Chili is comfort food when it's Chilly outside!

It's been a bit colder and feeling more and more like autumn has hit. This morning in fact it's all of 48F (4C), which to me feels nice and nippy out! Crisp, cool air the last few days has made me want some comfort food. Not just any kind of comfort food but something that is still healthy and tasty and warms you right up.

Chili is that kind of food for me and has been ever since I was little, thanks to my mother who would make up a huge pot of it and we'd be able to have it for about a week (in all of it's various ways). I don't make mine exactly like hers, but I think I use the same base as she does(as to many others) with beans, onions, salt, pepper, garlic, etc.

Black beans are what I tend to use for my chili (not dried but if I were to make more I would use dried because of it being more for the money and all that), about 2-3 cans. One onion and 4 cloves of garlic need to be chopped up and added to a med-low heated big soup pan with olive oil on the bottom. After the garlic and onion softens just a bit add in a package of lean ground beef (I used extra lean)and break it up in the pan and allow it to cook up a bit.

While this is cooking add in a palm full of paprika, a palm full of chili powder, one tablespoon of cumin, a few drops of liquid smoke(remember a little goes a long way), and salt & pepper to taste. Mix it in with the meat well and continue to let this cook up. If you have peppers you'd like to add in chop them up and add them in (I used a red sweet chili pepper that tasted just like a bell pepper. Remember if you use hot peppers, save yourself the pain and use gloves while handling them. If you don't believe it hurts, check out this post.)

At this point I add in the black beans, after draining and rinsing them, to the pan. Before I add in the water I do something a little different. I grab the coffee pot and see if there is any left in it. If there is I add the little bit to the chili. I know it seems weird, and I actually don't notice a big change in taste, but every time I don't do it the chili doesn't taste right and every time I do do it it tastes so much better.

Let this simmer for about 2-3 more minutes then add in about 4 cups of water, just enough to make it like a soupy stew but not enough to make it soup. The water will cook down and turn the chili into more of a stew like consistency (which is what I like).

As it's cooking (at least 1 hour, but can be in there on a low heat for a few hours) taste it and add in paprika, chili powder, and salt & pepper as needed (sometimes you don't get enough, just be careful and don't over salt it :)).

When it's done or you can't wait any longer, get some in a bowl and top with your favorite chili toppings or leave it plain. I added chopped cherry tomatoes, 0% plain yogurt(instead of sour cream), and shredded cheese to mine and would have added cilantro if I had any on top.


My version here isn't very spicy(as in heat) but can easily be kicked up a few notches by adding in hot peppers, cayenne pepper, chipotle chili powder, etc. The hubby and myself added in Tabasco sauce, the little one on the other hand isn't very fond of chili yet so I decided he could have left overs from the previous nights dinner instead (pork chop, rice, salad).

Chili on a chilly day is pure comfort food, easy, and healthy too!

**Edit I don't know how I could possibly forget to add this but I put tomato sauce/large can of crushed tomatoes before adding in the water**

Sweet Potato Squash smells just like pumpkin...

I had never heard of or seen sweet potato squash(aka Delicata squash). I had only decided to get it because of a few factors. One because it was locally grown (according to the sign outside the grocery store locally grown means in "Ontario" but I have a feeling it was closer than just the province I live in because of where I live and the farm land that surrounds it.), and two because it's almost autumn (remember just because it's September doesn't mean it's really fall till the 22-23 of the month :) ) and squash is in abundance and I need to learn how to make more dishes with this wonderful plant.

Now I got lucky and because it was locally grown the nice people who either harvested or the people who got them at the store put a nice little sticker on the outside of the squash telling what kind it was and a very easy way to cook it.

