BBQ Chili

I must have inherited this from my dad, but I love BBQ. I could put BBQ sauce on just about anything and enjoy it. The other night I was making a chili and felt it was missing a little "pizazz," so I asked my hubby what he thought it was missing. He quickly said, "BBQ sauce." Ah, now why didn't I think of this? I squeezed a little bit in, and then I squeezed a lot more in. For me, it was perfect, but if you're not a smokey BBQ fan, you may want to leave it out. But try it, you'll like it...I think I've been watching way too much Yo Gabba Gabba! And if you got that, well, you've watched it too much as well :)

BBQ Chili

1 lb ground beef
2 15oz cans chili beans
1 15oz can diced tomatoes
1 8oz can of El Pato tomato sauce
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
1/2 TBSP sugar
2 TBSP BBQ sauce

In a large pot cook the ground beef. Once cooked all the way through, drain liquid out (it's okay if you don't remove all of it). Add in chili beans, diced tomatoes, tomato sauce, salt, pepper, sugar and BBQ sauce.
*Note about the El Pato tomato sauce. It's a very spicy sauce, so if you don't like spice, I would add a small amount at a time and taste it. If you don't like any spiciness at all, use regular tomato sauce.*

Let simmer on low for at least 1 1/2 hours. If you're in a rush, you can eat it sooner, but the longer it sits, the better it tastes.
Enjoy!

Sparkling Strawberry Lemonade

This is my most absolute FAVORITE drink in the whole world. It's refreshing, sweet, sour, carbonated and all around, delicious. Now, I can't take credit for this sweet, sweet drink. All credit goes to my Young Woman's teacher, Sister Rich. For mutual, occasionally she would have us over for cooking lessons. I wish I would have paid more attention because she is an amazing cook...from what I can remember. Anyways, she gave us a packet of recipes and this was in it. And I've been hooked ever since I first tried it, and you will be too, I promise.

Sparkling Strawberry Lemonade

2 lbs fresh (or frozen if out of season) hulled strawberries
1 1/2 - 2 cups fresh lemon juice (about 6 lemons)
1 cup sugar
1 cup water
2 bottles of sparkling water (you'll need about a liter a half)

Directions:Slice strawberries and place in blender. Add 1/2 cup sugar. If you want a more sour lemonade, use 2 cups, for a little more subtle taste use 1 1/2 cups. Pour lemon juice into blender. Next, make a simple syrup. To do so, boil last 1/2 cup of sugar to 1 cup of water. Boil until sugar has dissolved. Remove from stove and let cool for 5-10 min. Add simple syrup to blender. Blend until smooth.
Pour mixture into a pitcher and add sparkling water slowly. Stir with a large spoon. Chill for about 2 hours or serve over ice immediately because really, it's just too good to wait for.