Recipe: Kaitlyn's Kozy Kold Day Chili

Hello Everyone. Today's post is going to be over my recipe for the perfect kozy and kold day chili. The weather where I live lately has been the definition of winter weather. We have been covered with snow and ice for the past month. So needless to say this recipe has been used quite frequently at my house as of late. This recipe is very simple to make, but it tastes very complex.  

So without further to do let's jump into the recipe or shall I say the kitchen. :) 

First of all, here are the ingredients that you will need:

• The meat of your choice. I use ground turkey meat to help make it healthier, but ground beef also tastes good in it as well. 
• Stewed or canned diced tomatoes. I usually only use about two cans of diced tomatoes and one can of tomato sauce, but I was out of sauce so I found a jar of homemade canned stewed tomatoes. This extra jar just helped to add extra juice to the chili. 
• Your can(s) of beans. I like to use a quartet of four different types of beans. I use pinto beans, black beans, light red kidney beans, and dark red kidney beans. Sometimes if I can not find a can of one of the types of beans I will use a can of actual chili beans. 
• The last ingredient you will need I forgot to put in this picture. It is simply your choice of seasoning. I simply like to use plain old chili seasoning. 

So now let's get to Kook'in. 

Step 1:

• For step 1, all you need to do is cook you meat of choice in a skillet on the stove top. For this ground turkey I just cooked it until it was golden brown. 

 

Step 2:

• Step 2 you can prepare while you are browning the meat of your choice. In this step I just added all the cans of my tomatoes and beans to a big pot.
• With the tomatoes I added in about half of an empty can worth of water to help add even more juice. 
• For the beans I poured everything from the cans of the light and dark red kidney beans in the pot, but the pinto and black beans I drained the juice from their cans through a colander before I added the pinto and black beans to the large pot. 

Step 3:

• In Step 3, I added my golden brown turkey meat to my tomato and bean mixture. I then put the pot on the stove top on about medium heat. 
• I cook it on this temperature for about 30 to 45 minutes making sure to stir it frequently to avoid the ingredients from sticking to the bottom of the pot. 

 

Step 4:

• This step involves the ingredient that I forgot to put in my previous picture; this step involves the chili seasoning. 
• I like to add in chili seasoning various times throughout this recipe. 
• One of the first times that I add chili seasoning to the chili is after I mix all of the other ingredients together and put them on the stove top. 
• Throughout the 30 to 45 minutes that I cook the chili I also sprinkle some of the seasoning into the chili. 
• Lastly, I add just a bit more of the chili seasoning at the very end. 
• I like to add the chili seasoning this way because I feel that as the chili cooks, some of the flavor from the seasoning gets lost so I add it multiple times. I also just sprinkle however much I think it needs in to the chili; I do not specifically measure a certain amount out. 

Step 5:

• This step is after the chili has been cooking on medium heat for the 30 to 45 minutes. 
• At this point I turn the chili down to low heat so that is can cook for just about 5 to 10 more minutes before serving. This is also the point that I will add one last sprinkle of chili seasoning. 

At this point the chili is ready to be served. You can eat it plain, but I personally like to dress it up a bit with some extras. I like to add a small sprinkle of shredded cheddar cheese and a dollop of plain Greek yogurt as a substitute for sour cream. This is another tip like using ground turkey which helps make this recipe a tad bit healthier. I also like to add some whole wheat saltines to my bowl. 

This recipe makes several servings worth. What my family and I like to do with the leftovers to spice things up is to either have chili dogs or homemade chili fries. 

Well I hope that you all enjoyed this recipe and I hope that you all try it out. Until next time...

XOXO,

Kaitlyn