Meat Lover's Chili

Hey there!

I know its been a little while, my apologies. Life seems to get busier and busier as it goes on. I am getting married in October and seem to be overwhelmed with the looming deadlines and decisions that comes with the planning. I am finally now able to sit for a couple minutes before running out of the house to talk about the Super Bowl. (Hi 14 days later...)

Anyone who knows me, knows I'm a HUGE Patriots fan. It annoys most people because they're incredibly jealous of the Pats' awesomeness. We had an amazing season and despite the loss in the Super Bowl, I still think we were the best team of the season. For the Super Bowl, Jon wanted chili. He made it very clear he wanted a man's chili, "none of that ground turkey s--t". So, I googled and combined some recipes and came up with what he claims is "the best chili he's ever tasted". Now, I'm not a chili fan at all, so I can't tell you whether or not he's exaggerating. You'll just have to make it yourselves.

8 slices bacon
2 cloves garlic, finely minced
1/2 onion, chopped
1 green pepper, chopped
2 small chili peppers (such as jalapenos or serranos), chopped
1/2 bottle beer (such as Corona)
3 beef bouillon cubes
6 oz tomato paste
2 tbsp steak sauce
1 lb ground beef
1 lb italian sausage
5 10 oz cans of diced tomatoes with green chiles
2 15oz cans of kidney beans, 1 drained, 1 with juices
1/4 cup chili powder
2 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tbsp paprika
2 tsp hot sauce
1/4 cup brown sugar


In a medium skillet, cook the bacon until crispy. After cooked, place on a plate with paper towels. In the bacon grease, cook the garlic, onions, green peppers and chili peppers for 2-3 minutes. Whisk in beer, beef bouillon, tomato paste and steak sauce until well combined. Reduce heat to low.

In a large stock pot, brown ground beef and italian sausage.  Add diced tomatoes and kidney beans. **Reminder, with the kidney beans, one can will be drained so you are only adding the beans, the other you will add the whole can including the juices.** Add in the tomato paste and beer mixture. Add in chili powder, cumin, paprika, hot sauce and brown sugar. Cook on medium heat for 1-2 hours. Continue to cook on low for 3-4 hours in stock pot or crock pot.

Jon got my best friend to rock a Pats shirt. No one tell Mike Tomlin.

Crockpot Chicken Chili

So, I've been trying to get better at actually using my crockpot. I still kind of miss the whole point of using it as a "one pot dish" maker, but I'm slowly coming around.

Jon and I went to Ruby Tuesday's a few weeks ago for lunch and he got their White Bean Chicken Chili. Jon enjoyed it, and I thought it was alright in terms of taste. My main issue with it was the color. Just because its white bean and chicken doesn't mean we can't make it colorful! So, I went home after picking up four different colored bell peppers and threw this together. Definitely more appealing to the eyes and it was quite tasty too!

2 tbsp olive oil

1 medium onion, diced

4 bell peppers, assorted colors, diced

1 serrano pepper, diced

3 cloves garlic, finely minced

15 oz can corn

15 oz can garbanzo beans

15 oz can diced tomatoes

32 ounces chicken stock

1 tbsp chili powder

1/2 tbsp paprika

1 tsp cumin

1 tbsp lemon juice

1/4 cup parsley, diced

2-3 cups shredded chicken (fully cooked)

1/2 cup greek yogurt

Salt and pepper to taste

Shredded cheese for topping, optional

Heat olive oil in skillet. Cook onion, bell peppers, serrano pepper and garlic for 2-3 minutes. Add chicken stock to crockpot. Add all ingredients to crockpot, including onion, peppers and garlic, and stir until combined. Cook on low heat for 4-5 hours or high heat for 2-3, stirring occasionally.



Day 26 - your week, in great detail

This is going to be hard because sometimes my memory doesn't quite like me. So I'm going to attempt to recap last week.

Sunday 10/31

Happy Halloween! Definitely one of my most favoritest holidays! I was born early October so I love everything and anything fall. As beautiful as New England falls are, I hate the winters that follow. So, living in Hawaii, I just light some apple scented candles and call it fall. I've only ever heard the stories of what Halloween is like in Waikiki and this year I decided to get in on the action. First, I had to work 8:30-4:30. Then, I ran home, got changed, and had my mom cut and sew my costume to a shorter length. Good thing she lives within walking distance.

My friends and I decided to go with a group theme of Disney Princesses. We took lots of pictures with other random Disney characters and other crazy people we found. Funny story is that the picture of the double Jasmin and Aladdins is apparantely a friend of my younger sister's. I didn't know that until I posted the picture on my facebook and my sister commented. Small world. Enjoy the pictures :)

Monday 11/1

So this was the day after Halloween and I was scheduled to work at 5:30am. Level 8 fail. I stayed in Waikiki until around 12:30 am, so we didn't get home until around 2am. Luckily my manager texted to say she wanted us all to come in at 7am instead. It was still early just not "it's still dark out" early. We had a floor set to do and ended up not getting out until 5:30pm. Due to sleep deprivation, I was semi crazy and full on obnoxious. I kept yelling out "aww yeah the cab's are heaaaa". I got home around 7pm and Jon cooked me dinner and let me catch up on my DVR. Love him!

Tuesday 11/2

View in Manoa :)

Election Day! My mom hooked me up with a job working on the Colleen Hanabusa campaign from 10-6 on Election Day. I headed into town and had to walk door-to-door in Manoa and Kalihi. Kalihi was small kine scary, they had some big doggies at those houses! I did get Starbucks in the morning because I was still exhausted from my 10 hour shift the day before. We got Boston's Pizza for lunch, which was the first decent pizza I've had since living in Hawaii. Hanabusa ended up winning. I got a $20 gas card and a $90 paycheck, so win for me too!

