pot.  Combine the cold water and corn starch into a small glass.  Pour it slowly into the soup while stirring.  Stop once you have reached your desired consistency.  Add in the corn and reduce to medium heat.  Let simmer for about 5-10 minutes or until heated through.

Serve with tortilla chips and enjoy!

Recipe highly adapted from: Lil Luna