Ground Floor Chili

Winter is brutal, there's no denying that. One of my favorite ways to battle the chilly temperatures is to warm up with a nice hot bowl of chili. This recipe is so quick and easy it can be easily thrown together after a long day on the job and enjoyed without much effort!

I call this Ground Floor Chili because it's such a simple base recipe and you can add on as many flavor layers as you wish or leave it exactly as is and it's still delicious!

Here's what you'll need:

1 lb. ground beef or venison (I used venison so it's a bit leaner)
1 Can tomato Puree (29oz)
1 Can diced tomatoes (14.5oz)
1 Can Red Kidney Beans  (16 oz)
1 Pack McCormick Chili Seasoning

Seasonings I used (Feel free to be creative here!)
Sea Salt
Pepper
Hot Sauce


Optional Toppings:
Sour Cream
Cheddar Cheese

So as you can see, lots of options here. The base ingredients are pretty simple and then you can doll it up however you'd like!

Here's how you make it:

1. Cook your meat (If you're into limiting dirty dishes as much as possible like I am, you can cook the meat right in your soup pot) then drain off excess grease.
2. Add tomato puree, diced tomatoes and red kidney beans. Heat all ingredients over medium heat, stirring often as it will bubble and spatter all over!
3. Once chili is warm, begin adding in seasonings as desired.
4.Top however you'd like and enjoy!

Baked Sweet Potato Chips

It's January 3, so all our New Year's resolutions to lose weight/get healthy are in full swing! Doesn't it always seem like as soon as you start a diet you only want sugar and carbs? Well.. I craved potato chips today. so I decided to try a healthier homemade version and they turned out delicious!

They weren't at all difficult, but they did take quite a bit of time to make.

Here's what you'll need:

1-2 small sweet potatoes (try to find potatoes that are mostly uniform in diameter so you'll have even chips)

2 Tablespoons Olive Oil

1 teaspoon sea salt

And here's how to do it:

1. Preheat the oven to 275 degrees.

2. Wash your sweet potatoes and slice them to about 1/8" thick using a mandolin (or knife if you don't have a mandolin)

3. Combine the sweet potatoes and olive oil in a bowl and toss them to coat the potatoes.

4. Spread the slices in a single layer on a cookie sheet. 

5. Sprinkle the sea salt over the potato slices.

6. Bake 40 minutes, flip each slice and bake for 30-40 minutes longer, until potatoes are crisp, but not burned.

7. Allow the chips to cool 5-10 minutes and enjoy! 

Mexican Spaghetti Squash Casserole

Ok, so I've been chomping at the bit to share the recipe we made for dinner last night with all of you. We (along with about 60% of people) made a resolution to get in shape and get healthy this year. I have really let myself go since college and I've reached the point of just feeling gross all the time so, it's about to change.

The hard part about shedding the extra pounds for me, is that I am through and through a foodie. So, in true foodie fashion, I've accepted my own challenge to lose weight, get healthy and do so all without giving up my love of food. The good news for y'all is that this means I'll be trying out TONS of new healthy recipes to find low cal, low carb, low fat options that please both me AND my "I'll just have beef and beer for dinner while maintaining my 6-pack from high school" husband!

So last night, we headed up to my parents for dinner and made a Mexican Spaghetti Squash casserole. I had seen a picture somewhere of a spaghetti squash that someone had filled with ground beer and spaghetti squash and it inspired me.

Here's what you'll need:
 1 Medium Spaghetti Squash
 1 lb Ground beef or venison
 1 Small Spanish onion, chopped
 1 Medium Bell Pepper (Any color), chopped
 1 Package McCormick Taco Seasoning
 1 Can Whole Kernal Corn, drained
 1 Can Black Beans or Pinto Beans (drained and rinsed)
 1 Medium Tomato, diced
 1 Small Zucchini, diced
 1 Jar Chunky Salsa (choose if you want mild, medium or hot)- room temp is best
 1 Bag shredded cheddar or Mexican cheese
 1 Container Sour Cream
 1 Hot Sauce (optional)

*You can completely modify the veggie ingredients to suit your liking. If you're not a bean person, simply leave them out. If you're feeding "Anti-Veggie" people, you can mix some rice and corn and use that in place of the beans, tomato and zucchini. If you like your food extra spicy, you can add a chopped jalapeno or other hot pepper.

 Here's what we did:
1. Preheat Oven to 400 degrees
2. Clean your spaghetti squash, cut it in half lengthwise, scrape out the seeds and discard.
3. Place squash halves in a cake pan, fleshy side up and bake 30 minutes (or until spaghetti squash easily pulls apart when a fork is inserted and twisted in the flesh)
4. While the squash is baking, cook your onion and ground meat together in a large skillet. When the meat is about half done, add in your chopped bell pepper.
5. Drain grease off of meat, add taco seasoning according to directions on the package (many brands will have you add a bit of water with the seasoning).
6. When Squash is done, remove from oven.  Spray a casserole dish (or 9x13 cake pan) with non-stick cooking spray. Carefully scrape the fleshy inside from the squash shells and layer on the bottom of your casserole dish.
7. Pour your meat mixture over the squash and top the meat with the corn, beans, tomato and zucchini. (You can layer these individually or mix all the veggies in a large bowl and just pour them over as a single layer).
8. Top the veggie layer with salsa.
9. Top the salsa with shredded cheddar cheese.
10. Place the casserole in the oven for 10-15 minutes or until the cheese has melted over the top of the casserole.
11. Serve and top with hot sauce, sour cream, additional salsa or any other desired toppings!

Enjoy!!!

As a little extra flavor, you can prepare a simple lime crema to use as a topping instead of sour cream. Simply mix 1 cup sour cream, 1/2 tsp cumin and lime juice to taste! The mixture will be slightly thinned and will have a wonderful tangy flavor to top off your meal!

Getting Healthy Day 1!