Chili and Cornbread

I love when the weather changes from hot to cold. That’s probably one of the reasons I miss Washington so much, the rainy weather inspires me to cook something warm. Now we live in Oklahoma and today it was 82° outside…not exactly chili weather but sometimes I can’t help myself. Winter to me means staying indoors, doing something crafty and eating warm food. Chili and Cornbread fit the bill. This is a quick and easy recipe, you can make it ahead and let it simmer for 2 hours but sometimes I don’t start making dinner early enough. Tonight was one of those nights. I let it simmer for at least an hour. Still really tasty. I also freeze the leftovers for another day. Just put leftovers in a plastic freezer bag and lay it flat in your freezer. Once it’s frozen it doesn’t take up much space at all.

Chili with Meat and Beans

Ingredients:

1-1 1/2 lbs ground beef

1 can pinto beans, *I don’t drain or rinse mine but you can if you’d like

1 can kidney beans *I don’t drain or rinse

1 (28oz) can diced tomatoes

1/2 can tomato paste

1 small white onion, diced

2 TBS chili powder (*homemade or store-bought)

1 1/2 tsp Worcestershire sauce

1 1/2 tsp or 2 cloves garlic, minced

1 1/2 tsp dried oregano

1 tsp cumin

1 tsp or a few dashes hot pepper sauce, like Tabasco

1/2 tsp basil

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp pepper

1/2 tsp cayenne pepper

1/2 tsp paprika

1/2 tsp white sugar

shredded cheese and more diced onions for garnish

Directions:

In a large pot brown ground beef and diced onions. Once meat is cooked all the way through, drain off excess fat and place back into the pot. Then add all the other ingredients except cheese and onion garnish. Allow to simmer at least 1-2 hours stirring occasionally. Top with shredded cheese and raw white onion. Serve hot with cornbread.

*Homemade chili powder*

1 tsp paprika

2 tsp ground cumin

1 tsp cayenne pepper

1 tsp oregano

2 tsp garlic powder

Sweet Yellow Cornbread

Ingredients:

1 cup yellow cornmeal

1 cup All purpose flour

1/2 cup-1 cup white sugar (* We like our cornbread sweet, I use 1 cup)

3 tsp baking powder

1 tsp salt

1/2 cup oil

2/3 cup milk

2 eggs, beaten

Directions:

Pre heat oven to 400°.

Combine cornmeal, flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl. Stir to combine. Mix oil, eggs, and milk together and add to the dry ingredients. Mix with a few stiff strokes only until just combined. Bake in a  9 x 9 x 2 inch baking dish. Bake for 20-25 minutes.

 

 

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Cold weather cooking

Well the weather has finely gotten a little chilly here in Oklahoma, and with chilly weather comese warm beef stew. I made beef stew the other day and plan on making this recipe a lot this winter. This is a recipe for stew mix and the stew that I make with it. But you can make your stew how you like and just use this mix instead of a store bought mix. You could measure out a couple portions of mix and give as gifts too along with recipe.

 

Beef Stew Seasoning Mix (makes 26 TBS)

Ingredients:

2 cups flour
4 teaspoons oregano
2 tablespoons basil
4 1/4 tablespoons salt
4 1/4 tablespoons black pepper
4 1/4 tablespoons garlic powder
4 1/4 tablespoons paprika
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
2 tablespoons celery seeds
4 1/4 tablespoons onion powder
2 teaspoons rosemaryMix all dry ingredients in a ziplock bag or an air tight container, shake well.

Use 2-3 TBS per 2 lbs of meat.

Beef Stew Recipe

Ingredients:

 1.5lb-2lb stew meat

salt and pepper

couple handfuls baby carrots, or 2-3 carrots diced into 1/4 inch pieces

4-5 red potatoes, washed and cubed. (I leave the peels on but you can choose to peel them)

2-3 stalks of celery, diced

1 white onion, cut into medium size chunks

1cup frozen peas

2 TBS vegetable oil, divided

3-4 cups Beef Broth, Or 4 cups hot water and enough bullion cubes to make beef broth (proper measurements on the side of bullion cube container)

Directions:

Dry beef and season with salt and pepper. In a large heavy bottomed pot over medium-high heat  add 1 Tbs of oil to pot and place half the meat in the pot, making one even layer. Brown meat on one side (about 2-3 minutes) and take tongs to rotate pieces of meat and brown for an additional 5 minutes or so. Take this batch of meat out and place in a bowl. Add the other TBS of oil and repeat this step with remaining uncooked meat.

Return browned meat back to the pot and add, onions, carrots, celery, and potatoes, 3-4 cups beef broth and 2-3Tbs of beef stew mix. Reduce heat to medium low, cover pot and simmer for about 2 hours, checking liquid levels. If you wish you can add remaining broth into the pot. In the last 5 minutes of cooking add 1 cup frozen peas to the pot. Simmer until peas are cooked. Serve hot.

* You can also do this in a slow cooker, just brown beef as mentioned above and place all other ingredients into slow cooker. Cook on low for 8 hours or high for 4 hours.