Pre-heat oven to 350F. Cut the sweet potato squash in half length wise and scoop out the seeds and guts. I don't know if these seeds are like other squash where you can roast them and turn them into a snack but if I find out for sure, I'll do it with my other one. This is when I noticed a very familiar smell to this little squash. It smelled almost exactly like pumpkin! the inside looked like pumpkin to (even the seeds!). I felt like it was almost Halloween and I had just opened up a pumpkin to carve! Unfortunately this didn't last long because I needed to get this cooking for dinner. So I cut small thin pieces of butter (the sticker said to brush melted butter onto the flesh of the squash, I didn't want to melt butter that was going to be melted anyways :P ) and salted and peppered it. The other option it suggested was to use brown sugar, which is what I'm used to with acorn squash and would have made it much sweeter. I then set each half on a baking sheet and let it cook in the oven for about 45 minutes - an hour.

The hubby was pretty apprehensive about trying it till I took a fork and scraped some of the flesh out of the shell (can be served in the shell or scrape shell and just put it on the plate, another option is to smash it like potatoes) and told him to take a bite. He looked surprised that it actually tasted good. His words were "It's good! It does taste like sweet potato!" Lucky for me he enjoyed it. The little one on the other hand of course said "I don't like it," and tried to get away with only eating it with a glass of milk to wash it down.

This would be fine if he didn't say after he finishes the milk and before he finishes the food that he was full. He even thought he'd be clever and say "But I want strong bones!" I then countered with the fact that a serving of winter squash (1 cup) has 3% calcium, 33% vitamin C, 214% vitamin A, 6g of fiber, etc. Realizing I was talking to a 9 year old, I then said "It does some of the same stuff as milk and more by keeping you from getting sick and keeps you healthy. But if you want milk after you finish it you can have a glass."

I don't think this made much of a difference to him, but for those of you that are not wanting to eat your squash, find a way to cook it so you like it and remember what great things it does for you health wise!

Apples, Maple Syrup, and Cayenne pepper, Oh My! ( on oatmeal)

Since I've started this blog I've been checking out much of the foodie community. I've run across a few different sites that I've chosen to join to help promote my blog and find other new blogs. One of the sites I found early on was The Foodie Blog Roll where there are over 5000 blogs listed. I just so happened to apply to join and managed to get on there. The Left Over Queen is the owner and moderator for this great blog roll as well as having a couple of her own blogs (the one linked to her name is her own personal food blog :) ) and has also give us a forums to discuss food types of things on.

On this forum is a lovely foodie event called "The Royal Foodie Joust" that is held each month by the Queen. Three ingredients are given to use in a dish which must be included (but not limited to). More details are here if you are interested :).

This is my first time trying to do the joust and the ingredients for this month happen to be apple, maple syrup and cayenne pepper. Luckily I had all three already and didn't even have to go to the store to get anything!

So I mulled it over in my head what to do with these. At first I think maybe a baked apple. Then I thought why not do a breakfast type of thing?
So out came the oatmeal (I used instant because I don't have any of the other kind) and the apple. Core the apple and slice it into small wedges (any left over slices feel free to eat :) ). Heat up the oatmeal in a bowl, 1-2 minutes with water in the microwave (instant version), and for non instant (which I need add to my grocery list) 1 cup of boiling water for 1/2 cup oats and cook for 5 minutes on a stove top.

To cool my oatmeal down I used a little plain 0% yogurt and mixed it with the oats. If you need a little more add in a little milk (which I did). Arrange your apple slices on top of the oatmeal and drizzle a little maple syrup over the top, finally lightly dust with the cayenne pepper.
The cayenne acts like cinnamon but with a little heat, and the sweetness from the apple and the little bit of maple syrup are great to have instead of sugar. All in all it was actually really good, and decently healthy too!

Chicken Spanakopita, not traditional but oh so good!

Spanakopita is a Greek dish, usually an appetizer, that has feta cheese (or ricotta) and spinach wrapped in phyllo (filo) pastry dough. I love it, the husband loves it, the little one says "I like it a little bit". I however can't afford feta/ricotta very often (if it's something other than cheddar or mozzarella in a block, it has to be a splurge to buy it). We also enjoy meat over here, and chicken breast is a lean meat that works well with the spinach and cheese.

