Light & Flavorful Weeknight Chili

One of my favorite fall meals is a warm, savory bowl of chili... usually topped sour cream, cheese, chives, and a few crumbled chips... sometimes ladled over a roasted hot dog. My mom's homemade chili was a staple in the home I grew up in, and I still find it very comforting to this day. After starting Weight Watchers, I searched the internet for a similar but lighter version of the chili I grew up eating, and I finally found one that I'm the whole family is happy with--even my picky eater. This meal family-friendly, quick, and easy. I hope you and your family enjoy it as much as we do.

Light and Flavorful Weeknight Chili

adapted slightly from weightwatchers.com

Ingredients:
1 lb. 93% lean ground beef
1 medium onion, diced
2 ribs of celery, diced
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1 small jalapeno pepper, seeded and minced
2 Tablespoons chili powder
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 teaspoon dried oregano
2 bay leaves
2 teaspoons of salt
 2 Tablespoons of brown sugar
28 ounce can of crushed tomatoes
2 cups of beef broth
8 ounce can of tomato sauce
15 ounce can of kindey beans, drained and rinsed
Cooking Spray

Instructions:

Lightly coat a stock pot with cooking spray. Place ground beef, onion, celery, garlic, and jalapeno into a large stock pot and cook over medium heat until beef is browned. Add chili powder, cumin, oregano, bay leaves, salt, and sugar. Stir to coat beef and vegetables with spices. Add tomatoes, broth, tomato sauce, and kidney beans to the pot; bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer, partially covered, for 30 minutes. Remove bay leaves before serving. Top with toppings of your choice (sour cream, cheese, chives, etc).

Makes approximately 7 heaping cups of chili at 5 Weight Watcher Points Plus per serving (1 heaping cup, not including toppings).

Enjoy!

Pizza Stuffed Peppers

Although my garden peppers are not ripe for the picking yet, I'm test driving some unconventional ways to use them. The following recipe was adapted from Hungry Girl. 

I ate these delicious pizza stuffed peppers for lunch today and found them to be very satisfying!

Ingredients:

2 Bell Peppers 

(any color will do)

 1 cup of mushrooms, sliced

1/2 cup of onion, chopped

1 cup of lean ground beef, *seasoned*

 (I used leftover seasoned ground beef that I had used to make hamburgers the night before)

3/4 cup of pizza sauce 

(I used store-bought)

 1/2 cup of low fat shredded cheese 

(I used 2% Mexican blend)

Method:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Coat a 9" x 13" baking dish with cooking spray.

Slice bell peppers in half lengthwise and remove seeds and stems.

Place bell peppers cut side up into the baking dish and bake for 20 minutes, or until slightly softened.

In the meantime, spray a skillet with nonstick cooking spray and satuee the onions and mushrooms on medium high heat until the onions are translucent. Set them aside when they're done.

Brown the seasoned ground beef in the same skillet. Drain the fat once the meat is browned.

Add pizza sauce to browned ground beef and combine.

When the peppers are done, remove them from the oven and blot them to remove moisture. Fill each pepper half with 1/4 of the beef & pizza sauce mixture, followed by 1/4 of the mushroom & onion mixture.

Sprinkle shredded cheese over all of the pepper halves and bake for 10 minutes or until cheese is melted.

You can enjoy 2 (TWO!) pizza stuffed pepper halves for a total of 7 points plus values!

Enjoy!

Crowd-Pleasing Italian Meat Sauce

As I mentioned in a previous post, we hosted a gathering for all of our church leaders last week. I have very little experience cooking for large groups so I was a little nervous going in. I decided to serve pasta and Italian meat sauce because it goes a long way, it's cheap, and it is really easy to prepare. It also goes well with simple sides like salad, garlic bread, and a veggie. I adapted a recipe I found online, and it turned out to be a great success. This recipe feeds 30-40 adults. As far as pasta noodles, 4-5 pounds should be enough. If preparing this sauce for my family, I divide everything by 4, and it turns out just as delicious. We usually have leftovers, but, in my humble opinion, spaghetti sauce leftovers are even better the next day!

**Pay attention to the ounces in this recipe. The can sizes may not be what you're used to buying. 

Crowd-Pleasing Italian Meat Sauce 

 Ingredients

• 4 pounds ground beef
• 4 large onions, chopped
• 4 garlic cloves, minced
• 4 cans (28 ounces each) diced tomatoes, undrained
• 2 cans (15 ounces each) tomato paste
• 1 can (29 ounces) tomato sauce
• 3 cups water
• 2 cans (4-1/4 ounces each) chopped ripe olives, drained
• 2 cans (4 ounces each) mushroom stems and pieces, drained
• 1/2 cup minced fresh parsley
• 1/4 cup + 1 tablespoon packed brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons dried basil
• 3 tablespoons salt
• 4 teaspoons dried oregano
• 2 teaspoons pepper

Directions

Cook 2 pounds of beef, 2 onions, and 2 cloves of garlic over medium heat until meat is no longer pink. Drain. Add the cooked meat mixture to a large stock pot and cover to keep warm. Repeat the process with the rest of the beef, onion, and garlic. Once all the ground meat is cooked down with the onion and garlic, add the rest of the ingredients to the large stock pot. Simmer over a low heat for 3-4 hours, stirring occasionally to prevent sticking. Serve over pasta. 

Ingredients (minus the ground meat)

Browning ground meat to add to the stock pot.

When I say large stock pot, I mean large.

Enjoy!

 

One Pot Beefy Cabbage Creation

After a disappointing .2 lb. weight loss last week, I'm happy to report that I lost 1.6 lbs. this week! I was a little nervous to step on the scale, but pleasantly surprised once I did. I blame last week on "woman issues" because I really didn't do anything different. So crazy how a woman's body works, huh? Regardless, I know I need to start adding exercise into the mix. I haven't started doing any activity yet. I'm just to lazy tired. So, all in all, a very successful week!

I wanted to share another recipe tonight. It's my Mom's creation. She's the queen of throwing things together and creating deliciousness. She doesn't have an official name for this dish so I made one up (hehe). At first glance, you may not seem tempted to try this, but, trust me, once you make it, you wont regret it! It's so yummy! And SoooooooooOOOoo easy!

One Pot Beefy Cabbage Creation

 Ingredients

1 Pound of Lean Ground Beef

1 Head of Cabbage

1 Cup of Shredded Carrots (I use the food processor to "shred" mine)

2 Cans of Diced Tomatoes

1 Tablespoon of Season All

Directions

Toss ground meat into a large pot and let it start browning (about medium-high heat). Chop up cabbage. Throw into pot. Stir. Shred carrots. Throw into pot. Stir. Open cans of diced tomatoes. Throw into pot. Stir. Toss in 1 Tablespoon of Season All. Stir. Cover the pot and let everything cook down for about 30-45 minutes on medium heat. Stir every now and again just to make sure nothing sticks. Clean up any messes from all that tossing and throwing *wink* Serve alone or over rice.

Makes about 7-8, 1-Cup servings. 

2 Points Plus Values per cup.

Enjoy!