Baby, it’s cold in Florida….Chili time!

I’ve been living without a true change of seasons for 20 yrs now.  Some years I miss it, and my girls really want to see snow sometime.  But it seems the longer I live here, the more COLD, cold feels to me!!  This week and for all of next week we are having record breaking lows with a wind chill at least 10 degrees colder.  Right now at almost noon…it is only 43 degrees!  I live in South Florida, so it is rare for weather to get this COLD and STAY this cold!!  I don’t mind…it’s a nice change from all the hot, humid days of summer…I just wish we’d get to see a few snow flurries while we’re at it.

Last night it seemed the perfect night for my chili.  We love chili with a sweet cornbread (what some consider cake), but I didn’t have time to make the cornbread yesterday.  I’ll include both recipes.

Denise’s Chili

1/2 to 1 lb organic ground beef, browned
2 15 oz. cans organic tomato sauce
1 can mexican rotel
3 cans organic kidney beans
2 Tbsp organic tomato paste
2 cups filtered water (or a bit more)
1/4 to 1/2 sweet onion, diced
3-4 cloves garlic, minced
1 Tbsp chili powder
2 tsp cumin
1 tsp oregano
1/2 tsp cinammon
1/2 to 3/4 tsp sea salt
1 tsp pepper
1 Tbsp sugar (or honey)

Brown ground beef in soup pot.  Drain away some grease, if desired.  Then add tomato sauce, garlic, and all spices.  Add in beans, rotel, tomato paste and water.  Bring to high heat, and then let simmer on low, covered.  I then chop my onions and add them in.  It’s ready within an hour or so…when all flavors have melded together.

It seems I can’t even follow my own recipe without changing it up.  Last night I was out of mexican rotel (which gives the chili some heat), so I added extra chili powder, cumin, salt and pepper to the ground beef and mixed it in before adding the rest of the ingredients.  We do not like green peppers, but if you do you can certainly add those in.

We made a pot of spaghetti pasta as some of the kids like to eat their chili over pasta.  Top chili with shredded mexican or cheddar chesese, onions or scallions and sour cream.  Delicious!!!!  I’ll have to check in later to add the cornbread recipe…I have to run a few errands now.

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