Chili

After my braised pork debacle, it's time to blog a more successful meal.  The only chili I used to make was a rather elaborate, time-consuming, high-calorie recipe.  I recently abandoned that recipe and struck out on my own to make a simpler, healthier, cheaper version. 

 If I were the only eater, I would leave out the meat, but for my carnivorous family, I start with ground turkey.   I got this package at Aldi.

 onion, garlic, celery (leaves and all)

 My can opener.  He's singing.  :)

 I cook the disgusting turkey with the vegetables,

 then add a can of beans (drained because bean juice is gross) and a big can of crushed tomatoes.  I'm using crushed, because Sarah doesn't like tomatoes, so if there are no big tomato chunks, she does better.  These are from Aldi too.

 It's pretty thick. I might end up adding a can of tomato sauce later, but I'll see how it looks after I cook it for awhile.  

 I put in a little cayenne pepper (just a sprinkle, because Noah doesn't like it too hot), a whole bunch of cumin (because it's one of my favorite spices), a couple tablespoons of chili powder, and a dash of salt.  I added a little black powder too.  Bring it to a boil and then simmer for a long time.  Tonight I'm serving it with spicy hot cheese bread for the adults who can handle the heat.

 Whenever Kroger happens to have these two items on manager's special, I make spicy cheese bread.  The cheese spread is called Three Alarm Cheddar or sometimes Buffalo Bleu.  It's made with jalapeno peppers, spicy cheddar cheese, mayo, buffalo sauce, and bleu cheese.  You could make it yourself, but the spicy cheddar is darn expensive.  I only buy the spread when it's marked down, about to expire. 

Spread the dip on the bread and bake it at 400 for about 10 minutes.  It would probably be better to broil it for a minute or two, but...ok, I'm about to reveal something nobody knows about me.  I'm afraid of the broiler.  I have never broiled anything and don't even know how.