Winter 2.0: Time for Chili

Yup, daffodils & snow flurries. 

Remember last week when I was bouncing around in my sandals in the sunshine proclaiming that Spring was here? Well, then March started in like a lion with 50 mph winds and it snowed this morning. 

We should all be used to this already, North Carolina weather is notoriously fickle year-round. There have been years where I've worn short sleeves at Christmas and shivered through snow in my Easter dress. And I guarantee that those instances were met with drastically different weather the days before and after. It's just madness down here. 

So I'm officially withdrawing my Spring pronouncement and cancelling all spring menus until further proof of season-change is provided. I take back last week's bright surf 'n' turf salad and suggestions that you look for fresh produce and instead dive head first into warm, cheesy recipes. 

Let's start with a bowl of chili. 

I recently bragged that I was proud to have found two recipes to claim as my own; one for chicken noodle soup and the other for chili. I was saving my chili recipe so as to not give it away before my church's annual chili cook off; you know, because I was going to win. 

Spoiler alert: I didn't win, I didn't get honorable mention, but almost all of it was scraped out of the Crock Pot when we got ready to leave. It may not have won me another Summit Church title (still proud of being the Dessert Queen), but it is a tasty recipe. 

Chili is contentious. Folks like what they like and they don't want to deal with any nonsense outside of their chili definition. My dad's chili always has mushrooms, J's is made with beef and local sausage, a Texan girlfriend lives for no-bean chili. Up until recently, my chili loyalty went to whoever fed me the most (generally my dad #onlychildperks), but now I can boast a preference for my recipe. It started as a ground turkey chili, but is also good with lean beef; it's made with black beans; and you have to top it with green onions and sour cream. 

Because of my dad's kitchen sink chili - with meat, beans, tomatoes, mushrooms, peppers, and onions - I tend to drift to a chunkier style of chili. Some recipes are more watery (and I mean that in the best way possible) with fewer ingredients beyond meat and tomatoes. That's edging into soup territory for me, so I appreciate that this recipe has lots of bits and pieces and retains a heartiness. Plus, the "secret" or at the very least, unexpected, ingredient - crushed tortilla chips - thickens the liquid further and pulls all the flavors together.

Photo courtesy of Food Network magazine

Food Network magazine, who originally produced what I'm now calling "my" chili, called this recipe "Quick Turkey Chili" and they were spot on. This recipe takes hardly any time and only one pot to prepare. 

Several years ago, I was the Fellowship Coordinator at our church and I had to organize all our monthly meals, including the Chili Cookoff. I remember a lady rushed in right before church started. She'd had a family emergency the night before and was frantically making her chili in front of me. She threw canned veggies, tomatoes, spices (including a Hidden Valley ranch packet?!?) into a Crock Pot, cranked it to High and left it to simmer for the hour-long worship service. And she won. By a landslide, according to our judges. I've rolled my eyes at that performance for years, but now, my recipe doesn't take much more effort. 

First you muddle the tomato paste and spices together to make a really aromatic lump, for lack of a better word, to create a flavorful base. You then literally dump everything else in to cook off (like your raw meat) or to simmer and meld together. The starch from the tortilla chips acts as a binder and pulls everything together as it simmers. Then you add a punch of flavor with some extra green onions. It couldn't be easier. Unless of course it was... but you have to be extra thoughtful in your grocery shopping and meal prepping. 

As you may know, J & I are on different work schedules which saves us a bundle on day care costs, but also means we have to be incredibly organized in our meal planning for everyone to eat healthy, homemade food. To do so, we plan out a week's worth of lunches and dinners and make one big weekly shopping trip (goal: bi-monthly or even monthly shopping excursions). We peruse sale papers; make monthly trips to a bigger city to hit Aldi, Trader Joes, and/or Sam's Club; and try to get the best deals on what we think are smart purchases. We try to stick to our weekly lists, but especially on our monthly Asheville trips, we'll stock up on items that are on a good sale or we know we'll use.

You have to be smart and think big picture. If peppers are on sale [often Aldi will have them for $1.50/3-pack (even the more pricey colored ones!)], buy several to bring home, dice, and freeze in one-pepper-portions for later. In dishes like chili, peppers will be soft anyway, you don't lose any texture by pre-freezing (and you won't need to thaw them, either). 

Also, this recipe (and most soup recipes) makes around a half-gallon of finished product. I divide it right away into freezer-safe quart containers (these are 50 cents each at Dollar Tree or use freezer bags and lay flat on cookie sheets in the freezer, then you can stack them like books!). One quart usually feeds us for a lunch and dinner apiece (plus a baked potato) and I can immediately freeze the other quart for later. 

If you think making this chili is fast, you won't believe how fast it is to just thaw a quart!