In an ideal world, I would keep up with my blog on a daily basis and everything would be fresh in my mind. Unfortunately, many (most) nights, by the time I get home, it's 8pm or later. Work is until about 4:30pm, then I get to the gym for about 5pm, run for 45 minutes or so, do some weights, shower, and come home. Sometimes I need to get groceries before coming home from the gym too. Dinner is usually the last thing we do in an evening. Often, it involves us collapsed on the couch, watching an episode of something (right now, usually old Fringe episodes or M.A.S.H.) and then cleaning up and going to bed.
Some nights, after making dinner (leftovers maybe), I have energy to prep some food. Wednesday was one of those nights. I typically have an idea of what I will make and in this case, it was my grandma Nan's recipe for Hawaiian Chili. I had thawed the ground deer already in anticipation of making this and knew that Thursday night I was going to be at my parents and Friday is usually a collapsing night. So, the first thing that I do when deciding to make any meal, is to check the fridge inventory. I do most of the grocery shopping and keep track of what's come in and gone out so I typically know which food is older.
First in means first out.
Hmm, OK, some celery that I bought for a tomato and barley soup that I was no longer as interested in making. That's starting to wilt. Also, 2 mushrooms. I bought some for another recipe as well but I had 2 large ones left and unless they were being sauteed for an omelet, would not last another few days on their own. Half an onion was ready for chopping, so why peel a new one?
So, some chopping occurs now that I have figured out which additional ingredients are going to make up this chili to avoid throwing them away and letting them go to waste. I hate wasting food.
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| Chopped celery, onion, mushrooms |
Typically, I would saute the onion and green pepper in a pan first, and then add the ground meat and brown that, then drain. But, it was already about 10pm so I was in no mood to dirty more dishes or take any longer than necessary. (If you look closely, you can see boiled eggs in the picture that are being made for tomorrows breakfasts at work).
So, in an effort to really save time, everything into the slow cooker! Chopped green pepper, onion, mushrooms, celery, ground deer, about a cup of ketchup (I used the reduced sodium Blue Menu one), some mustard (I don't have ground), and 1/4 cup brown sugar. Slow cooker, on high.
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| Prepping the chili |
Now, the rest of the ingredients go into the slow cooker. A can of maple beans (the original recipe calls for pork and beans but I'm not a pork kinda girl). Tonight, I just added a can of rinsed kidney beans (again, the recipe calls for the whole can, not drained, but I know how much extra sodium that contains so we don't need that.) Instead of the salty bean liquid, I replaced it with regular water. You could get more creative here and add reduced sodium beef stock (I had none on hand) or something else. To make it "Hawaiian", a can of crushed pineapple gets dumped in, juices and all. Season to taste. I use pepper, chili powder, garlic powder, and a dash of cinnamon.
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| The canned items now get added |
Hubby and I stayed up reading for a while since we both got home late and we figure the dog could use some time to mill about, so the chili gets an hour cooking at high. The aroma of warm, comforting sweet chili fills the house and before bed, I turn down the cooker to low and leave it overnight. In the morning, the chili is definitely done, and I can put it in the fridge now for the next few nights for dinner (chili and baked sweet potato fries will be Friday night, yum!
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| Hawaiian chili, done |
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