It's finally Fall, Yall!! Chili Time!

Fall and winter are my two absolute Favorite seasons!! I just love fall colors, scarves, sweaters, and BOOTS!!  Ok, so I only have 1 pair of boots that I actually wear...but they are my most favorite shoes in the world! It is also football season, which everybody really seems to enjoy.  Maybe one day I will get into that.  I like the idea of having people over for football parties (when we have more time and money).  There are also a lot of reality contest shows on about this time, and I happen to be a bit of a closet reality show lover (X-Factor, American Idol and recently Survivor and The Voice). 

But, what is my favorite thing about fall?!  The FOOD!!  I LOVE dressing, pumpkin pie, pumpkin rolls, sweet potatoes, sweet potato pie, deviled eggs, pecan pie, deer meat of any kind, and much more.  However, one of the fall foods that I am not in love with are soups.  I can tolerate some soups (broccoli and cheddar, chicken noodle, and potato soup).  But, I have never been a big fan of the fall classic, chili.  However, my pregnant brain seems to think that I really like chili.  So, I decided to try and cook it (a gluten-free version, of course).

Olivia's Chili

Ingredients: 

• 1 pound ground Italian Sausage
• 1 pound ground chuck beef
• 2 28 ounce cans diced tomatoes (not drained)
• 2 27 ounce cans Bush's best chili beans (one drained, one not drained) 
• 1 6 ounce can tomato paste
• 1 yellow onion (chopped)
• 1 green bell pepper (chopped)
• 1 red bell pepper (chopped)
• 2 jalapeno peppers (chopped, or chili peppers) 
• 1 cup gluten-free beer
• 1/4 cup chili powder
• 1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
• 1 tbsp minced garlic
• 1 tbsp dried oregano
• 2 tsp ground cumin
• 2 tsp hot sauce
• 1 tsp paprika
• 2 tsp sugar
•  salt and pepper to taste

First, I searched allrecipes.com for some different versions of chili, and I modified to come up with what sounded like the best version to me (I have never cooked chili before, so this was a shot in the dark).

Brown 1 pound of ground Italian Sausage in a large pot (I could not find ground Italian sausage without the casings, so just cut off the casings and squeeze the ground meat right out).

Maybe this is just how Italian sausage always comes?

When the sausage is fully cooked, drain and set aside.  Next, brown 2 pounds of ground chuck (I browned them separately just because I thought it would be too much meat to brown at once).  When this meat is fully cooked, drain and put both the Italian sausage and beef in the pot.

Now, add your chili beans, diced tomatoes, tomato paste, and gluten free beer to pot.  

 

Remember, all of Bush's Best products are gluten-free.  The only gluten-free beer besides cider beers that I could find was Redbridge (I have never tried it, so I do not know if it is good or not)

Now, you want to add your diced green bell pepper, red bell pepper, onion, celery, and jalapenos (most recipes I saw called for chili peppers, which would make sense, but I could not find any, so I used jalapenos instead).

 Finally, add all of the seasonings (chili powder, oregano, minced garlic, cumin, Worcestershire sauce, sugar, paprika, hot sauce, salt and pepper).  Turn the stove down until simmering and cover.  Cook for about 2 hours, stirring occasionally.  Enjoy!  It will be even better as leftovers and reheated. 

This recipe makes TONS!  So, I plan to freeze my leftovers in freezer zip-lock bags.  Write the date on the bag and it will keep for 4 months.