A Recipe

One of my favorite winter foods is a big bowl of homemade chilli.  I especially love breaking up some Ritz crackers over the top and adding a dollop of sour cream and shredded cheddar cheese.  With my new gluten/sugar free lifestyle I've had to forgo the Ritz, but everything else is still on the menu.

So, on this chilly day when the weather experts are saying we may get a few flakes of snow tonight, I thought I'd share with you a recipe for one of my favorite winter foods.  It's not a complete recipe because I don't really measure things out.  I just sort of toss stuff in until I think it looks/smells/tastes right and then I move on.  :-)

Laura's Wintry Day Chilli  (I just made that up!)

On Sunday I cooked up a pot of pinto beans.  If you aren't eating gluten/sugar free using canned beans is perfectly fine.  I normally use red kidney beans but I didn't have any and I love pintos.

On Monday, I browned 2 lbs of ground beef that I sprinkled with Jane's Crazy Mixed Up Salt.
 

 While that cooked I chopped up my onion and green pepper.  (Full disclosure, I used this green pepper in the photo because it was prettier than the frozen bell peppers that I used in the chilli.  When I grow bell peppers, I freeze whatever I can't eat to use in chilli during the winter.  Can't even tell it wasn't a fresh one.)

Once the meat is browned, I drain off the fat and put the meat in a big stew pot, then add the peppers and onions.

 I forgot photos for the next part, but I added a can of tomato sauce, a little can of tomato paste and then a large can of san marzano tomatoes (all of which were sugar/gluten free).  I rinse the cans and pour that water into the pot (trying to get every good part!)

Next up come the seasonings. I add to the pot thyme, oregano, garlic salt, cayenne pepper flakes, fresh black pepper and a little of the mixed up salt.  I also added a couple dashes of Tabasco sauce and then I added about 2 teaspoons of Mayan Cocoa powder.  (I've never used the cocoa powder in chilli before but let me tell you!  It really added to the flavor and I will never leave it out again!)
 

 Last I add the chilli powder. (Again, I'm sorry I don't have measurements, but I've always just winged it when I make chilli and have never had a bad batch!)
 

 Give it a good stir and then I left it on simmer for probably 4 hours.  

 

 And voila!  Yummy, delicious chilli!  I topped my bowl with a bit of freshly grated parmesan cheese.

When I had it on Monday night it tasted just a bit too salty and I made a mental to use garlic powder or fresh garlic instead of garlic salt or to use less of the Jane's crazy mixed up salt.  Today I had my mum and a friend over and served them chilli and baked potato and I noticed the chilli was not quite as salty tasting.  Maybe it just needed a little time to mesh together in the fridge. 

I'd love to hear about your chilli fixings or any good wintry dish that you serve. 

Next time I'll tell you the story of how I almost had a stroke at the pharmacy today.  :-/

I'm off to put the final touches on some SpiritWreaths and get them set to charge under tonight's beautiful full moon.  Then it's some AHS: Coven time!  :-)

blessings
~*~