Chili to the Rescue

It was a busy weekend of sports and yard work, home work, and the like after a full week of much the same.  A big batch of chili easily served from the stove-top seemed like a reasonable attempt against thwarting another meal of potato chips with a side of Halloween candy this weekend! That was Friday night's dinner for myself...not a proud moment.
Chili is hearty and healthy and can easily be prepared in a large amount to feed a crowd or freeze for a future meal and the leftovers can be re-purposed in a number of creative ways:
* Mix left over chili with some rice and shredded cheese. Cut sweet peppers in half, remove seeds and ribs and fill with chili/rice mixture.  Place peppers in casserole dish, sprinkle with a bit more cheese if you like and bake covered in foil at 375 degrees for about 30 minutes or until peppers are soft but not mushy and filling is warm. Remove foil and broil for a couple minutes for nicely browned, cheesy tops.
* Top a simple garden salad with leftover chili.  Sprinkle with crushed nacho chips and serve with shredded cheese, sliced avocado, fresh tomatoes, sour cream and salsa for a quick taco salad OR open a individual size bag of corn chips, crush slightly and top with warm chili, cheese and shredded lettuce for a "walking taco".
*Leftover chili makes great "chili poutine".  Top homemade roasted potato wedges with chili and cheese and broil until cheese is nicely browned.  Top with shredded lettuce, green onions, diced fresh tomatoes and hot peppers.
* Top baked sweet potatoes or roasted spaghetti squash halves with chili, cheese and fixings for a yummy remake that will not taste like leftovers.
* Top a hot dog, fill a flour tortilla, bring the extras to someone you love!

This is a super simple, stand-by recipe.  Feel free to tweek or adjust to your tastes with various additions: cumin, dark cocoa powder, coffee or dark ale, bbq sauce, hot chili peppers, Tabasco, mushrooms, leftover steak--skys the limit!

1 lb of lean ground beef (or substitute Veggie Ground Round or some chopped sweet potatoes for a vegetarian option)
1 large onion, chopped
6 cloves of garlic, roughly chopped
2 19 oz cans of Almyer petite cut tomatoes (any diced tomatoes will due of course, but I love these!)
1 green or sweet pepper chopped
1 19 oz can red kidney beans, rinsed and drained
1 19 oz can black beans, rinsed and drained
1 14 oz can Busch's Original baked brown beans (do not drain)
2 Tablespoons chili powder
salt and pepper to taste
Spoonful of brown sugar (optional) to cut the acidity of the tomatoes
1 beef bouillon cube

In a large pot, saute your chopped onion and garlic until starting to soften.
Add lean ground beef or Veggie Ground Round and continue cooking until browned.
Add the rest of your ingredients and stir to combine.
Simmer on stove-top until meat is fully cooked and flavors are well combined.  Tastes better the longer it sits--so perfect for leftovers and a night you need a meal ready to go for varying mealtimes. Leave bowls and spoons close by and hide the Halloween candy (um...in my case... from myself!)

We finished the meal with these super fun, mini, filled eyeball donuts!






For further prevention against junk food dinner, check out these eight meals in 30 minutes at Family Bites.

For fun, check out these 26 things you likely didn't know about chili peppers.  Apparently a good call on the chili powder for our anniversary dinner :D