Versatile Chili Recipe

One of the things that I love most about cooking is how versatile and creative you can be. If you don't have a certain ingredient, you can just leave it out and usually your recipe will turn out OK. In this post, you can take any of the ingredients from each of the categories and combine them to make any time of chili you please. I would say that a given would be to always use crushed tomatoes or tomato paste, but you can do meatless chili, or carbless chili (no filler), or vegetable-less chili. I have included some sample recipes at the bottom, and two different cooking methods (stovetop or crock pot). I love making chili because it can be relatively healthy, it's super easy to make, and it freezes really nicely. Enjoy!

Ingredients:

Tomatoes
- canned crushed tomatoes or tomato paste
- canned or fresh diced tomatoes

Meat
- ground beef
- ground turkey or chicken
- none

Filler
- beans (black, kidney, red, lima)
- chick peas
- tempeh (fermented soy patty similar to tofu)
- quinoa (pre-cooked)
- rice (pre-cooked)

Vegetables
- mushrooms
- peppers (green, red, yellow, hot)
- onions (cooking)
- carrots
- celery
- eggplant
- zucchini

Spices
- salt
- pepper
- chili powder
- basil
- cumin
- bay leaf (don't eat it)
- oregano
- onion salt
- celery salt
- garlic powder
- hot sauce

How to Cook:

Stovetop Method:

1. Brown the meat with a little bit of oil in a large pot until it is fully cooked over medium heat.
2. Add the remaining ingredients and stir.
3. Simmer over medium heat until the veggies are tender (approx. 20-30 minutes).

Crock Pot Method:

1. Brown the meat with a little bit of oil in a frying pan until it is fully cooked over medium heat.
2. Add all the ingredients, including the meat, into a crock pot and stir.
3. Cook on low for 6-8 hours.

Sample Recipes:

Jenna's Favourite Chili
- 2 packages ground turkey or chicken
- 1 can diced tomatoes
- 1 can crushed tomatoes
- 1 can black beans
- 1 package sliced mushrooms
- 1 green pepper
- 1 red pepper
- 1 onion
- 1 cup diced carrots
- 1 cup diced celery
- salt
- pepper
- chili powder
- basil
- cumin
- bay leaf
- oregano
- garlic powder

Classic Chili
- crushed tomatoes
- ground beef
- beans
- mushrooms
- onions
- chili powder

Vegetarian Chili
- crushed tomatoes
- diced tomatoes
- beans
- quinoa
- tons of veggies
- spices

Healthy Carb-Free Chili
- crushed tomatoes
- diced tomatoes
- ground turkey or chicken
- tempeh
- tons of veggies
- spices

Winter Headband with a Twist (Knit)

I saw someone walking down the street with a headband similar to this, and decided to make one for myself. The pattern is pretty simple, don't be put off by the single cable. I posted a picture tutorial for cabling under my last headband pattern, which you can find here. The knit 1 purl 1 ribbing on this piece makes it a bit thicker, and helps keep it flat instead of curling at the edges. Hope you enjoy the pattern! 

Materials

Worsted weight yarn

Size 8 (5mm) needles, and a spare needle

Cast on 20 stitches

Work knit 1 purl 1 ribbing until half the length of the diameter of your head (approx. 9").

Put the first 10 stitches on a spare needle and hold them to the front of your work.  K1 P1 to end of the row. Put the first 10 stitches back onto the needle, and then K1 P1 to end of row. 

Work knit 1 purl 1 ribbing until desired length. Cast off stitches, and sew the two ends together, and weave in yarns ends. 

Finished size: approx. 18" x 3"

What the piece looks like before being sewn together

Cabled Throw Blanket (Knit)

This is my favourite go-to blanket pattern. The cables are gorgeous, and there's just enough of a pattern to keep it from getting boring. The pattern is modified from a baby blanket pattern available from redheart.com, but I added a border, and changed the size of the ribbing between cables. If you haven't tried cabling before it isn't as hard as it looks! A cabling tutorial with pictures is available on my cabled headband pattern post. If you want to make this blanket smaller for a baby, or a bigger throw blanket, then add or subtract stitches in multiples of 12. Enjoy!

Materials

Lion Brand Homespun yarn, or another bulky weight yarn (4 balls, or 20 oz total)

Size 11 (8 mm) circular needle (a slightly different size will do)

Cabling or spare needle. 

Cast on 108 stitches

Knit 10 rows

A) Row 1, 3, 5, 7

K5, *K2, P2, K6, P2*, repeat from * to * to last 7 stitches, K7

B) Row 2, 4, 6, 8, 10

K5, *P2, K2, P6, K2*, repeat from * to * to last 7 stitches, P2, K5

C) Row 9

K5, *K2, P2, C3F, P2*, repeat from * to * to last 7 stitches, K7

When desired length, knit 10 rows and then cast off, and sew in loose ends. 

Note: C3F means put 3 stitches on a spare needle and hold to the front of your work, knit 3 stitches, but the stitches from the spare needle back on the circular needle, them knit those 3 stitches.

Finished size approx. 40" x 50"

This blanket is very similar to this pattern, but with more rows in between cables