Best Chili Ever (and weekly weigh-in)

It’s no secret that I’m not a great cook. Without a recipe, I’m pretty much useless in the kitchen. I think it all stems from growing up with the only grandma in the world that didn’t know how to cook. I can only recall two dishes that she would make that I would even eat as a kid – chili and chicken & dumplings. Once I went away to college, I dabbled with her chili recipe a bit, basically just omitting the onions and tomatoes she would often add and I would always pick out and throw away. So if you’re looking for a quick and easy chili recipe, you’ve come to the right place. My husband LOVES it. I’ve made it at least once a month every fall and winter that we’ve been together. I also make it for parties or large family dinners, and the leftovers taste even better the next day. Best of all, it’s Weight Watchers friendly (about 5-6 pts for 1 cup).

Ingredients:

• 1 lbs lean ground turkey or beef, thawed
• 2 cans of chili beans (I use Brooks brand most of the time)
• 1 short can of tomato sauce
• 1 packet of chili seasoning

Brown the ground beef/turkey in a large pot over medium-high heat and drain it. If you get the leanest meat there is, then it’s okay to be lazy and skip the draining step.

Add beans, tomato sauce and chili seasoning and stir. Cover with a lid and continue cooking for about 10 minutes over medium heat. If it starts to boil, turn down the heat.

Add a few shakes of hot sauce to make it spicy; put in a bowl and top with cheese and crackers; add veggies like onions or tomatoes during the cooking process if you’re into that sort of thing; WHATEVER. This is just the basics and you really can’t screw it up as long as you have those four basic ingredients above.

So now you all have my secret recipe for the best chili ever.

And while we’re all here, let’s do the weekly weigh-in (two days late because we were out of town until Monday night).

Week 3: -1.8 lbs
Total lbs lost: 5.2 lbs
Lbs to go: 34.8 lbs

When I saw the number this week, I didn’t believe it. I stepped on and off the scale at least 4 times and checked to make sure the scale was level. After the way I ate all weekend, I was sure I was going to see a gain this week. Honestly, I just think my bad eating hadn’t caught up with me yet. So I’ll take the loss this week, but I won’t be surprised if things aren’t so great next week. As far as any visible changes, my husband commented that my butt looked smaller, so that’s always nice. And one of my black work pants with a “tummy control” panel were actually a little loose, so I’d say I’m on the right track. I just have to remind myself that slow and steady wins the race, and to not let myself get discouraged if I don’t drop 10 lbs in a month.