Hearty Muscle Building Easy Chili Recipe

Sunday evening in Colorado, it had started to snow, and what do you know, I was already in the middle of cooking up my first batch of chili. Great timing! It was simple, easy, and relaxing, as relaxing goes for cooking. Sadly my flash started dying out, but don't worry, I was still able to get some pictures.

I am going to warn  you now, the longer you cook it, the thicker it'll be, so plan to be cooking for about an hour or two. 

My roommate just came home from wendy's with a cup of chili and some other junk food, and I understand ground beef isn't always on the healthy scale, but for those of you who are trying to build muscle, or working out all the time, this is perfect for you! 

This recipe is loaded with protein and vegetables.  

What You'll Need:

1 1/2 - 2 lbs Ground Beef

2 Carrots
1 Green Bell Peper

1/2 - 1 Onion (I used 1/2 because I'm trying to save for tacos.)

2 Celery Sticks

1 Can Diced Tomatoes

1 Can Corn (Optional, but is GREAT to add)

1 Can Kidney Beans

1 Can Pinto Beans

1 Can Ranch Style Beans (Optional)

2 Garlic Cloves

1 Packet Of Chili Powder

Olive Oil
Chili Powder for desired hotness

Salt & Peper

1 Tsp Cumin (For Taste)

What to do now:

Drizzle some olive oil in a pot, and put on medium heat. Chop up 1/4 of your onion, and garlic, and toss into the pot. Once onions become translucent, throw in the beef. Season with salt and pepper.

Now get the rest of your veggies, get them prepared and washed, and than cut them up into bite size pieces, or smaller. However you wish.

(Excuse my horrible face.)

Once your meat browns, you can drain out all of the fat, and add some water. However add just a little under how much fat you drained. Fat is thicker, and is flavorful, water is tasteless. OR!! Don't drain the fat at all. Just throw in your veggies, and cook for 10-15 minutes. Than add your corn. I used half the corn juice from the can. Its tasty! 

 Now it is time to add the tomatoes, and seasonings! Add a good amount of pepper, and don't add too much salt all at once. Just a little at a time, tasting each time you put some in. Stir it all together, and bring it to a boil. Once it boils, turn it down to low, or med low, and simmer for about an hour. Meanwhile, watch your roommates run around killing flies. Or hide behind your boyfriend, because you don't want any flies to land on you, or drink some beer, a cocktail, or finish crocheting that Harry Potter scarf you've been slacking on.

Once an hour has passed, check the tenderness of your carrots, if they seem nice and soft, than add your beans. If you want to add more time to your veggies and meat,  than cover it back up, and cook some more. I wanted my chili to be super thick, so I added just a little bit of corn starch. 

Whenever you feel like your chili is about time to be done, open your cans of beans. Pour the ranch style beans straight into your pot, and stir around. Than add your kidney beans, and pinto beans into a strainer, and rinse. After that, throw those into the pot, stir, than bring your pot back to a simmer, and cover for 10 minutes. (Or longer for desired thickness.)

Now add your cheese if you'd like, and put in a good amount of chili powder from your cabinet to add your desired hotness. And there you have it! Nice easy relaxing super yummy chili!

Tips: Chili is even better after you put it in the fridge over night. Let your chili cool all the way, and put it in a tupperware container. Throw into the fridge and eat the next night.

Super Simple Peanut Noodles!

So on Monday, my roommate had to pick me up from work, and instead of paying him gas, he wanted me to cook him up some Asian food. He asked for Chinese, but I'm Filipino, that's really all I know how to cook, SO, I looked up Peanut noodles my friend had made for me a while back, was SOO good! So yesterday Dan and I ran off to the Pacific Market not far from my work to pick up some veggies, Lumpia, and fried banana rolls. Yea, has nothing to do with the noodles, because believe it or not, you don't really need anything from the Asian store to make these super simple noodles. However, I think I would have liked it better if I just got the peanut sauce under the brand 'San-J' which is what my friend Leslie suggested.

