Monday made chili!

Hello, girls! It's Monday!

Current NaNo Word Count: 37,699.

So, cooking.

Me, I've always been a baker. I liked to help make cookies, brownies, bread, all of it when I was younger. I made pretty tasty things, too, though I do say so myself. But I stayed away from cooking. It was a lot more intimidating, as there were a lot more things that could go wrong in the process. Even once I got my own apartment in college, I kept to things I could cook in the microwave, steam or heat up in a pot on the stove, and pasta. So this challenge was a little intimidating for me.

However, while thinking about what to make, we had a potluck at my church, and someone brought in brown sugar chili, which is what my mom used to make very occasionally, given that my brothers didn't like beans. But I always loved it, and so, I decided then and there. We have a slow cooker, I said. So I'm going to make brown sugar chili.

And that is exactly what I did.

My ingredients:

My recipe:

Crock Pot Brown Sugar Chili

Source: Weight Watchers website, via a post on TheNest.com

Yield: 8 servings

1 lb extra lean ground beef (I used ground turkey)

1/2 cup brown sugar

2 Tbsp prepared mustard

1 medium sized onion, chopped (I used frozen pre-chopped onion)

2 (14 oz) cans kidney or red beans (I used one can chili beans in mild sauce and one can red beans)

2 cups low sodium tomato juice

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp ground pepper

1 tsp chili powder

My addition: frozen red, green and yellow bell peppers

Brown ground beef and onion (and peppers) in a non-stick skillet over medium heat. Drain. Add all ingredients to crock pot and stir to combine. Cover. Cook on high for 2-3 hours. If possible, stir several times during cooking.

240 calories, 6g fat, 4g fiber = 4/5 WW points per serving (hits right on the line)

 

In process:

 

And three hours later, voila! Dinner for two! And lunch . . . and dinner again . . . and more lunch . . . :) We had leftovers for a week!

 But it was very good, and is now definitely going to be a regular recipe!

I made cornbread, too, but it wasn't all that stellar, so I'm not posting the recipe.

But yay! Brown sugar chili!

Happy Thanksgiving if you're celebrating this week, and with Christmas on the horizon, I'd like to send out Christmas cards to everyone, so if you'd email me a mailing address, that would be great! :)

Alexandra, I'll see you tomorrow!