Winter is Here...bring on the CHILI!

I promise as the weeks progress I will get better about posting this earlier in the week. The pics were taken, the meals were prepped, but somehow they never quite got from phone to brain to page.

So here we are on Thursday with what was created on Sunday...not ideal.

With the artic blast coming this week, I knew we were destined for a great pot of chili. That, and I had two portions I wanted to make for friend's having babies in the next two weeks.

Before you turn your email off with my meat choice, I specifically wanted to explain the veg version 1st and then as a side note explain the "with meat" addition.

I made a Venison/Elk sweet potato and black bean chili and corn muffins.

The chili started with a recipe from Eating Well Magazine, but then tweaked for ease, less salt, and less fat: I made a HUGE stock pot of chili

4 medium sweet potatoes peeled and diced

4 cans no salt added black beans strained and rinsed

2 large onions diced

1 jar pure tomato puree

24oz pure tomato juice

2-3 cups water

chili seasoning (see pic)

chipotle pepper to taste

lime juice to taste

1T olive oil

16oz ground lean meat of choice if adding (prepped in a separate pan and then added with rest of ingredients when time to simmer)

Heat up olive oil. Saute sweet potatoes and onion until onion is cooked. Add all other ingredients and simmer until potatoes are soft, it is thickness of choice, and the house smells fantastic :) For the chili seasoning, I buy the pre-packagedwhere the salt is separate so that I don't need any. I add all the chili powders and spices. I also don't add the masa, either.

For the corn muffins, I searched and found cornmeal that didn't scare me...pure cornmeal. I got Lamb's brand, which happens to be a local brand; bonus!! I used egg whites, whole wheat flour, skim milk, and canola oil. I skipped the sugar, too. Paul, of course, topped his with honey :) I will try it also in the next few weeks with a gluten free flour blend and see how it turns out because they were super easy and really tasty.

I also thought I would include a pic of what our fridge looks like on Sunday evening as I prep to send the hubby to work on Monday. Every week I send Paul with oj, fat free milk, fruit, yogurt, breakfast, and lunch. Each day he takes a new breakfast and lunch. I line it up on the shelf so all he has to do is load it in his cooler in the morning. His breakfast has been the rave of late, so I thought I would share the two staple meals.

#1 Muesli Bread with peanut butter and sliced banana (1/2 banana fits best)

#2 Whole Wheat Lavash with peanut butter, Uncle Sam's Cereal, and sliced apple or banana

I can make sandwiches with both of these that are portable and really tasty. They also work great after his morning workouts because between the muesli bread and pb he is getting over 15g of protein!

I will take pics when I make it on Sunday for all to see. He eats out with friends every Friday morning after their run....eggs and a kid's pancake from Austin Java. Did you know they only charge like $3 for the kids pancake and it is the same size as the adult version??

Have a wonderful rest of the week and stay warm!

mer