Snow Day!

Yesterday at my house, it started to do this:

So I decided to make a big pot of this (recipe follows...oh my gosh, YUM!):

I hung out with my most favorite people in the world (who had just come in from a little romp in the snow!):

And watched as this little guy turned on the charm:

I just love snow days!  

Another reason it was so great to be in my house were the yummy smells coming from my kitchen!  I found a recipe for Cincinnati-style chili in Cooking Light magazine, and since I am a displaced person who misses Cincinnati's Skyline Chili greatly, I had to make it.  I am so glad I did!  Even if you have a regular chili recipe that you love, the spices in this one make it a unique addition to your repertoire, something totally different than the traditional chili flavors.  I highly recommend it!

Cincinnati Chili

Ingredients:

cooking spray

1/2 teaspoon salt, divided

1 1/2 pounds ground sirloin (although I used ground turkey and it was great)

1 1/2 cups diced onions

2 teaspoons minced garlic

1 tablespoon canola oil

2 teaspoons garam masala (an Indian spice I found in my local grocery store spice aisle)

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon ground red pepper

1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg

2 tablespoons tomato paste

1 cup water

2 tablespoons red wine vinegar

1 (28-ounce) can diced tomatoes, undrained (I used Muir Glen fire roasted)

2 (15.5 ounce) cans dark red kidney beans, drained

1 (15.5 ounce) can light red kidney beans, drained

Directions:

Heat a large pot or Dutch oven over medium-high heat.  Coat with cooking spray.  Add ground beef or turkey to pan with 1/4 teaspoon salt and cook until meat is browned, stirring to crumble.  Transfer beef to a small bowl.

Reduce heat to medium and recoat pan with more cooking spray.  Add onions and cook for 4 minutes or until softened.  Add garlic and cook for one more minute, stirring constantly.  Add remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt, canola oil, and the next 4 ingredients (through nutmeg).  Cook one minute or until fragrant, stirring constantly.  Add tomato paste and cook one minute.  Add 1 cup water, red wine vinegar, and tomatoes and bring to a boil.  Then add ground beef and the drained kidney beans.  Cover and simmer for at least 30 minutes.  (We always find that if you can let the dish sit overnight the flavors are even better the next day!)

To serve, top with more chopped onions, drained kidney beans, or shredded cheese.  For this Cincinnati girl, it tasted almost like a Skyline Chili 3-Way, oh yeah!

And because some of us (ah...me!) are battling the post-baby weight, I am going to include some nutritional information, in case anyone else wants to see how this dish stacks up.  Serving size is 1 1/4 cup per person, and each serving is 276 calories, 6 grams of fat and 9.1 grams of fiber.  Not bad!

Have a great weekend!