One of the scariest things about moving your family to a special-needs diet is the realization that your old lazy-day standbys just aren't going to work for you anymore. No longer can you turn to a Stouffer's frozen lasagna to bail you out when you really need to take a sick day.
This is one of those days for me.
I don't really have much on hand at the moment, either. So I sent a text message to my husband at church and asked him to pick up chili ingredients. Problem is, he's not going to get home soon enough and I need to get started. The cool thing about chili that I've discovered is that you can start it going and add to it in stages.
I started by getting a couple of packages of lean ground beef out of the freezer and putting them on defrost in the microwave. Usually I like to brown my meat before I put it in the chili, but this is just not going to work for me today. I feel pretty crummy. (The beef is from some locally raised cow; it would behoove you to befriend a local farmer and buy your meat in bulk. You get better quality stuff for a lower price compared to what you can find in a grocery store.)
Next, I chopped up some bell peppers. Today I used two green, one red, and one yellow. I placed the peppers in my crock pot and moved on to the onion -- one large white onion, chopped to bits.
By the time I was done chopping, my meat was pretty much defrosted. Since it was still a bit frozen, I further chopped it up into small bits, and added it to the crock pot. On top of that, I added a large can of diced tomatoes (organic, from Trader Joe's).
Normally, I would now move on to the spices and things, but I was absolutely spent for the moment. So I turned on the crock on high and settled in to wait for the husband to get home with further ingredients.
About an hour later, he came home with some fresh cilantro and a large (approx 15 oz) can of mild chili peppers. He chopped about a cup worth of fresh cilantro and added it to the chili, chopped up the entire can of chili peppers in the food processor, and added that (juice and all), and then started rummaging through the spice cupboard. So including what I'd already thrown in, the chili now has:
3 lbs very lean ground beef
1 large (20 oz) can of diced tomatoes
4 bell peppers, chopped (green, red, and yellow)
1 large white onion, chopped
1 cup fresh cilantro, chopped
1 large can of mild chili peppers, chopped
2 cans (8 oz each) tomato sauce
1/2 cup dry sherry
1/8 cup minced garlic (I keep a jar in the fridge at all times)
2 TBSP paprika
1 tsp ground cumin
3 TBSP dried oragano
1 tsp dried thyme
We continued cooking in the crock pot on high for another 5 hours -- so 6 hours total from the time I put the meat in it. The chili goes beautifully with corn bread, either southern fried (which is naturally gluten free) or Bob's Red Mill gluten-free corn bread mix. But tonight, we served with warm corn tortillas.
This is a flavorful but mild chili. I didn't use anything spicy at all in it today, simply because I wasn't in the mood for spicy. Some chili powder or a jalapeño or two would give it a kick, if desired.
Who says fresh cooking can't be easy? Ok, it was a little more work than popping a frozen lasagna in the oven, but not much. And it's a whole lot better and healthier. Plus, the leftovers get better with age. I always make enough to freeze portions for later and put some in the fridge for lunch the next day. In fact, we will probably only eat half the chili tonight (at the most, if the boys are really hungry). I will divide up what I freeze into at least two portions. They can be re-heated and eaten alone, or mixed with a can of pinto beans to stretch them further. So next time I need a "sick day," I really will have a frozen meal to heat and serve!
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