GREEN CHILIS AND FALL!

 ITS GREEN CHILI SEASON AND THAT MEANS FALL IS ALMOST HERE! 

I do enjoy the summer. I love being outside, feeling the sun on my skin and seeing all the green grass and not having to wear shoes (or socks!). What I dislike about the summer is the high temperatures that come with it... Don't even get me started on my new experience of being in the final trimester of pregnancy in the dead heat of summer 😂 I seriously do not think I have ever complained more in my entire life LOL!

Fall is my ideal season. I love the midnight chill and the crisp/cold, early morning air. I love to go outside and have my morning coffee in the rising sun. The temperature is perfect for me. The combination of the cool air and the gentle warming of the morning sun is my favorite part of the day. My littlest one loves to sit on the ground next to me and play with all the rocks he finds around him while I sip on my coffee. 

I think just about everyone (at least everyone that I have ever met)  can agree that the changing of the leaves is such a beautiful sight. This is something I didn't really get to witness often growing up. 

I grew up in sunny, southern California. Where the weather is nearly perfect all year round. There isn't a lot of rain, never got below freezing. It was t-shirts year round with the occasional light sweater during the "winter" months. No changing leaves though. 

I moved here to our small town in Colorado almost 16 years ago now. It feels so strange that time has gone that fast. When I first moved here, I was pregnant with my 1st baby. I was actually about 4 months away from my due date when I packed up and made Colorado my home. 

I must say, the move here from the busy hustle-and-bustle life of San Diego, an area overfilling with culture and an overabundance of shopping and restaurant experience, a place that almost never sleeps and is in a constant go-go-go way of life was a H-U-G-E culture shock. I mean HUGE! 

I instantly regretted my decision to move here. I hated that every store was closed on a Sunday. I hated that there was no mall to run to and shop whether it be out of boredom or if I actually did need something. I hated that everyone I drove by in the opposite direction would waive at me as we passed. It was weird. It almost gave me the sense of an invasion of space, don't ask me how lol it just did! In the big city, people kept to themselves which definitely has it pros to that.

I hated that every restaurant in this tiny town was over run with Mexican Cuisine but mainly because it was not the same type of cooking that I used to. It wasn't real street tacos from Mexico. It wasn't the same seasoning on the carne asada meat. The tortillas were not the same. Nothing. I was choosing Taco Bell to try to get my Mexican Food Fix and well, that was sad for me! Still to do this day, I struggle with that difference in that cuisine. I don't often eat out at the local Mexican restaurants because I still find that my palate has not adjusted and is very hard to please. Maybe 2x a year when I cant beat the craving I will cave. That's not only good on our bank account but it also probably keeps my pickiness in check and my disappointment of flavor minimal 😅

I mentioned already that I was about 7  months pregnant when we moved here. It was in late August/early September... Right around now. I had never really known that green chili existed before until I was here. That was just a food item that you didn't see or hear of too much down there. 

I still remember the day I encountered this pepper. I was walking into Walmart to get groceries. As I was approaching the entrance, I was overwhelmed with this AWFUL, almost suffocating smell. I did not know what it was or where it was coming from. All I knew is that it made me feel like I wanted to throw up and that I couldn't breath. It took me a couple of trips going to Walmart to learn what this was. I would seriously get out of my car and walk through the parking lot breathing in as much clean air I could before I would approach the entrance where I would then take the biggest, deepest breath of air I could, plug my nose and make a b-line straight inside. Once I got inside the doors the smell hadn't gone away yet. I would have to go almost half way back before I was safe to breath in and not smell that smell anymore. I mentioned this to my Aunt and Uncle who were living here at that time and they laughed and told me that they were doing their annual green chili roasting, Apparently everyone who lives here goes crazy over green chilis and stocks up on them at roasting time. They like to have a stock of this stuff in their freezers through the winter. I couldn't wrap my mind around how and why this stuff tasted good. 

