Archive for January, 2011

Fieste Chili (without the bad stuff)

I like chili but most recipes are full of  things we probably shouldn’t be putting in our bodies. Even commercial broth, used to make some chili, is void of anything nutritious and adds loads of chemicals and preservatives. After several tries I’ve concocted a tasty nutritious bowl of belly filling goodness . Its good on cold dreary days. Its tasty smothered on homemade fries, chips, or baked taters if you are allowing the carbs. I like mine with cheese because I’m a cheese lover. I’ve finally found a raw cheese that I LOVE: Organic Valley Raw MILD chedder.  There are definite health benefits to Raw Cheese. And of course I use organic when I can and the animal products are grass fed and finished when possible. I try to make this  every other week-its one of the ways I make sure I’m consuming healthy broth.

The Recipe:

In a large pot, brown two pounds of ground cow or buffalo

Once the meat is mostly browned (do not drain the grease-thats loads of healthy fat)

add:

2 cups of broth –I used to make it in the slow cooker but now my own personal caveman does all the work in his pressure cooker

1 tablespoon diced garlic

1/2 to 1 chopped onion

28oz can of  tomatoes (I use bionaturae Organic which uses less sodium then most)

2 or 3 bell peppers diced-I like to use orange and yellow and red which puts the Fieste into my Chili

If I remember I also add diced green chili’s or a jalapeno for kick

1-3 Tablespoons of chili powder-start with one and taste-it’ll get spicier with age so think of leftovers too

2 Tablespoon of Molasses

2 Tablespoons of coco powder.

and sometimes a couple Tablespoons of brown sugar

Optional, add some chopped up liverwurst or braunschweiger to the chili.  This is an easy way to start incorporating organ meats into your diet. You can’t even tell its in there.

Bring to a boil, then turn the burner to low and let simmer. It’ll be ready and all the flavors incorporated after about an hour.

 

Curry Soup

Its easy. Its spicy. Its yellow.

Its also adjustable to your taste buds. And of course being the kind of dump-and-pour, eyeball-it, and sniff-it cook I am, I don’t use exact measurement or make it the same way every time.

The basic ingredients:

1 quart of homemade chicken broth

1 can of coconut milkor make it yourself here

Curry powder–I used about 2 Tbs I think. You can buy it premade or a search online will bring up lots of options to make your own. I haven’t tried it yet but I do add more cinnamon to the blend I buy.

Chopped veggies – for the one pictured I used 2 sweet potatoes, 2 thick carrots, and three celery stalks. Use what you have and  like. You could even add lentils, beans, rice, or white potatoes if your tummy and waistline can handle those.

Chopped cooked meat– for the one pictured I used leftover chicken but you can use roasts from just about any animal or even shrimp.

The Secret Ingredient: about 3 Tbs. of cashew butter- I love the added complexity it adds.

Dump the broth, coconut milk, and curry powder in a pot. Chop up veggies and put them in the pot. I chop them all pretty small. Partly so they cook faster and partly because it means less cutting up for the toddlers to eat it after its cooked. Bring to a boil then simmer.

After the veggies are almost tender I throw the meat in to warm up.

I added the cashew butter last. There was no reason for it other then it was an afterthought. You could probably add it at the beginning.

Thankfully Curry is something everyone in this house actually enjoys-in fact after I made it I hardly had time to eat some myself because I was busy filling and re-filling my kids’ bowls and then cleaning them up. At least it gave my soup time to cool. 🙂