Please share!
Winter is definitely upon us. Cold temperatures bring one thing to mind for me, when I’m contemplating dinner plans — chili!
I love chili, and for most of my life, my recipe included those little packets of Chili Seasoning Mix from a popular maker of such things. At about $2 a pack, they didn’t seem that expensive to me back then. But for a reason totally unrelated to being frugal, I had to stop using it — migraines. Yep, those sweet little packets of chili seasoning also contained MSG, and MSG triggers migraines for me (and lots of other folks).
So I began experimenting with different combinations of spices to develop my own. And now that we’re members at Costco, I can buy those big bottles of seasonings for about $5-6 a bottle and make tons of homemade chili seasoning.
I haven’t figured out exactly how much it costs per pot of chili now, but I would guess it’s a few cents rather than a couple of dollars. You can make a ton of chili seasoning with these huge bottles AND in a much healthier manner.
The recipe is very simple and you can tweak it to your own family’s tastes. I’m listing the ingredients in “parts” so that you can make a little or make a lot. I make it by cupfuls and store it in and empty chili powder bottle.
2 parts Chili Powder
1 part Ground Cumin
1 part Granulated Garlic
1 part Onion Powder
1/2 part Ground Cinnamon
1/2 part Oregano
1/2 part Cayenne Pepper
Mix together and store in an air-tight contaniner.
I used this seasoning for chili, tacos, mexi-chicken, black bean soup, tortilla soup, and any other “Tex-Mex” type of dish. It’s also good sprinkled over raw veggies, like celery, carrots, and cucumbers (right before you dip them in yummy hummus).
I’m thinking it wouldn’t be very nice not to share my pumpkin chili recipe, too, right? It’s pretty yummy. I hope you’ll make it and let me know what you think! Chili is also a very frugal meal. Buy canned ingredients when they are on sale to keep your pantry stocked. Double the recipe and freeze half for a time-saver, too!
Ingredients:
1 onion, diced
2 T. coconut oil
1 lb. ground beef (I use 92% fat free)
3 palmfuls homemade chili seasoning (more or less to your taste)
hot sauce to taste
black pepper to taste
1 cup water
1 32 oz can crushed tomatoes
1 16 oz can petite diced tomatoes
2 cans pinto beans
1 can red kidney beans
1/2 16 oz can pumpkin puree
1/2 16 oz can pumpkin puree
Saute onion in oil over medium heat until translucent, add ground beef and brown, add spices and water and stir into meat, add canned items, stir and simmer over medium heat for 30 minutes.
Serve over angel hair pasta, topped with grated cheddar and sour cream, if desired.
Serves 6
Please share!
