Chili

I've been really lazy this week, partly because it's been so cold here. This is a post I wrote last week, but for some reason I didn't get around to posting it.

I woke up Monday morning with a huge bruise on my leg. While I was scoping it out at the table, poking it to try and remember how that could have happened, my sister pointed out another on the back of my arm. I knew what that meant. My iron was low again! I’ve suffered from iron deficiency for years, and although I used to take pills for it, I stopped a few years ago (now I only take a multi vitamin). So every once in awhile, my body will start bruising like a peach (and I’ll be tired and stuff) and I’ll know it’s time for more iron.

That meant coming up with red meat meals (I process better from animals than from vegetables generally). So I looked outside at the -41 (with wind) weather, looked at the forecast and saw the high for the week was only -23, and I decided to make chili!

I never used to like chili. We didn’t eat much of it growing up, and so I didn’t start liking it until a few years ago. But only I started eating it, I realized, if I made a few modifications, it would be delicious!

My favorite part of chili is that there isn’t really a recipe. You kind of look in your fridge and cupboards, and toss stuff in. Not enough of one ingredient? That just means more of something else!

I like my chili with vegetables, and I base it loosely off of the following recipe (a warning – this is a healthy chili. I often make it using ground turkey):

1 pound ground beef

2 medium onions, chopped

1 clove garlic

1 1/2 cups celery, chopped
1 1/2 cups carrots, chopped

1 cup green pepper (or red or yellow)

1 can (796 mL) whole (or diced) tomatoes

1 whole tomato chopped

2 cans (514 mL) red kidney beans (or one red, one white)

2 tblp chili powder

1 1/2 tblp lemon juice

Brown the ground beef in a frying pan (5 min). When it’s cooked, poor off all the excess grease (this makes it healthier).

Add the celery, carrots, onion and garlic, cook until onions are tender (4 min)

Add everything else. Cover and simmer for 10 minutes. If it looks to thick, add some water. Then serve!

I usually serve chili over wild rice (or brown). I used to eat it with bread, and although it would be delicious with a nice corn bread, I was almost completely out of ingredients Sunday. Rice gives the chili some extra carbs, and absorbs the chili flavour nicely.

Chili often tastes better the next day... so I put it in some tupperware and ate this for dinner a few times this week.