so here is a simple, cheap, vegetarian friendly, delicious recipe to make, that also makes great left-overs. It's called 'My mom's false alarm chili'. To make things easy, especially for a college student, buy a pre-made chili flavoring box. My mom uses Wick Fowler's False Alarm Chili. It's in a yellow box in the grocery, near the Mexican spices, you can't miss it. If you don't feel like spending the money, it's about 2-3 dollars, the ingredients consist of chili pepper, corn masa flour, salt, onion, cumin, paprika, oregano and garlic.
Since rice takes a while to cook, you can put it on before you start making the chili. If you have a rice steamer like I do, just put some water in the bottom, about a cup and then fill the top with however much rice you like. Since I was cooking for 5, and planning on feeding them left overs, I used about a half a bag.
anyway, then you make the chili. You can basically follow the directions on the back of the box. It does call for ground beef but since my friend Erika and her boyfriend Mark are vegetarians I substituted beans instead. Besides, my mom has always made it vegetarian and it's a nice break from meat. But if you do prefer it you can add ground beef, ground chicken, whatever you feel in the mood for.
so you fill the bottom of the pot with about half an inch of water and start pouring the spices in, in any particular order you like.
like so
then my mom adds a can of sliced, peeled tomatoes and a can of tomato paste to the mixture.
like so
if you're cooking in a college apartment kitchen like I am, be sure to get a fan and place it so it rotates from the stove to you. It gets super hot, super fast, and the fans above the stove don't always work that well ;)
and just a little piece of information, always keep your knives sharp and always dress to impress in the kitchen ;)
but anyway, next I added the beans. These are pink beans and I always use Goya brand. I added 4 different cans beans, all strained slightly. Beans are great to add because not only are they cheap, ranging from 79 to 89 cents, but they also stand up well in the chili while also providing great nutritional value.
next I added kidney beans
then black beans
and finally chick peas. I love adding chick peas to the chili and I would suggest adding two cans if you love them as much as I do. They had a firmness to the chili that the other beans are lacking, and they also add a great flavor to the dish.
and then you stir it all together, cover it and let it simmer for about 30 minutes, easy!
usually college apartments are kind of plain, so dress your dining area up with a table cloth and place mats. I got a white table cloth because it's easy to bleach, and you can mix and match it with different occasions. It's also great to have fun place mats because it adds a pop of color to the room. For the center piece I simply took a glass vase, and filled it with a garland of plastic sunflowers. It's cheaper than buying real flowers and lasts longer as well.
oh and don't forget the music! Definitely invest in a stereo. It makes cooking, and cleaning up afterwards, much more fun :)
then I washed the empty bean cans
and threw them away. A great piece of advice my mom always reminds me of is clean as you cook, that way the end clean up is way easier.
then get someone strong, like your boyfriend, to be in charge of opening the wine :)
It's also fun to have everyone dress up and get together. It nice to do once a week and have a little family dinner.
like so
but no chili is complete without corn bread. I use Jiffy corn bread mix which only needs a little milk and an egg added to it and takes about 15 minutes to cook and tastes great every time.
then you lay it all out and ta-da you have a little buffet of delicious food that only took about 45 minutes to make and cost about 10 dollars to buy.
then you serve it all up, add a little sour cream on the side and you have a deliciously hearty meal that makes awesome left overs...
...and feeds everyone :)
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