I can now officially say that I have converted over to this roasted green chili loving dark side. I like to blame part of my initial reaction on the pregnancy. I now line up at the start of roasting season and come home with at least 2 bushels of mild green chilis for the freezer! -I know, sometimes I cant believe it either..

Just 2 weeks ago we brought home 2 bushels. I spent 3 hours on just 1 bushel (25 lbs. worth!) peeling and placing them in freezer zip locks, in portions that I know we will consume with in a couple of days before going bad. The 2nd bushel, I got lazy and couldn't hang anymore so I just threw em in baggies unpeeled and I will regret that later when I get to those ones LOL!

We eat them with everything! Here are a few of our favorite ways to use our 50 lbs. of green chilis (yes we actually go through all of them before the season comes back around again!)

BEST WAYS TO CONSUME GREEN CHILIS

1. With eggs in the morning. Just a whole green chili, heated up and eaten with eggs that are cooked over medium.

2. In soups, stews and even pasta! Even if you buy mild, some of them give quite the kick! I get the hiccups when one is too spicy lol. But just 1 or 2 diced up and thrown in to a bowl of soup, stew, chili or pasta can really amp up the flavor of your dish. (I am getting hungry now)

3. Green chili sauce is always a good one! Its so simple to cook, although it is a bit time consuming to dice all the chilis. Sometimes I will make a big batch of it and then through-out the week we will smother it over everything- burritos, eggs, baked potatoes, pizza. You get the point.

4. Everyone's favorite in our house is homemade Chili Rellenos (I actually just googled how to spell that one lol that's a hard word!). I prefer homemade to restaurant because I found a batter that does not contain eggs. If you have ever had Chili Rellenos, typically there is an egg coating on them for frying. I guess I must be a big texture person with food because I have never liked them when they are fried with the egg based batter on it. They seem spongy too me. I have a super simple batter recipe I use to fry them up with. This recipe can actually be vegan friendly too! You can use regular cheese or vegan cheese ( I have to use vegan cheese these days. I developed a dairy allergy 2 years ago after my youngest was born that has never went away) to stuff them with before coating and frying. AMAZING! Sadly, I don't make these too often because with our big family, making each chili relleno, stuffing coating and frying gets time consuming real quick.

-Keep an eye out, I created some footage of the easy step-by-step process to making my Chili Rellenos and will be putting that in to an Instagram reel and tiktok for you to follow along if you want to try it out. I will come back here and post the link to that video along with the written recipe page here for those like me who also need to see it writing. I'm pretty confident you will love it! Unless you don't like green chilis. Or cheese lol

Thanks again for sticking around my little space on the world wide web. Don't forget to subscribe or add my blog to your favorites list so you never miss out on new content. 

Id love to here below in the comments a food that you started hating and grew to love!

Until next time,

XOXO JEN 

THIS WEEK WHAT IVE BEEN....

DRINKING.. Still drinking and LOVING Wandering Bear Coffee. In fact, for a split second I ran out of Wandering Bear and had to resort to the last bit of my old cheap grocery store coffee brand I had on hand while I awaited my restock to be delivered. My temporary switch (since I am a know procrastinator) was NOT GOOD guys! You never truly know what good coffee is like until you switch to quality coffee and then taste the other stuff again. Even Alex tasted the difference and I didn't even tell him. That's big because he can be content with gas station coffee if need be.

DIFFUSING.. My sweet friend, Jodie, gave me a sample of the Doterra Blend she just ordered that I hadn't tried yet, Citrus Bliss and it is AMZING! I've been diffusing that along with a few drops of Balsam Fir and Frankincense. Its THE perfect energy boosting, lingering-of-summer-while transitioning-over-to-fall, smell you will find!

COOKING.. My Green Chili Rellonos. Stay tuned for the recipe link coming soon!

WEARING.. Now that my ever expanding pregnant belly is beginning to not get along well with gravity, I have been using my Sakura Bloom Ring Sling to help support the extra weight. It is the best gentle support that my belly and body craves right now. I made a video here of how easy it is to use your ring sling as a belly support band.