It’s late October already. Most of our beautiful fall leaves have fallen to the ground but there are still a few golden and red trees shimmering in the sunlight today in our neighborhood. With a chill in the air, I decided it was a great day to cook up some chili using some of my frozen cherry tomatoes and chives from the garden that we tended over the summer. This chili can be easily prepared in your crock pot before you dash off to work in the morning or outside to rake your last leaves of the season.
My husband and I are moving towards consuming more grass fed meat in our diet so the recipe calls for grass fed ground beef. I purchased the family three pack of grass fed ground beef at Aldi’s recently and it came out to four dollars a pound. Of course, you can use regular ground beef or ground turkey if you would like to. Grass fed beef mainly comes from cattle that are fed only grass and other foraged foods throughout their lives. On October 15, 2007, the USDA established a standard definition for the “grass fed” claim that requires continuous access to pasture and prevents animals from being fed grains or grain based products. Conventional beef cattle usually consume a diet that includes grains such as corn. Grass fed beef has the following benefits: lower in total fat, more heart healthy omega 3 fatty acids and higher levels of CLA (conjugated linoleic acid) a type of fat that can help reduce heart disease and cancer and grass fed beef is higher in precursors for Vitamin C and E. Raising grass fed cattle is also environmentally friendly since it can hep decrease greenhouse gas emissions. I like the taste of grass fed beef better also.
- 1 pound (16 oz) grass fed ground beef
- 2 cups raw, halved cherry tomatoes
- 1 cup Fruit Raspberry Salsa (may use another brand or flavor of salsa if desired)
- 1 14.5 oz can of Dell Monte Stewed tomatoes with basil, garlic and oregano
- 1 15.5 oz can of drained and rinsed kidney beans
- 1 15.5 oz can drained and rinsed black beans
- ½ cup finely chopped fresh chives or onion
- 1 clove garlic minced
- 2 cups water
- ½ tsp turmeric
- 1 tsp cumin
- ½ tsp each garlic and onion powder
- 1 tsp chili powder
- Brown ground beef in a frying pan and drain off fat. Place ground beef in a large cooking pot or crock pot and add the other ingredients. Draining and rinsing the canned beans will reduce the sodium content. You could also purchase low sodium beans or pre-cook your own dried beans if sodium content is a concern.If preparing the chili on your stove top, bring to a boil and lower the heat, simmering for at least 30 minutes . If preparing in the crock pot, cook on the low setting for 3-4 hours. You can also cook on high heat and it will be done in approximately 2 hours.
1/12 recipe = 1 carbohydrate choice
When shopping for my chili ingredients, I came across Del Monte stewed tomatoes with basil, oregano and garlic. They have sea salt added and are non-GMO so I used these in my recipe.
Chili is not only tasty on a cool day but super nutritious also. It is a great source of vitamin C and potassium(from the tomatoes), Vitamins K and A (from the chives) fiber, iron, (from the beans and beef) Vitamin B12, B6, selenium, zinc, phosphorus (from the beef) as well as magnesium (from the beef and beans). Serve it along side a fresh fruit salad, whole grain (or gluten free) crackers and some sparkling water or cranberry juice and you have an easy and nutritious meal for your family.
We traveled through several small cities along the Mississippi River on a recent fall trip. We did spend the evening at the New Albin Inn in New Albin, Iowa and explored this quaint small town the next morning. We purchased several local items at the new Albin Meat Market. It reminded me of an old general store. I purchased this Spirit Valley Raspberry Fruit Salsa which I used in this chili recipe. They had a small wine section also and we bought a bottle of Cranberry Crush wine since it won the first prize at the Iowa state Fair in the wine division. The wine is made by the Winneshiek winery in Decorah, Iowa. It was a very sweet tasting wine that we both enjoyed. I mixed it with some cherry flavored mineral water to make a spritzer and it was very good. My husband snapped a picture of the old narrow lighted bridge below which is built over the Mississippi river in Lancing, Iowa.
I have included some pictures from our annual fall leaf tour. We traveled over to the river road along the Mississippi River and the colors were gorgeous!