Chili Today, Hot Tamale

I'm a mom of three (awe, look at those sweet faces!!!).  My oldest is 5 years old, then my 2 year old and the newest member of our family is 6 months old.  My life can get pretty hectic at times. Thankfully, we usually get where we need to be pretty close to on time and fully dressed.  haha.  It may not always be with brushed teeth or fixed hair, but thankfully bed head (or what we lovingly refer to as "spiky" hair) is still cool, right?  I am not sure that non-brushed teeth will ever be cool, but mostly it's just my 2 year old and at this point, he's too cute for anyone to care :)  So, needless to say, with two rambunctious boys and a baby girl, life can go from zero to crazy in a matter of seconds.  

That being said, on those days, I need a go-to meal that is quick to throw together and is good whether it's been cooking for 30 minutes or 3 hours.  One of these meals for me is chili.  I looooove a good bowl of chili (especially when it's freezing outside).  I serve it over rice; although, I just heard from a friend that her husband and his family think that chili and rice is weird.  So, if you are in agreement with him and you haven't before, you have to try it.  It is so delicious!  And very filling.  Oh, and cheese....I serve my chili with lots and lots of cheese!!

               

Chili

2 lbs ground beef
1 onion chopped
2 cloves of garlic minced
4 oz chopped mushrooms
1 tbsp chili powder
2 tsp cumin
1 tsp Smoked paprika
1 can tomato sauce
1 can diced tomato
salt and pepper

Place ground beef and onion in a soup pot.  Season with salt and pepper.  When meat is almost browned, add mushrooms and garlic.  Cook for about 5 minutes until the mushrooms have reduced a bit.  Add chili powder, cumin and smoked paprika.  Mix well.  Add tomato sauce and diced tomato.  Fill each can ¾ of the way with water and add to chili mixture.  Stir to combine.  Allow chili to heat through and taste.  Add additional salt and pepper if desired.  Bring to a boil and then reduce heat and allow to simmer for at least 30 minutes (the longer the better).

This chili is kid friendly and not spicy; however, it's easy to to spice it up a bit.  Just replace the diced tomatoes with a can of Rotel. You could also add a can of green chilies to the pot or chop a jalepeno and throw it in when you are browning the meat.

Yum, Yum!  Enjoy!!!  I know we sure did!