Friday, January 14, 2011

Chili - Our Ulitmate Thrifty Meal

We make chili regularly in our house. It is pretty simple and lasts for a few meals for our family of 5. It is versatile and can be adapted to suit the tastes in your house.

Our basic recipe:
1 lb ground beef browned
2 large cans diced tomatoes
4 cans of beans undrained (I usually use 2 kidney, 1 black* and 1 white or navy beans)
onion
garlic
chili powder
cumin
seasoned salt
pepper

I do not measure my spices I just kinda wing it by taste. I also have been known to add other spices such as cayenne pepper or chili flakes or add extra veggies like shredded carrots, corn or diced bell peppers. I find this is a very easy way to sneak vegetables into my children's diets. You can also use dried beans instead of canned beans. I am just not a very good planner and seldom have my dried beans ready for this. You can also make chili with ground turkey or chicken as well.

On our first meal of chili we always eat it with rice or cornbread. After that there are several meals we use to finish up the rest of the chili.

leftover chili and rice/cornbread
chili dogs
nachos
chili cheese burritos

If we get tired of eating chili before it is all gone this also freezes and thaws very well. For us this is a no waste meal. I make a pot about twice a month now that I have found out how easy it is for us.

*I do drain my black beans and rinse them when I use them because I do not like the juices in the can. If the chili isn't wet enough for you, you can always add a little water to the chili to moisten it.

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