Caroline Dines

As I have mentioned before every other Wednesday night is recipe night here at the house. If you don’t remember, the first was a family from the Dominican Republic, the second from Venezuela and the third from Iceland. Tonight it was my turn. Since we have tons of canned goods in the pantry and I wanted to save some money onthe house budget, I decided to whip up a healthy and hearty chili! The best part was I made it this afternoon and stuck it in the crock pot (we have a giant one) so that families could help themselves whenever they returned “home” from the hospital. I will admit I was actually nervous to cook for this many people. I have never made such a huge pot of chili and I was just praying that it came out edible. I used a recipe that I found on Cooking Light and adapted it just a bit. I wanted to buy organic vegetables and the best meat I could find at Stop and Shop (we have an account there so I couldn’t go elsewhere) so that I could be proud of what I was serving them. I figured if this is truly MY meal why would I use crappy ingredients? It was my chance to explain my rationale for the food choices I make and I think people really appreciated it. A lot of heart went into this meal. There was also a lot of chopping…

…and tasting to get the spices just right. I added cinnamon of course! I ended up adding a mix of black beans and red kidney beans and omitting the mushrooms. The veggies I used were carrots, zucchini, summer squash, onions, yellow and orange peppers, and of course cans of tomatoes.

I purchased low fat shredded cheddar cheese,

low-fat sour cream,

and some organic green onions for an array of fun toppings.

Trader Joe’s cornbread was made as an accompaniment (I was so happy when I found this in the cabinet and was able to use it instead of Jiffy Mix that contains lard!).

I have to say that it came out FABULOUS and most people had seconds. I served this to approximately 20 people and have about 3 servings left. If nobody else comes looking for it, the left overs are going in my freezer!

I am so relieved that it is over and everyone seemed to enjoy themselves. With such a diverse crew (Panama, Iceland, Romania, Venezuela, and South Carolina) I was worried that it wouldn’t fit everyone’s tastes. I am happy to say I was totally wrong! Regularly scheduled meal posting will resume tomorrow. I hope you don’t mind but my eats today didn’t warrant much reporting. A wrap with peanut butter and pumpkin butter (totally un-photogenic), cereal,  an apple and a couple yummy yet boring looking samples from the Haley House. I did receive a special package in the mail today though that will be making it’s way into my eats tomorrow morning I am sure!