Chili: Comfort Food on a Cold Winter Day!

Enjoy a warm, hearty bowl of Chili during this crazy cold weather!

Chili warms your soul, is easy to make and is good for the whole family!

There's nothing quite like a crock pot of steaming hot chili waiting for you at the end of your day!

Chili is most commonly made up of tomatoes, beans, chili peppers, meat, garlic, onions and cumin, however, there are many variations to the basic chili (www.nationaldaycalendar.com).

In Spanish, chili refers to “chili pepper” and carne means “meat”.

A little bit of history about chili,
American frontier settlers used a “chili” recipe of dried beef, suet, dried chili peppers and salt which was all pounded together, formed into bricks and dried.  The bricks could then be boiled in pots on the trails.

If you would like to be adventurous, try chili dogs, chili burgers, chili cheese fries, chili stuffed baked potatoes, chili spaghetti, chili mac, chili rice, or chili recipes.

Here is a simple recipe; I tried a few weeks ago:

Brown 1lb of ground beef or ground turkey in a saucepan (drain)
Chop 1 large or medium red onion
Combine:
2 cans of red kidney beans
1 can of whole tomatoes
1 can of diced tomatoes
2 cans of black beans (one can had black beans with bacon, added extra flavor)
A whole jar of salsa
A packet of McCormick’s Low sodium Chili Seasoning
Combine all ingredients in a large crock pot until boiling, about 4 hours on high.

Top off with sour cream, cheddar cheese, crackers or tortilla chips!
Enjoy!
Guess, I know what I am making for dinner!