Beef and Black Bean Chili

My family loves chili. And by loves chili I mean would eat chili every day if they could. And by every day I mean every meal. I have a few chili recipes in my box that I go back to over and over and this one is a slightly modified Weight Watchers recipe. Officer Hottie actually modified it, since he was the first one to make it. I'm glad he did. When I looked back over the original recipe it looked fairly blah but after the modification it's more like "Shazam!" Good stuff. 

This recipe makes 14 1-cup servings. If you are watching what you eat the original recipe has 4 WW points per serving, but with our added extras this version is probably closer to 5. And if a one cup serving doesn't sound like much, don't be fooled. This is hearty so one cup goes a long way!

Oh, and this is the doubled recipe. We always double this one because otherwise, there wouldn't be leftovers!

You will need ...

1 small onion, diced

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 lb ground beef  (the leaner the better)

4 (15 oz) cans low sodium black beans, undrained

2 c medium chunky salsa

15 oz can tomato sauce

2 packets chili seasoning (that's cheating, isn't it? Oh well.)

1/4-1/2 c pickled peppers, chopped

Sorry. I forgot to start taking pictures until I got to this stage ... 

Cook the onions and garlic over medium heat in some olive oil (1 or 2 Tablespoons) until they are soft about 3 to 5 minutes. This part always gets me. Onions and garlic cooking are a happy smell to me. I can't be angry with that smell going on.

Add the ground beef and cook until it is browned. Drain if necessary. I have found that I like to cook the meat until all the fat has cooked back into the meat. I buy our ground beef at Costco so is is only 12% fat (at most) so there really isn't a lot of fat to cook out, but when the beef is browned and starts to get a little bit crispy - oh boy. I love love love that! I think I love it because then all the "meaty" flavor is gone. I realize, meat should taste like meat, but meat should not taste like raw meat when it is cooked. Yes, I get grief for feeling that way. I don't really care.

While the meat in browning, drain and mash two cans of beans.

 

My mother-in-law buys these for Officer Hottie when she visits family in Canada. He loves them and puts them on just about everything. For some reason we cannot find them here in the states - at least this brand. I'm pretty sure any brand of pickled hot pepper will do, even a can of diced jalepeños would be good.

Chop the peppers up

Then add everything to the pan. The undrained beans, the mashed up beans, the tomato sauce and salsa, the seasoning mix and the chopped peppers. And YES. I think chili seasoning mix is cheating. This is the only recipe I have that calls for it. I'm pretty sure it's because it's from a 5 ingredient cookbook. One of these evenings when I've thought it through a little bit better I will just mix up my own chili powder and cumin and whatever else in in there. Until then ... I'm taking the easy road.

What a mess. Trust me though; the mess is worth it.

Mix everything up and let it simmer for as little as 10 minutes or as long as you want.

Serve it up. Top it with cheese or sour cream or whatever you like on your chili. We eat it naked - it's that good. Ok, wait. We aren't naked when we eat it, the chili is naked. Whew ... that could have been embarrassing.

See how good it is Mom? See how I'm taking a giant bit? See how my bowl is almost empty? See? See? See how I'm the first kid finished? Did you see? Take a picture Mom!

Time to get a cookie for Lil' J. He did a great job.

For a printable recipe click HERE

Poached Eggs

Good morning to you all! (all two of you!)

I feel the need to apologize to Officer Hottie. Since I have decided to do a food blog in addition to my other one I've been snapping pictures of him sitting at the table, eating, going for seconds, loading the dishwasher ... I'm starting to get a look.

At the beginning of the year Hottie and I decided it was time to begin losing weight and we followed Weight Watchers for a bit. I have since deviated a little and am following something closer to a hypoglycemic diet (low sugar, high fiber) but Hottie is still going the WW route and breakfast remains a challenge for both of us. Breakfast has always been a difficulty for me since I don't like a lot of typical breakfast-y type foods. There's something about the texture of oatmeal that gives me the shivers and I probably should see a therapist for my issues with eggs. Cereal doesn't keep me full very long, pancakes aren't much good without syrup, which is too sugary ... suffice to say, I'm a fairly high maintenance breakfast eater.

For some reason, though, I love poached eggs. They are close to food perfection. They are good on their own, they good smothered in hollandaise sauce, they are good with toast. I have yet to see a poached egg that I wasn't willing to devour. For another unknown reason, it took me until 30 years of age to learn how to make them. But it has almost resolved our breakfast dilemma as we've come up with a WW, and hypoglycemic, friendly breakfast that we both enjoy and can eat on a regular basis. Here it is!

You will need ...

(Please excuse the paper towels and camera case in the background. Remember...I'm still new to this!)

One half of an Orowheat sandwich thin (or whichever kind of bread/toast you prefer)

One Laughing Cow Swiss Cheese wedge

One egg

Sriracha hot sauce

To start you need to fill a small pan about half full of water and place it over Med-High heat.

Get it to a rolling boil

Place the egg into a measuring cup. Be careful not to break the yolk.

Once the water is at a rapid boil, gently lower the measuring cup until it is just touching the water and gently put the egg into the water. Let it boil for 2-3 minutes depending on how yolk-y you like it.

Once it's in, it looks kind of funny. A little like snot. But that's ok.

While the egg is poaching, toast your bread then spread the Laughing Cow cheese on and then ... add Sriracha. Have you ever had this stuff? I've seen it at Teriyaki places and was never brave enough to try it. Hottie found it at Wal-Mart while we were Christmas shopping. He convinced me to taste it and I'm hooked. Utterly and totally hooked. It's spicy and garlic-y and kind of sweet, all at the same time. Don't be afraid to try it. Unless your spouse doesn't eat any ... and then they won't want to kiss you and your nasty spicy garlic breath. Oh, and this is important ... don't forget to make it pretty. Aesthetics are everything.

There is always foam. Egg foam. It's gross ... at least it smells gross. It's smells like eggs. I know, weird. The foam is harmless. I hope.

When the 2-3 minutes is up, and the water is sufficiently foamy, use a slotted spoon to scoop the egg out of the water.

Put that puppy on top of your bread, cheese and Sriracha.

I'm drooling. And I just finished eating this. I think I should make another.

Look at that. Poached egg perfection.

If you are wanting to know, this is a 4 point Weight Watchers breakfast. It keeps Hottie full until lunchtime (he usually gets two eggs). Try it ... I think you'll like it!