Mommy Mac's Chili

Hi there! So I am not a recipe cooker. I usually just throw a bunch of stuff in a pot and somehow it turns out delicious. I guess I am just lucky. I do have a banging recipe for Chili though. I have made it for football games, parties, potlucks as well as many other gatherings and I always get people asking for the recipe. Well I am not a selfish person and I would love to share the recipe as long as my friends still come over to enjoy my food. So here we go:

Mommy Mac's Chili:

- 1 lb. of ground beef (I sometimes get the 1.25 or 1.35 lb packages which is fine. Just try to stay between 1 and 1.5 lbs.)
- 1 lb. of stew beef (The same rule above applies for this. Also, cut the meat into about 1-1.5 inch pieces since most places leave it pretty big).
- 1 tablespoon of Extra Virgin Olive Oil (EVOO)
- 3 garlic cloves, peeled and chopped
- 1 onion, chopped
- 1 green pepper, chopped in about 1 inch pieces
- 1 red pepper, chopped in about 1 inch pieces
- 1 (28 ounce) can of crushed tomatoes
- 1 (15 ounce) can of dark red kidney beans, drained
- 1 (6 ounce) can of tomato paste
- 1 package of chili seasoning
- 1-2 tablespoons of Franks red hot sauce (This is to taste. If you like it hot add more. If you don't start small and add until you are satisfied)
- 1.5 tablespoons Sofrito
- Salt and Pepper to taste
- Garlic Salt to taste

1. Saute garlic, onions and peppers in some EVOO in a wok until slightly soft. About 2 minutes. Salt and Pepper vegetables while they cook.
2. Add ground beef and stew beef to the pepper, onion mixture until meat is well browned.
3. Combine all ingredients in a crock pot and mix well
4. Cook on high for 2 hours, then on low for 1 hour.
5. Serve with any additional toppings you like on chili. However, it is necessary that you go out and get a good loaf of Italian bread. Butter the bread generously (The butter will melt into the hot bowl of chili when you rest your bread on the bowl). Use the bread for dipping and enjoy!

Melt in your mouth Pot Roast recipe!

Giant Eagle had a pretty amazing 2 for 1 deal on bottom round roasts this past week and you better believe I snatched a few to stock my freezer with. I did make one this past Sunday and let me tell you...it was divine. It's very simple and I just used what I had in my fridge and pantry (which was unusually stocked to the brim due to company and parties that occurred in weeks past).

I am NOT a recipe person. In fact I usually drive anyone who follows a recipe to the tee, insane. I did however try and record what I did for my pot roast so that I could share it with my friends. I know a lot of my fellow Ohio moms took advantage of the Giant Eagle deal so I wanted to post it A.S.A.P.

Here it is:

• 1 (2-3 pound) bottom round roast
• 1 can cream of mushroom soup
• 1 can beef broth
• 1 package of dry onion soup mix
• half-whole bag of baby carrots or just use about 6 large carrots sliced up (I like using a lot of carrots because of the baby)
• 3 stalks of celery diced up
• 1 medium to large onion sliced
• 3 scallions (green and white parts) diced
• 3-5 garlic cloves finely chopped
• 6 red potatoes quartered

There are the ingredients...are you ready for the next step? Throw everything in a crock pot and stir well. Cover and cook for 6 hours on high. I didn't do anything to the meat, but you can trim the fat to make it more figure friendly. After about 5 hours if you pick the meat up with a fork it will just fall apart. Are you drooling yet?

I served this over some egg noodles which was FANTASTIC! I don't have any pictures of my masterpiece but from now on I will try and take pictures of recipes I make that I want to share. Enjoy!