A boring lot

I make no pretenses about being exciting. In general, my life is very predictable and routine. I thrive off of routine. And while some may find it boring, my predictability keeps me sane. So you can almost guarantee that as soon as the weather starts getting a hint of a chill, my mind goes one place without fail. Chili. I actually had been thinking about this for days. I picked up a box of Trader Joe's corn bread especially for the occasion. And as soon as I sensed the rain was coming, I was at the stove stirring and sniffing. Because really, the art to a good chili is in the smell. You know exactly when the right about of spices have been added, because all of a sudden it smells like, chili! In fact, as I was making this one, Thatboy complained it smelled more like fajitas than chili...until I hit that magic point. This chili is one of the heartiest I make, because it used chunks of steak instead of ground meat.

And a note on the cornbread - I'm a huge fan of that Trader Joe's box, but I still love to add extra corn and jalepeno, because I just can't leave well enough alone. If you haven't tried adding jalapeno to your corn bread you are missing out, and don't be shy with those peppers, they were just MADE for corn.

Steak Chili

• 1 Tbsp veggie oil
• 1/2 lb steak, any cut, cubed
• 1/2 small onion, chopped
• 1 green bell pepper, diced
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 2 Tbsp tomato paste
• 1 can chopped tomatoes
• 1 Tbsp chili powder
• 1 Tbsp sugar
• 1/3 tsp salt
• 1/3 tsp dried oregano
• 1/8 tsp black pepper
• 1/3 cup water

1. In a large pot over high heat, heat vegetable oil. Add steak and brown on all sides. Remove steak from pot and set aside.
2. Add onions, peppers, and garlic to pot. Cook over medium heat for 10 minutes, stirring.
3. Return meat to pot. Add tomato paste, tomatoes, chili powder, sugar, salt, oregano, pepper, and water and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low, cover and simmer 90 minutes, stirring.

Serves 2. Each serving has:

Calories		358.0
Total Fat		17.0 g
	Saturated Fat	5.0 g
	Polyunsaturated Fat	0.0 g
	Monounsaturated Fat	0.0 g
	Trans Fat	0.0 g
Cholesterol		73.0 mg
Sodium		1,049.0 mg
Potassium		0.0 mg
Total Carbohydrate		21.0 g
	Dietary Fiber	4.0 g
	Sugars	0.0 g
Protein		32.0 g