Chili time!

I know, I am officially the worst blogger evvvvver! I had full intentions of really just diving into blogging. I had visions of pinterest projects, sharing wisdom and really getting into this blogging thing. But things have been crazy hectic in the Voorhies household in the last few weeks. First off, School. 

 I go to an online school and the format is a little different than an on campus college. Instead of 4 or 5 courses a “semester” I take 2 classes every 8 weeks which adds up to 4 classes a “semester” plus a summer session. My classes just ended and I start my new set of classes today. But I’ve had so much research to do for my end of course papers, plus everything going on in every day life that I really just haven’t had time to dig into any sort of project or write a blog post.

On top of school, I had housewife duties and just dealing with life. This month “dealing with life” meant saying goodbye to my sister as they moved to a new duty station. I know, I know…this is all apart of military life. But I’ve been extremely spoiled. For the last three years, my sister has been less than an hour drive away. When we lived in Georgia, they were literally around the corner from us. Then, when we got stationed at Camp Lejeune they joined us a few weeks later and lived just across town. They got orders to Paris Island in South Carolina and moved a few weeks ago. I was heartbroken. Not only did my best friend move, but this means I’ll be missing out events in Parkers life too. I’ll be fine; afterall this is why the good Lord sent us Skype. But at the time, it was rough!

On top of all of that, we’re preparing for the big move!....more details on that in the next post. There are a million things that need done between now and the big day, so I’ll be posting organization tips that worked for me, and how a military TMO moved worked out for me. But for now, so I don’t feel like I’ve totally bailed on my blog…a recipe!!

My dad gave me a recipe for chili when Matthew and I first got married and it’s honestly one of the best things I can make now! It’s so easy and so delicious. I’ve tweaked it to fit my needs, but you can make the original recipe and it turns out great!
Here is the list of ingredients of the original recipe.

1lb ground hamburger

1can diced tomatoes

1can tomato sauce

1 medium onion (chopped)

1 clove garlic (chopped)

1can kidney beans

1 tbs. chili powder

¾ tsp ground cumin

Here is my version though..

 

 I use ground turkey instead of ground beef, and it taste just the same! But throw a pound of ground beef/turkey into a hot skillet drizzled with a little oil. When its good and browned, drain it and throw it in a crock put.

 Put your chopped onion in the skillet next, I also add my garlic in at this point as well. I just brown it a bit.

 Throw the onion & garlic in the crock pot as well.

 Now, add just a normal sized can of diced tomatoes. I like to use the basil, garlic & oregano blend.

 Next add a normal can of tomato sauce.

 I add a small can of tomato paste in mine, but it is completely optional.

 My seasoning mix I use is just ground cumin and chili powder according the the recipe above. Then I also throw in a few shakes of Slap Ya Mama seasoning and a few dashes of soy sauce.  I cook this a few different ways. I cook it on low for 6-8 hours or high for 3-5 hours. This is one of those dishes that tastes better the longer you cook it. You can also make this on the stove. Bring the above ingredients to a boil, and then bring it down to a simmer for at least an hour. Again, the longer you cook it, the better it tastes.

 For the last 30 minutes to an hour before serving, add the kidney beans without draining. If you're cooking this on the stove top, add the kidney beans the last ten minutes of cooking. 

When you're ready to dig in, just bust out some cheese, sour cream, onion and crackers! This is one of my absolute favorite things to make because it's so simple. I try to make sure I always have the items I need in my pantry so that if I'm stuck on what to make for dinner, I can just throw this recipe together!

 I hope this recipe is a easy for everyone else to make, and just as delicious! I promise to try harder on this blogging thing :)