I was wondering who Dave from My Year on the Grill was going to pick for the next BSI host this week – can I just say how happy he was to throw it back my way in honor of Week 100 of Blogger Secret Ingredient!  Check out the BSI Page to get the facts here.

I have to clarify though – I did not come up with this original event.  It started in the fall of 2008.  Each week a person would pick an ingredient, you would make a recipe during the week, submit it and see who won.  I’ve won three times! 😀  It was a great way to see how many different ways a particular ingredient would be prepared.

One week it was peppermint – way back in December 2008.  I remember checking back every few days to see if that hostess picked a winner and chose the next host.  Weeks went by, and I decided to resurrect it with Zucchini in Week 16!  And we’ve been going strong ever since.

Some weeks we have a more submissions than others.  I am hoping with the help of you guys, we can Twitter and Facebook this weeks event to get a great turn out and build the BSI momentum again. 😀

Most of my long time readers know I was an extremely picky eater growing up.  A cucumber was the only vegetable that crossed my lips.  Well, through the BSI, I have made the following recipes with ingredients I hate! No, it isn’t onions – I made Hannah do that one!

BSI – Beets.  Tony and I both can’t stand beets, although both our parents ate them when we were growing up.  I decided to see if I could make a hummus out of it – and we were both pleasantly surprised on how good this tasted – just a slight sweetness from the beets mixed well with all the garlic!

BSI – Sweet Potato.  I made sweet potato pillows in a red pepper sauce – these turned out delicious!  I even made another batch the day I made them to bring them to work – I big hit!  (note: some of these pics were taken when I had no idea how to use a camera!)

BSI – Capers.   Eew.  Briny balls of snot.  But I was able to transform them into spicy red potatoes with a lemon caper sauce – delicious!

BSI – Ground Turkey.   Again, not a huge fan of ground turkey because a: it’s usually really dry and b: I wonder what else might be ground with the turkey (i.e. rat parts, pig fat, fish eyes).   Not only was I brave and used ground turkey, I also make a Turkish dish – Turkish Borgei.  The result was a flakey crust, and spicy center – I need to make these again!

So by now I know you are waiting with baited breath wondering what this weeks ingredient is going to be:  CHILES! Did you guys know I liked spicy food??!!  You can use anything in the chile family:

  • dried chiles
  • jalapenos
  • poblano peppers
  • habanero
  • anaheim
  • ancho
  • cascabel

Since this is Halloween weekend, and I am a day late in getting the ingredient out – please submit your chile recipes by Sunday, November 7th.  The winner will be announced Monday, November 8 and a new host will be announced.  I can’t wait to see what you all come up with!  If you don’t have a blog, just email me your submission at bdl319@gmail.com and I’ll post it for you.  Please link your BSI to this post so I can make sure I get your submissions! 😀

It’s stormy this morning so I have to log off!  I had my usual egg bagel sammie

a chili stuffed potato for lunch

and black bean soup and grilled cheese for dinner.

Stats for Monday:

  • 1,460- calories, 177 carbs, 101 protein, 41 fat, 26 fiber
  • 24% of calories from fat
  • 45 minute walk with 4 pound weights

Have a great day!