Fall already?!

It is hard to believe (and accept) that summer is officially over and we are entering fall already. Did not feel like we had much of a summer, flew by and the weather was not all that great, at least in my opinion! On another note note, I love fall and am not necessarily unhappy to begin this beautiful season, especially when I think about hockey starting, leaves changing and most importantly, delicious comfort foods! I guess I could throw football in there as well, but I'm more of a hockey girl, but there's nothing like a homemade bowl of hot chili and some cornbread during a Sunday Bears game! Chili is a great, hearty and healthy meal if you use lean ground beef, veggies and black beans. And with that, I'm going to share my favorite chili recipe to warm you up as the temperatures cool off!

Chili:

2 lbs lean ground beef

1 medium onion, diced

1 green pepper, diced

2 jalapenos, diced

1 habanero, diced

4 cloves garlic, minced

1 can tomato sauce

6 T ground chili pepper

1 T cumin

2 t oregano

1 t salt (optional)

2 t smoked paprika

1 t cayenne pepper

1 can black beans (or whatever type you prefer)

Add a tablespoon of olive oil to a Dutch oven or large pot and add onions and peppers. Saute for a few minutes until softened. Add ground beef, cook until no longer pink. Add in garlic, cook for another minute or two. Add in tomato sauce. Fill empty can with water about 3/4 of the way and add to pot. Add in seasonings and beans. Bring to light boil then lower temperature and simmer for 1-2 hours. (The longer you can let chili cook, the better it will be...it will get more flavorful and spicier)!

Obviously this chili is pretty spicy, you can omit any of the peppers or cayenne and adjust to your preferences.

And since I can't eat chili without cornbread and pumpkin correlates with all, here is a delicious pumpkin cornbread recipe to take you into to fall:

Pumpkin Cornbread

1/2 cup pumpkin puree

1/3 cup sugar

1 egg

1/4 t baking powder

1/4 cup buttermilk

1/2 cup cornmeal

1/2 cup flour

Preheat oven to 350. Place 10-inch cast iron skillet in oven while pre-heating. In a large bowl, mix together the pumpkin puree, sugar and egg. In a separate bowl, mix together the cornmeal, flour and baking powder. Add dry ingredients to wet, alternating with buttermilk. Remove cast iron skillet from oven and add one tablespoon of butter, let melt. Once melted, add batter to pan and cook for 20 minutes.