Football Friday: Sweet Potato Chili

There's nothing more all American than a Sunday filled with football and homemade chili! Last weekend the Wisconsin Test Kitchen (still on Whole30 as of this blog post) made a huge pot of chili full of beef, sweet potatoes, carrots and seasonings. It was insanely delicious, and the sweet potatoes were a nice addition. This would be a great vegan dish as well: consider using soy crumbles and vegetable stock instead. 

Sweet Potato Chili
Recipe courtesy of: Tastes of Lizzy T's

Ingredients

2 lbs. ground beef
1 red onion, chopped
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1 large can (29.5 oz) can tomato sauce
2 cups petite diced tomatoes, with juice
3 cups beef stock
3 carrots, chopped (about 1 cup)
5 small sweet potatoes, peeled and cubed (about 4-5 cups)
2 bay leaves
1/2 teaspoon thyme
2 tsp. salt
1 1/2 teaspoons black pepper
1/2 cup chili powder
dash of oregano
dash of red pepper flakes

In a large skillet, brown the ground beef, onions and garlic. Drain grease from pan. 

Combine all ingredients in slow cooker and cook on low for 7-8 hours, or high for 3-4. 

And now it's time for our Football Friday picks! Sawyer is now in the lead with 19 correct picks (Rams over Seahawks, anyone?), and Tristan is close behind with 15 correct picks. Here are their week 3 predictions!

Houston vs. New England
Arkansas: Patriots
Wisconsin: Patriots

Baltimore vs. Jacksonville
Arkansas: Ravens
Wisconsin: Jaguars

Washington vs. NYG
Arkansas: Giants
Wisconsin: Redskins

Detroit vs. Green Bay
Arkansas: Packers
Wisconsin: Packers

Cleveland vs. Miami
Arkansas: Dolphins
Wiscconsin: Dolphins

Minnesota vs. Carolina
Arkansas: Panthers
Wisconsin: Panthers

Denver vs. Cincinnati
Arkansas: Broncos
Wisconsin: Bengals

Arizona vs. Buffalo
Arkansas: Cardinals
Wisconsin: Bills

Oakland vs. Tennessee
Arkansas: Titans
Wisconsin: Raiders

LA vs. Tampa Bay
Arkansas: Buccaneers
Wisconsin: Rams

San Francisco vs. Seattle
Arkansas: Seahawks
Wisconsin: 49ers

Pittsburgh vs. Philly
Arkansas: Eagles
Wisconsin: Eagles

NYJ vs. Kansas City
Arkansas: Chiefs
Wisconsin: Jets

San Diego vs. Indy
Arkansas: Colts
Wisconsin: Colts

Chicago vs. Dallas
Arkansas: Bears
Wisconsin: Cowboys

Atlanta vs. New Orleans
Arkansas: Saints
Wisconsin: Falcons

There you have it! I hope your weekend is full of food, fun and football!
Stay Cool,
The Cool Dads Crew

Football Friday: Snacks Aplenty

The best part of Football Sunday is definitely the food! And after some major upsets last week; the Wisconsin Test Kitchen needed all the comfort food they could get... Whole 30 compliant comfort food, of course. Between the Raiders and the Saints, and the Panthers falling to the Broncos- it was a rough weekend. But- snacks!!! And a Packers win!!! 

Since the weather was beautiful, we grilled out burgers and brats, and made mashed sweet potatoes. And during the games, we snacked on some homemade guacamole and fresh vegetable slices. We also made a basil pesto aioli for the burgers; and we ended up slathering it on everything: it was SO tasty. I anticipate us making this again immediately (tomorrow) since our basil plant has gotten out of control with all the rain we've gotten lately. 

Here are the recipes for the snacks we made. They both required minimal prep work, and were completely gone by the end of football Sunday. 

Easy Guacamole

Basil Garlic Aioli

Now that we've taken care of snackage, it's onto the important stuff:  our Football Friday picks! Sawyer is currently in the lead with 9 correct picks, and Tristan with 8. Here's what they've predicted for this week:

NYJ vs. Buffalo
Arkansas: Buffalo
Wisconsin: Buffalo

New Orleans vs. NYG
Arkansas: Giants
Wisconsin: Giants

Tennessee vs. Detroit
Arkansas: Lions
Wisconsin: Lions

Dallas vs. Washington
Arkansas: Redskins
Wisconsin: Cowboys

Kansas City vs. Houston
Arkansas: Texans
Wisconsin: Texans

Miami vs. New England
Arkansas: Patriots
Wisconsin: Dolphins

Baltimore vs. Cleveland
Arkansas: Ravens
Wisconsin:  Ravens

San Francisco vs. Carolina
Arkansas: 49ers
Wisconsin: Panthers

Cincinnati vs. Pittsburgh
Arkansas: Steelers
Wisconsin: Bengals

Tampa Bay vs. Arizona
Arkansas: Buccaneers
Wisconsin: Cardinals

Seattle vs. LA
Arkansas: Seahawks
Wisconsin: Rams

Atlanta vs. Oakland
Arkansas: Raiders
Wisconsin: Falcons

Jacksonville vs. San Diego
Arkansas: Jaguars
Wisconsin: Jaguars

Indy vs. Denver
Arkansas: Broncos
Wisconsin: Colts

Green Bay vs. Minnesota
Arkansas: Packers
Wisconsin: Packers

Philadelphia vs. Chicago
Arkansas: Bears
Wisconsin: Eagles

And there you have it! We'll see whose predictions turned out correct next week!

