It's May. It was 90 degrees a couple of weeks ago. Say goodbye to warm winter meals, and hello to grill marks, fresh veggies and cool drinks...or at least that's what I thought. With Tuesday being cold and gloomy, however, nothing seemed as appealing as a satisfying bowl of chili. That being said, we also had all the ingredients on hand--such a luxury. So, here's a really simple, really tasty week-night fix.
What ya need (for about 5 servings--1 cup each): 1 lb ground beef 1 medium onion 2 cloves garlic 1 can (16 oz) whole tomatoes 2 tsp salt 1 tsp sugar 1 tsp Worcestershire Hot sauce 2 tsp Cocoa Powder (optional) 2 medium celery sticks 2-3 tbsp chili powder 1 cup cooked elbow macaroni 1 can kidney beans drained
What ya do: Cook and stir burger, onion and garlic in saucepan until burger is light brown. Drain, stir in tomatoes (with liquid) celery, chili powder, salt, sugar, Worcestershire, cocoa powder (if using…it adds a nice warmth, and brings out the other flavors) and a few shakes of the hot sauce (to taste); heat to boiling, reduce and simmer for one hour. Stir in beans and macaroni, heat to boiling and reduce. Simmer uncovered until hot (about 15 mins). If you want a thicker consistency, simmer longer.
This, alongside some good bread and you've got a filling (cheap) meal. The elbow macaroni is another optional ingredient. I added it because we have a big eater on our hands and I wanted to bulk up the recipe. It's perfectly fine without any pasta, too. Give it a try! I'm sure you could also substitute ground turkey, but we never have that.
Wednesday, February 3, 2010
Sorry I didn't get a chance to post yesterday. Things are busy getting ready to go to the big NOLA this weekend so I haven't had a chance to catch you up. Pity for you, I've been eating super exciting things. Orr... not. Breakfast both yesterday and today was the same-- Special K, Fiber One Honey Clusters, blueberries/bananas, and milk.
Lunch yesterday was one of my favorites... BOCA burger! So many people have a disgust of this soy burger but really... it's quite good! I mean, obviously it's not a beef burger but it's a good change from your everyday turkey on whole wheat, right?
Lunch today however was a high fiber wrap with bananas and peanut butter. As you'll see, I've had a big sweet tooth today. You'll be able to tell by my dinner choice.
Snack yesterday was a Kashi chocolate almond bar with a coffee.
I tried not to nibble too much as I chopped, diced and sauteed for our chili dinner last night. I got the recipe from the Wegmans magazine and although it was supposed to be a turkey chili recipe, I made it with ground beef which I drained the fat. This was probably not as healthy but still good. Nothing like the smell of chili simmering away. While I prepped my ingredients yesterday (which, by the way, is half the battle of chili) I discovered I love the aroma of cumin! Who knew. It has this spicy but mild flavor that reminds me of good Mexican cooking. Yum. So, the prep took about 20 minutes to chop, measure etc, but the actual cooking process is as easy as stirring every few minutes. Yum. Yum. I wish we had extra because I would have eaten it with lunch today. There are different variations of chili. Some call for noodles or tortilla chips but we served it with multi grain rolls we got at the farmers market. They didn't exactly go hand in hand with the chili but it was still good. We also had some green beans. As you can tell... in coordination of my new title, the can of diced tomatoes exploded on me last night. Awesome
Unfortunately, my cravings got the better of me last night and I had too many sweets right before bedtime (think Hershey Bliss chocolate squares, pretzels and two mini muffins with a glass of milk...GRRRRRRR)
That kept me up late, meaning I've been tired all day. Funny how food can affect so much. Plus, tomorrow is an early morning... which will turn into a late night (because of flights)..so basically I won't sleep until next week!!! AHHH!!!!
Snacks today included a Fiber One chocolate pop tart (good, but would have been better in a toaster!) and some Entertaining Quartet crackers with Laughing Cow cheese.
I have an activia in the fridge but I'm holding out for dinner. Drum roll please.... PANCAKES!! Yes, since my parents are going out to dinner I'm making breakfast. They are the whole grain Quaker kind and I'm serving them with vanilla Greek yogurt, sliced bananas and syrup. Maybe some chocolate chips... we'll see how devilish I'm feeling. If I knew how to make bananas foster I would, but unfortunately, no dice. Alright, time to close down the job site!! Ta ta!!