So what do I do? Well change up the traditional Spanakopita dish to my liking :)! Phyllo (also called filo) dough can be found in the same area of the freezer section as puff pastry and pie crust (I don't even want to attempt to make this stuff because of being so very thin and working with it already made is already a chore for me).


Following the instructions on the box, thaw out your phyllo (a couple of hours out on the counter should do it or over night in the fridge). Grab 2-3 chicken breasts (or if you have left over chicken from another night should be good as well) and season with salt and pepper, I also used some lemon herb seasoning to make the chicken taste a little more Greek (lemon with meats reminds me of Greek tasting food). Heat up either a non-stick pan or a pan with a little olive oil in the bottom and cook the breasts up in there. Once they are done the juices should run clear and the meat on the inside should be white. Take them out of the pan and set them to the side to cool a moment.


While you allow this to cool down, chop up 1 onion and about 3 cups of fresh spinach (frozen works too, but I got lucky and found some good looking fresh spinach. I also would not suggest using canned spinach as I think it would be too hard to get the liquid out, and I don't like it but that's a personal choice :) ). Add a little more oil to the pan (even if it's a non-stick pan) and add the onion to the pan to let them soften a little before adding in the spinach. Let this cook about 2-3 minutes, the spinach should cook down a bit and not be quite so bulky but will still be a vibrant dark green. Shred about 2 cups of low fat cheese (or if you're lucky use feta or ricotta, one recipe I saw also suggested cream cheese). The spinach/onion mix should be added to a bowl with the cheese.

I then do something definitely different than the traditional. Because the cheeses that are usually in Spanakopita happen to be more soft (at least in the case of ricotta) or have extra liquid (most feta I find that's not packaged in a bag, is in liquid) tends to make the filling moist. I fix my drier mixture by adding in about half a cup of plain 0% yogurt. This not only adds moister but it also add the tang that you would normally get from the feta.

Now that you are letting the spinach mixture cool down, it's time to move back to the chicken. Take two forks and shred you chicken so that it's in little pieces and add it to the spinach mixture. Now you're ready to start wrapping the phyllo around your mixture.

I'm not sure how well I'll be able to describe this with out using pictures, but hopefully it will come across accurately (if not there should be a diagram on the phyllo dough box). Unfold your dough and take one sheet, placing it on a clean surface. Take melted butter (I like a melted butter/olive oil mixture so it's not so much butter, not sure how well just oil works :) ) and a brush. Brush the butter over the pastry, this acts like a glue, and then take another phyllo sheet and place it on top of the first, so that it covers it. Take a knife and cut 4 rows length wise down the sheet, making sure they are in separate strips.

Take a spoonful of the spinach/chicken mixture and put it near (but not at) one end of the phyllo strip. Fold the end over the mixture from one corner up. It should look like a triangle. Next fold the other corner straight up, should still be in a triangle shape. Repeat till you get to the end, brush butter on the end to seal it as you do the last fold. Place on a oiled or sprayed cookie sheet, and repeat till the cookie sheet is full and put it in a pre-heated oven at 350F. The instructions on the phyllo dough box usually suggests brushing the butter on the top of the folded, uncooked spanakopita before baking in the oven to give it a nice brown color, I however have found not to need to do this.

My version is definitely not traditional, but it's healthy, tasty and can be used to whet the appetite or to go with a nice salad (a Greek salad would be perfect with this) for a light dinner or lunch, of course it's only light if you can stop eating them!
**Edit: In light of my mother trying this and it not working quite how she thought it should (but her words were that "It tasted !@#$!@# good!") I decided to look up a site with a diagram and step by step photos and found one @ Dilip's Cooking Scroll down past Spanakopita, Hearty Mushroom Bake, and Baklava! to where it says " Pear Filo Triangles" for photos and a diagram. When I make it again I will do my own photos weather or not I have good lighting :D**