Stay Cool,
The Cool Dads Crew

Monday Meals: Chicken & Corn Chowder

Since it's the first Monday after Labor Day, we thought we'd post a hearty, fall inspired meal, designed to warm you from the inside out. It's that time of year: thick soups, football games and PUMPKIN SPICE LATTES!!! The most wonderful time of the year, folks. 

The Wisconsin Test Kitchen made this chowder a few weeks back, pre Whole-30, and we're already been thinking about how to modify this creamy, delicious soup to make it Whole 30 compliant. Stay tuned. 

Chicken & Corn Chowder
Recipe courtesy of: Damn Delicious

4 slices bacon, diced
1lb. boneless, skinless chicken thighs, cut into 1" chunks
12oz. red potatoes, diced 
1 onion, diced
3 carrots, peeled and diced
2 stalks celery, diced
2 cups corn kernels, frozen
4 cups chicken broth
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 t dried thyme
1/2 t dried oregano 
pinch of cayenne pepper
1 bay leaf
kosher salt & freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup half & half
2 T cornstarch
2 T unsalted butter
2 T fresh chopped thyme

Heat a large skillet over medium high heat. Add bacon and cook until brown and crispy; about 6-8 minutes. Transfer to a paper towel lined plate and set aside. 

Place chicken, potatoes, onions, carrots, celery, and corn into crock pot. Stir in chicken broth, garlic, thyme, oregano, cayenne pepper, and bay leaf. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Cover and cook on low heat for 7-8 hours, or high heat for 3-4 hours. 

In a small bowl, whisk together half and half and corn starch. Stir in the half and half mixture and butter during the last 30 minutes of cooking time.

Serve immediately, topped with bacon and garnished with chives. 

This was a successful meal in our house, even our smallest chef polished off two bowls at dinner. We'll be back next week with more fall inspired recipes sure to get you in the crispy leaves and football mood!

Stay Cool,
The Cool Dads Crew

Football Friday: Pepperoncini Beef

Labor Day weekend has come and gone; which is the unofficial end of summer, and the official start of everyone's favorite season: FOOTBALL!!!!

The Wisconsin Test Kitchen started The Whole 30 the day after Labor Day, and as of this blog being posted, are on Day 4. Takeaways: Kevin has discovered he likes Whole 30 compliant mayonnaise, and Rebecca has finally gotten over her sugar withdrawal headaches. We're having lots of lettuce wraps, vegetable slices, almond milk and fruit smoothies and eggs. Lots, and lots of eggs. 

But, we tried a Whole 30 meal the other night that we thought our non-Whole 30 followers might enjoy. This beef roast was juicy, flavorful and perfect for Football Sundays. If you're not on the Whole 30, the beef would be delicious on sandwich rolls with slices of provolone cheese. Alas, we had our beef wrapped in butter lettuce leaves- surprisingly delicious! 

This is the perfect football Sunday recipe: put the ingredients in the slow cooker early, and allow the meat to cook all day- finishing up right in time for dinner. It doesn't get much better than that!

Pepperoncini Beef
Recipe Courtesy of: The Slender Kitchen


2 lb lean beef eye round roast
1 onion, chopped
1 cup beef broth
8 oz pepperoncini with juice, jarred
1/2 tsp salt
3 tbsp Italian seasoning

Add everything to the slow cooker. Cook on low for 8 hours.

Shred beef with 2 forks and serve.

And now- the most important part of the blog post: Football Picks! Once again, we're letting our tiny chefs make the weekly football picks for our blog. Week one... here we go!

Denver vs. Carolina

Arkansas: Broncos

Wisconsin: Panthers

Tampa Bay vs. Atlanta

Arkansas: Falcons

Wisconsin: Falcons

Buffalo vs. Baltimore

Arkansas: Ravens

Wisconsin: Ravens

Chicago vs. Houston 

Arkansas: Bears

Wisconsin: Texans

Green Bay vs. Jacksonville

Arkansas: Packers

Wisconsin: Packers

San Diego vs. Kansas City

Arkansas: Chargers

Wisconsin: Chiefs

Oakland vs. New Orleans

Arkansas: Saints

Wisconsin: Saints

Cincinnati vs. NYJ

Arkansas: Jets

Wisconsin: Bengals

Cleveland vs. Philly

Arkansas: Eagles

Wisconsin: Eagles

Minnesota vs. Tennessee

Arkansas: Vikings

Wisconsin: Vikings

Miami vs. Seattle 

Arkansas: Seahawks

Wisconsin: Dolphins

NYG vs. Dallas

Arkansas: Giants

Wisconsin: Cowboys

Detroit vs. Indy

Arkansas: Colts

Wisconsin: Lions

New England vs. Arizona

Arkansas: Cardinals

Wisconsin: Cardinals

Pittsburgh vs. Washington

Arkansas: Steelers

Wisconsin: Redskins

Los Angeles vs. San Francisco

Arkansas: Rams

Wisconsin: Rams

And there you have it! Our first Football Friday post of the season. Check back for plenty of delicious recipes and the standings between the two test kitchens.

Stay Cool,
The Cool Dads Crew