Wednesday 11/3

Back to work at Things Remembered from 11 to 7. Nothing exciting there. I drove home, picked up Jon and we headed back up to town to go to Dave and Busters with some people from my old job at Best Buy.

Thursday 11/4
Work again. I went to Walmart to buy groceries because they are sooo much cheaper there than at Foodland. I also bought SATC2. YESSSS!!!




Friday 11/5
A day off! This day I decided to cook up a new recipe of Chili with Oven Baked Garlic Parmesan Fries. I did this while watching Grey's Anatomy and Master Chef on Fancast. I also made my Apple Crumbler because I was going to a friend's house for dinner the next night and I was bringing beer and dessert.

 

Saturday 11/6



Their cool crooked glasses!



Work 10-6. Afterwards, Jon picked me up and we went to Target to get beer for the dinner. We somehow managed to spend $81. I swear I do that everytime I go into Target. After that, we went to my new friend Angelina and her husband Jeremy's house. She made some delicious enchiladas. Soooo delicious. Maybe I can get her to give me the recipe to share with you guys? They have a really adorable tea cup Chihuahua named Lola and a cute black and white cat named Riley. They are so cute! She also decorated her condo exactly how I wish I could decorate mine. I am sooo going to Pier 1 and Ross to buy some stuff. It still looks like Jon and I just moved in.

Anyways, that was my average week. I am so thankful for the friends I have made living here in Hawaii. Hope you guys enjoyed reading! Only a few days left of this blog challenge. Then, it'll be back to mostly recipes. Not sure if that's a good or bad thing? xoxo

Day 21- A Recipe

I have been such a major fail with posting on my blog. I cannot even begin to tell you how crazy busy this past week/month has been. I am so thankful I am not one of those people who struggle to make friends. However, I'm also the type of person who can never say no to anyone. I wear myself thin sometimes, and this past month, I've truly pushed myself to the limit with my social life, work and the few times I've been able to actually make it to the gym.

I was soooo excited for this post out of the whole blog challenge because its the reason I started blogging. This blog has made my life so much easier because anytime I need to reference or share one of my recipes, I can just hop on the computer and grab it. Amazing.

One of the main reasons I had started cooking a few years ago was because of Jon, my fiance. I felt like a failure as a girlfriend for not being able to produce something above and beyond hamburger helper. I started recording the Food Network, particularly 30 Minute Meals, on my DVR and watching them at night to get a feel for techniques and flavor combinations. I am still years away from where I'd like to be as a cook, but I've improved a whole bunch from where I started.

Since Jon was my original inspiration to cook, I decided to make one of his favorites. As I've mentioned before, Jon is a very picky eater. He enjoys meat and potatoes and nothing else. Its been a struggle to get him to try any food outside of the main meals he has had his whole life. I've finally been able to incorporate vegetables and herbs in the dishes, but he still loves a meat and potato dish. So, today I've made a Barbecue Chili with Oven Baked Garlic Parmesan Fries. I've made it with a few Portuguese touches in there because I do have some Portuguese blood in me. Instead of an Italian Sausage, I used Portuguese Sausage. I also used garbanzo beans as opposed to the usual kidney or pinto beans. I always use garbanzo beans in my Portuguese Kale Soup and I just love the flavor.


Barbecue Chili

2 lbs ground beef
1 10 oz Portuguese sausage, without casing
8 slices bacon, diced into small pieces
16 ounces chicken broth
2 tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1 green pepper, chopped
1/2 large onion, chopped
1 poblano pepper, seeded, chopped
1/2 cup beer
1 cup barbecue sauce
2 tomatoes, diced
1 15oz can of crushed tomatoes
1 15oz can diced tomatoes
2 15 oz cans beans (I used garbanzo)
1/4 cup parsley, finely chopped
3 tbsp chili powder
2 bay leaves
1/2 tbsp dried oregano
1 tsp cumin
2 tsp paprika
2 tsp hot sauce
1 tbsp worcestershire sauce
Salt & Pepper to taste

Heat large pot over medium-high heat. Place sausage in pot and break up using a wooden spoon or potato masher. Add ground beef. Cook until browned. Drain and set aside. Add bacon to same pot and cook until brown and crisp. Add beef and sausage back into pot. Add chicken broth to beef mixture. Heat olive oil in a skillet over medium-high heat, sautee onions and peppers for two to three minutes. Add onions and peppers to beef mixture. Add in remaining ingredients.

Cover and simmer over low heat for 2 1/2- 3 hours. Taste and add additional seasoning to taste. Serve with shredded cheddar cheese and sour cream with my next recipe.

Oven Baked Garlic Parmesan Fries

4-5 potatoes, peeled and sliced into wedges
5 large cloves of garlic, finely minced or grated
2 tbsp olive oil, plus coating for fries
2 tbsp butter
1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
Salt & Pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Prepare baking sheet with a light coat of cooking spray. In a small sauce pan, sautee garlic in oil and butter for 3-4 minutes. Set aside in large mixing bowl. Spread potato wedges evenly on baking sheet. Season with salt and pepper and lightly coat with olive oil. Bake in oven for 25-30 minutes, until golden brown.

Immediately upon removing from the oven, toss fries in garlic mixture. Toss in parmesan cheese and salt and pepper to taste.

Serve along side the chili or with a cheesy dipping sauce. Enjoy!