Kitchen Trials

Easy Homestyle Chili

Happy New Year! Yeah, I’m aware, it’s the 10th of January already. What can I say other than it appears this year is going to start off exactly the same as last year: behind schedule. So, I’m kicking off the new(ish) year with my easy homestyle chili recipe, a post I had originally planned to get up in December. Classic Katrina.

I’m sitting here today in the kitchen and it is gross outside. It’s been snowing for 15 hours straight and while it was cold before the wind kicked up, with the wind it’s straight up medieval. Just venturing outside to take the kids to school was pure torture. It was almost as bad as staring at these pictures of chili is when I’m hungry. Especially considering I’ll be spending the night in a hockey arena trying to shovel fries in my mouth before they freeze.

What I’m trying to tell you is that I wish I had a bowl of this chili in front of me right now. Or that I had been smart and frozen the leftovers like I usually do, instead of leaving them in a rubbermaid in the fridge to pick at over three days. Oh the annoying gift of hindsight.

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Philips 2000i Air Purifier final thoughts review

So, we’ve had the Philips 2000i Air Purifier for 4 months now, and I thought it would be a good time to wrap up my thoughts about it. We really put this machine to use, moving it around the house, room by room, to see how it affected our day to day life differently depending…

Everyone loves a Kit Kat bar, especially Bo. We saw a little Kit Kat Cake in the grocery store that he wanted, and I told him I could do WAY better than that. Here it is: super moist chocolate cake with a fudge filling and a smooth, delicious buttercream frosting. And lots (AND LOTS) of…

Philips 2000i Air Purifier review and thoughts after one month of use.

Alright, we’re starting our second month with the Philips 2000i Air Purifier and I feel like we’re entering the real test now. You can check out my first post here. I go over all its features and setting it up. For the last month, I kept it in Oliver’s room. Forget about the fact that…

I wish you could see the smile on my face right now. We’re not talking just ear-to-ear any more. This baby is basically wrapping all the way around my head and shaking hands in the back. Why? Did I win the lottery? Did Cillian Murphry move in next door (I’ve had a problem since I…

Philips 2000i Air Purifier review and first thoughts

I’ve been lucky. I’m not someone who has suffered from allergies. Ok, there was that one time when I was about seven and I ate my weight in scallops and proceed to vomit the night away, but that may have been gluttony rather than a shellfish allergy. It did scar me enough to never eat…

Everyone's favourite meal at P.F. Chang's can now be made at home whenever you feel like it. 30 minutes is all it takes to have P.F. Chang's delicious Chicken Lettuce Wraps on your table (and it makes for AMAZING leftovers!)

Who doesn’t love Asian food? Ok, outside of Bo, because Bo is a SUPER plain and picky eater. It drives me nuts because ordering in Chinese food at 10pm on a Saturday night has never an option being married to him. Pity me. Ok, you don’t really have to pity me, because when I put…

Turkey Gyros are the healthy, superfood alternative to your favourite take-out. And they're just as easy to make as it is to dial the phone and drive to pick them up. Delicious, low in fat and cholesterol, but high in flavour, these will be a new staple to your BBQ routine!

These turkey gyros combine two of my favourite things in one: a restaurant copycat recipe, and the BBQ. Seriously, nothing makes me happier than replicating our favourite restaurant foods at home. Between the sports schedule of three kids, and the budget we’re trying to stick to, restaurant meals are a luxury. This is why I…

Everyone loves a good cayenne pepper hot sauce (I mean, we put that stuff on everything!). I decided to make some from scratch for Bo for Father's Day, and we'll never look to the shelf at the grocery store again! Free printable labels for Dad too!

Hot sauce is one of those condiments that seems to just be TAKING OVER OUR LIVES. That’s not me complaining either. That’s me being absolutely giddy about it! We always had some stocked in the house – and you know the kind, because we all have it in the house. A couple of weeks ago…

As soon as the snow melts I start getting antsy about being back outside. This year’s never ending winter just about drove me insane (in fact, I ended up setting up the kids trampoline two snowstorms too soon). Over the past couple of years we’ve taken a basic yard, and turned it into a backyard…

A bakery style Oreo cake you cake make at home! Rich and moist chocolate cake layers with an Oreo buttercream, and then covered with a vanilla buttercream. It's the perfect cake for the kids (and the kids in all of us!).

Our Sophie, now four, has always been a girl who knows what she wants. What she wanted for her birthday was a table FULL of different cakes. The first one she asked for was an Oreo cake. I mean, how can you possibly argue with that, who doesn’t love Oreos. She’s seen and drooled over…

This was one of those incredible opportunities I like to think of as kismet. Bo and I had a barely 3-year-old mattress that was nothing but problems, and we were debating getting a new one (it was pretty hard to stomach the thought of buying another new mattress so soon when we definitely didn’t cheap…

These blueberry muffins are super fluffy and made with frozen blueberries so you can enjoy them year round (fresh works too in season). Every time I make them, I get asked for the recipe from everyone who has one!

Salted Caramel Cake

I have been dying to perfect this salted caramel cake ever since we had it at our friends wedding (I think around 5 or 6 years ago, holy crap!). I don’t even think we waited until the wedding was over to hound the bride and groom for the name of the bakery, and obviously we…

Chicken fried steak that’s crispy, tender, and full of flavour is possible at home! I spent two years perfecting this recipe, and it was worth every single step (and there were a lot of them) to finally get to this delicious, finger licking good perfection!

Oh the things you can do, with the Dyson Ball Animal 2!

My second review of the Dyson Ball Animal 2, its amazing accessories, and all the surprising ways it made my life easier, and saved me hours from my usual cleaning routine!

I thought the Dyson Ball Animal 2 was amazing when I first took it out of the box, in fact, you can see my original glowing review here. Now that I’ve had it for a month and used all of the attachments that come with it, I’m in total love. You won’t believe all the…

Cheesecake Factory brown bread copycat recipe. This honey wheat brown bread is everyone's favourite, and now you can make it whenever you want at home! See why it's been the most popular recipe on Kitchen Trials since 2015!

My Cheesecake Factory brown bread copycat recipe is everyone’s favourite (just like at the restaurant). The most popular recipe on Kitchen Trials since 2015

Easy Homestyle Chili

Philips 2000i Air Purifier Final Thoughts

Kit Kat Cake

2000i Air Purifier by Philips – Review and thoughts after 1 month

10 quick and easy dinners kids love

Philips 2000i Air Purifier – Review and first thoughts

P.F. Chang’s Chicken Lettuce Wraps

Turkey Gyros

Cayenne Pepper Hot Sauce

Fun for the Whole Family with a Backyard Oasis

Bakery Style Oreo Cake

Logan and Cove Mattress Review and GIVEAWAY

Everyone’s Favorite Blueberry Muffins

Salted Caramel Cake

Chicken Fried Steak

Oh the things you can do, with the Dyson Ball Animal 2!

Cheesecake Factory Brown Bread