Sadly I could not find it, and I have a hard time talking to strangers asking for help. None or less, the noodles came out just fine when I made the sauce on my own.

These noodles are quick and easy to make, and I'd consider it healthy...ish. Of course white pasta isn't 'healthy' for you, and you defiantly should NOT be eating it very often. But in this dish, I had added a LOT of veggies. Anyways, lets start, shall we? Sorry, I don't have photos of the steps.

All Ingredient: (Including for the peanut sauce)

• 3 Cups Veggies (I made about 4-5. Was feeding 3 boys, plus myself. I like more veggies)
• Meat or tofu (Optional)
• Pasta  (8 oz. for serving of 3. I added more.) 
• 3 tablespoons peanut butter (Or peanut sauce from San-J)
• 3 tablespoons soy sauce (1 for stirfry veggies - 2 for peanut sauce)
• 3/4 tablespoon lime juice
• 1 tablespoon sesame oil. Substitute with canola oil. (For stirfry veggies, I used olive oil.)
• 1-2 garlic cloves, minced
• Crushed red chili flakes, as much as you like (If you want.)
• 2 tablespoons chopped green onion or cilantro or parsley for garnish

If you are making this in a hurry, you can simply just put broccoli if you want. Or whatever favorite veggies really. 

Suggestions:

- Shredded raw cabbage
- Shredded carrots
- Chopped cucumber
- Red peppers cut into strips
- Bean sprouts
- Wilted kale
- Baby corn
- Onions (Was not suggested in the recipe, but I put onions in mine.)
- Water chestnuts (Also was not suggested in the recipe, but I love them, so I added them.)

For the sauce: Super easy!

3 tablespoons peanut butter
2 tablespoons soy sauce
3/4 tablespoon lime juice
1 tablespoon sesame oil. Substitute with canola oil.
1-2 garlic cloves, minced
3 tablespoons of water (I suggest using 4. Was still too creamy when I put the sauce in the noodles, so I had to water it down some.)
Crushed red chili flakes, if you'd like. The more, the hotter. Whatever pleases you.
2 tablespoons chopped green onion or cilantro or parsley for garnish
*I've read you can add 1 tbl spoon honey, and 1 tea spoon rice vinegar. I didn't add those this time, but next time I will! If you add this, tell me how it tastes!* 

What to do:

1. In a large pot, add plenty of salt and water and bring to a boil.

2. While water is coming to a boil, work on the sauce. Add all sauce ingredients (in whatever order you want) in a bowl. Add 3 tablespoons of water, and whisk everything together till a sauce forms. However, this was too strong for me, so you might want to add 4 tablespoons of water. All up to your taste. Now, set that aside. If you are using the San-J sauce, follow the instructions on the bottle. Set aside.

3. Put your wok on medium. Add a drizzle of olive oil (or whatever oil you like to fry your veggies in) to the wok. If you are cooking it with meat, or tofu, do that now. Tofu takes a long time to cook. Now time to cut, and add the vegetables into the wok. The veggies that can overcook faster, should be added last. Add 1 tablespoon of soy sauce in with your veggies while you are stir-frying them. (The order I did mine was onions, bellpepers, bean sprouts, baby corn, water chestnuts, broccoli, cabbage, and than frozen mixed frozen vegetables. - Carrots, green beans, peas, and corn.)

4. Once the water at a boil. Then add pasta to the water and cook according to package instructions. Make sure you don't over cook the pasta. Drain well. 

5. Add oil to the drained pasta to keep it from drying up. Set aside. (Not back onto the stove.) Keep an eye out on your veggies. Stir constantly. Once your veggies are cooked, add the noodles in with them.

6. Pour the peanut sauce all over the pasta and veggies, and toss well. Taste the pasta, if it needs more salt, or soy sauce add half a tablespoon at a time. If the peanut butter is too strong, add 1 tablespoon of water at a time. Mix well!

7. Top it off with chopped green onions, cilantro or parsley. You can even add 1 Tablespoon of sesame seeds! And there you have it!

Let me know how that worked out for you!