Roadkill Chili

Yesterday started off with no power. What a blessing! First of all, we are all healthy and we did not have to have any discussions about technology or screen time with the kids. The animals were all safe. The roads were clear and we have a fireplace. Even better, we have plenty of firewood to keep us cozy during the outage. Kudos to Fannin County Electric Coop for keeping our power sabbatical to a minimum. Living is the country has very few downsides. It is a small price to pay to live in a place we love so dearly.

In the morning, before the power came back on we played games, read books and took a nice nap. In the afternoon, we made a big pot of chili. Today, I’m sharing our family’s favorite chili recipe.

Growing up in Texas, we always served chili with saltines or corn chips along with cheese and maybe some chopped onion. My husband is from Indiana so we also serve our chili Midwestern style. In our home, you can choose the Texas toppings and/or over macaroni noodles. In the beginning that seemed a bit odd, but after 27+ years it has grown on me.

This morning I went to church thinking about what a blessing God can make even out a power outage. Life is good and God is better!

"And God is able to bless you abundantly, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work. “

2 Corinthians 9:8

Yield: 12

Roadkill Chili

prep time: 10 minscook time: 2 hour and 15 minstotal time: 2 hours and 25 mins

This is a family favorite that is mildly spicy for young kids but it can spiced up for those that need a little extra kick.

ingredients:

  • 2# ground lean beef
  • 1# cubed stew meat
  • 2 medium onions, blended to liquid 
  • 1 T. garlic powder
  • 1/2 t. salt
  • 15 oz can tomato sauce 
  • 2 T. chili powder
  • 1/2 t. cumin
  • 1 qt. beef bone broth
Mix these dry ingredients together in a separate bowl and save for later.
  • 4 T. chili powder
  • 2 T. ground cumin
  • 1 T. garlic powder
  • 1 T. sugar
  • 1 T. smoked paprika
  • 1/2 t. dried cilantro
  • 1/4 t. cayenne pepper
  • 1/4 t. white pepper
10 minutes before serving you will need:
  • 1 T. chili powder
  • 1/4 t. cumin powder
  • Salt to taste.

instructions:

Getting it started:
  1. Cook meat and onions in a cast iron pot until browned.  Add garlic powder, salt, cumin, tomato sauce and chili powder.  Cover meat with the bone broth until meat is fully covered.  After everything is in the pot, cook for 90 minutes until tender. Stir occasionally.
After 90 minutes:
  1. Add your bowl of dry spices and cook an additional 45 minutes.  You may need to add more broth or water to get it to a consistency you like.  We usually make it pretty thick.  Cover your pot during this second step to maintain the consistency.  Stir occasionally.
  2. Ten minutes before serving add an additional 1 T. chili powder, 1/2 t. cumin and salt to taste.   Enjoy!

NOTES:

This is our family's favorite chili!  I grew up in Texas so I always grew up having chili served with saltines or corn chips, cheese and onion.  My husband grew up in Indiana so we serve it Midwestern style now, too.  He likes his chili served over macaroni noodles.  It seemed odd at first, but over the past 27 years it's grown on me.

This recipe calls for beef bone broth.  You can buy in by the carton at the store, but once you know how to make your own, you'll never buy it again!  It's super easy and a fraction of the cost!  Watch for that recipe.

I also specifically mentioned using a cast iron pot.  I still have some stainless steel pots and pans around, but I specifically eliminated all non-stick cookware years ago.  The only exception I make is the inner pot in my electric pressure cooker.  Teflon, especially when used at high heats, has been associated with cancers and a variety of other health issues.  I'll mention more about cast iron later but know there is a method to my madness.
Created using The Recipes Generator

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Roadkill Chili

The Best!

Cozy Burger Soup

Have you seen the forecast?! The Weather Channel shows that the low on Saturday night is 17 here in Ivanhoe! Our weather station usually shows 2 degrees colder than what the Weather Channel shows. 15 degrees is officially soup weather. There may be some cocoa and hot apple cider in the forecast, too.

This time of year, I’m always serving lots of fresh veggies and clean protein like this soup. And, until further notice, the inside of our house looks like a San Francisco fog bank rolling in off the Pacific with all the essential oils being diffused. I’m doing my best to keep the germs and cooties away.

So, put some logs on the fire, turn on some nice music, plug in the diffuser and enjoy the soup.

P.S. Any veggies would work great in this soup, green cabbage, bok choy, broccoli, whatever.

Next time, I will share the whys and hows of beef bone broth. It’s so easy! You’ll never buy it at the store again. We have beef bones for sale if you want to make your own.

Yield: A lot + leftovers

Cozy Burger Soup

prep time: 15 minscook time: 20 minstotal time: 35 mins

Electric pressure cooker fast easy hamburger soup recipe.

ingredients:

  • 1 lb lean ground beef or venison
  • 1 onion, diced
  • 4 carrots, peeled and cut into coins
  • 3 potatoes, peeled and cubed
  • 1 14 oz can diced tomatoes w/ juice
  • 2 Tbsp. tomato paste
  • 1 Tbsp. Worcestershire Sauce
  • 2 tsp. minced garlic
  • 1 envelope brown gravy mix
  • 1 bag frozen veggies (I prefer peas, carrots, corn and green beans)
  • 1 qt homemade beef bone broth or 1 carton of beef broth

instructions:

  1. Brown meat and onions on the saute setting on your pressure cooker.  After browning, turn off the saute setting and add all other ingredients minus the bag of frozen veggies.  When adding the gravy mix, premix some of the broth into the mix before adding to the pot.  
  2. Set pressure cooker to stew/soup setting for 20 minutes.  After cooking allow enough time for pressure to release the pressure.  Upon opening the lid, add the frozen veggies and close lid back for 10 minutes.  The hot soup will cook the veggies.  
  3. NOTE:  Any veggies work in this recipe.  What's in your frig?  Green cabbage?  Bok choy?  Broccoli?  Any veggies would be great!
Created using The Recipes Generator

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Cozy Burger Soup

Pressure Cooker Style

Weeknight Beef Taco Casserole Recipe

It’s Tuesday night. What did you make for dinner tonight? If you’re in a supper rut, allow me to help. I don’t cook every night. I actually refuse to cook on Friday night. With that said, I have lots of really good recipes and I love to cook. This evening, I’m going to share a great Beef Taco Casserole Recipe from Lil Luna. I make a few tweeks, but my version is pretty close. One of us has gluten issues, so we usually make a gluten-free version. Where this recipe calls for Bisquick, we use Bob’s Gluten-Free Biscuit & Baking Mix. I use the same amount as the Bisquick. When our house first went gluten-free, we were all scared that food was going to taste like sawdust. Surprisingly, not true! There are so many gluten-free hacks out there. Bob’s Baking Mix is just one of them. Hint: Let the mixture of eggs, milk and baking mix sit for about 30 minutes before adding it to the baking dish. This absorption time takes away any dryness.

I do have a secret about cooking. I never reveal it to my kids until I think they are mature enough to handle this top-secret information. I sneak nuts, seeds, veggies or whatever greenage I can muster in everything I cook. Not every kitchen experiment has been a success. It’s a long story, but protein powder in mac n’ cheese was an epic fail. Just trust me. I now stick to plant material only…for now. With that said, tonight’s casserole had a stealth grated zucchini cooked into the ground beef. Shhhh! No one ever notice. They all ate seconds and some ate thirds.

Enjoy your new weekday ground beef recipe. It’s a staple around here.

Happy Tuesday and God bless!

P.S. Don’t forget to thaw your ground beef!

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