Know what I love about you guys?? That you’re all game for wild game. After a great response from my post on venison stroganoff, I feel I owe it to you to give you another awesome spin on how I prepare venison in this veggies and …
Last weekend we were over at my mother-in-law’s house to celebrate the March birthdays. I did manage to make my daughter’s cake and she chose to have a Minecraft theme so it was decorated with little Minecraft figurines. I’m glad she kept her idea simple this year …
The sign of a really good workout: you wake up the next morning not being able to move because your muscles are so sore and refusing to operate properly. Yeeaahhh. That would be me, as a result of shoveling our very first snowfall of the year. One heaping foot of heavy wet snow perfect for crafting snowmen. I only shoveled half of the driveway before my neighbor felt sorry for me and came over with his snowblower. God Bless him. I made him cookies. And then I made some hearty harvest chili for a chilly snowy day.
You can make this harvest chili in a crockpot and let it simmer its deep delicious flavors together all day long or you can make it up in a large saucepot. Let’s not make extra dishes and do everything all in one pot too while we’re at it! Less dishes equals a happy girl. Browning the hamburger along with the onion and garlic in the crockpot takes a little longer but it’s worth it. It takes about 2 hours to completely cook the burger first this way but you end up with very tender small ground bits of beef and non-crunchy onions. You can do this the fast way and brown the beef and onion in a separate frying pan if you are short on time. Once beef is browned, add rest of ingredients to the crockpot or saucepot and let simmer until hot.
Harvest Chili gets the “harvest” name due to the use of pureed squash or pumpkin in this recipe. The addition of the squash provides a deeper variety of flavor and nutrients as well as cuts the acidity a bit. If you tend to have heartburn after eating dishes heavy on tomato, this helps immensely to cut it with squash. The squash also makes this chili slightly creamy in consistency making it feel like you’re eating something delightfully decadent. If you’re feeling really daring, stir in some sliced okra for a little extra color. Top it with your favorite chili toppings!
