Chili Con Carne

I made this a couple weeks ago and never posted about it in the "busyness" of the holiday season. I doubt most people are going to search this site for a chili recipe.  Most people have a favorite.  We actually have never even used a recipe...hubby usually makes it for us and just wings it. 

But as I have mentioned, we have a kiddo with some food sensitivities.  And one of those sensitivities is possibly tomatoes (we are still unsure on that one). 

So recently when I was in the mood for some chili, I was a little baffled about what to use or how to make it.

Is it even possible to make chili without tomatoes? Or tomato sauce?

So I did some searching. Big time Google searching. 

And finally I found this recipe. 

Ironically, it is sponsored by a tomato sauce company. :)

But it was exactly what I needed.

Well, minus the tomato sauce.

It is nothing fancy.  Nothing just earth shattering.

But perfect for what our family needs right now.

So I am going to post about it mainly for my records because I know there is more chili in our future. 

Ingredients:
1.5 lbs ground beef (the original recipe calls for 2 lbs but our ground beef packages are 1.5 lbs)

chopped onion (original recipe calls for 1 onion chopped, I just threw in some dried chopped onion)

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 jar tomato/pasta sauce (I actually use a tomato-less sauce, it is good stuff!)

1 can red kidney beans, drained

2 Tbsp chili powder (for my sensitive kid, I put aside a small portion of the mixture in another skillet because chili powder is another sensitivity, so I didn't add this until the end)

Directions:
Brown the ground beef with the onion and minced garlic in a large skillet.

Drain (if necessary).

Add the sauce, kidney beans, and chili powder to the skillet.  Simmer for about 20 minutes.

Enjoy!

As you can see from the pictures above, I prefer my chili over white rice and topped with a little cheddar cheese.  I am sure this would also be good with Frito chips.

Like I said, nothing fancy, but it hit the spot for us.  We will be having it again this winter.

Happy cooking!

Reba

Frito Pie

Earlier this week I was in the mood for some "light" Mexican food.  I remembered seeing a recipe on Pinterest for Baked Frito Pie.  That sounded good to me.  It is one of my guilty pleasures from Sonic that I allow myself to have about once every 10 years.  I am not saying that making it at home (baking it) makes it low calorie...it doesn't.  And with Fritos in it, I knew it wouldn't. But I am betting it is lower cal than I could get elsewhere...

I followed the recipe for the most part, just eliminating one ingredient that I knew my family would balk at.

It was easy.  Good.  And fairly quick.

All good components for a meal at our house. :)

Ingredients:
1 lb ground beef, browned  (I used 1 1/2 because that is what size the package was)

1 can chili beans

1 can (8 oz, though I used a little more) tomato sauce

1 can diced tomatoes (that is the ingredient I left out...my crew balks at tomato pieces)

1 envelope taco seasoning (I don't think I used a whole one but I can't remember...a whole one would be good though)

1 cup shredded cheddar cheese (I used a Monterey and cheddar block, freshly shredded)

1 1/4 cup sour cream (I just used an 8 oz container of light sour cream)

3 1/2 cups Fritos

Directions:
After browning the beef, drain.  Add the tomato sauce, taco seasoning, beans, and tomatoes (if using), and 1/4 cup shredded cheese.  Mix. 

Sprinkle part of the Fritos on the bottom of a baking dish (size depending on how much you are making).

Cover with the meat mixture.

Bake at 350 for 20 minutes.

Remove from oven.

Spread sour cream over meat mixture. 

Top with remaining Fritos and cheese.

Return to the oven for another 5 minutes or so.

Enjoy!

Hubby was out of town, so I didn't get his opinion.  Most of the kids ate it.  Some are picky about "Mexican" flavors. I personally loved it.

Reba

Cowboy Stew

We finally made it through the rotation of kids (one a week helps me plan a meal to cook with me during that week). So this week we rotated back to child 1. When I asked him earlier this week what we should make, he said (without hesitation), "Cowboy stew".

I think my exact words were "Are you sure about that???"

In our school district, for several years now, the first graders have had a rodeo unit (I believe it started as an economic unit because of the annual rodeo our town hosts). As part of that unit, the kids make "cowboy stew" to try.

So I went to the first grade teachers and asked for the recipe.

Oh joy.

There is no set recipe. You just kind of throw beans, hot dogs, brown sugar, and barbecue sauce in a crockpot or a pot on the stove and cook.

Sounds easy enough but I actually do much better with an actual recipe. I may not follow it to a T but I at least know where we are headed.

I sure didn't with this one.

So we just made it up as we went along.

We ended up adding a can each of great northern beans, chili beans, kidney beans, and black eye peas in a large pot on the stove. We then added a bottle of Sweet Ray's barbecue sauce. And we decided to use Little Smokies (cut in thirds) instead of hot dogs.

I could NOT bring myself to add the brown sugar because I had already calculated the calories for this recipe without it and the calories were UNREAL. Barbecue sauce is FULL of calories.

Anyway, once it was boiling (set on high), I turned the stovetop down to a low/warm. We let it cook about two hours, stirring constantly.

I will be honest, it wasn't my favorite. I mean, it was like "pork and beans".

But it wasn't terrible either.

And it was very filing (which was good since I didn't eat much after seeing the calories for this thing).

And for a cold night, it was warm in the tummy.

Child 1 thinks it would have been that much better with brown sugar. :)

But it was fun anyway.

Reba