Caveman Chili. And Kailua.

I can't seem to focus.

Literally, as I type this, my dear husband is in a Skype interview for a teaching position at a Classical Christian School located in Kailua, Hawaii.

Yes, as in this Kailua:

I just put Georgia down for her nap and am now in the office, pretending not to listen, while totally listening to the conversation taking place in the kitchen.  Oh, Lord! How you humble us and teach us to be completely dependent on your grace!  

Moving on.  To tastier topics.

Most of my readers know, by now, that my husband hates legumes.  Beans.  Lentils.  You name it.  The sight of a kidney bean is enough to make him retch.  

Thus, all my dreams of beautiful Italian white beans soups, homemade refried beans, and black-bean burgers have been dashed.  I also haven't whipped up a batch of chili since before we were married.  But I love chili!  Especially when there is 5 inches of new snow outside.  And I am PMSing.  And I want comfort food.  

So here we are.

Caveman Chili
Recipe from Food Renegade 

You will need: 
 - 2 pounds of grass-fed ground beef
 - 1 large onion, diced
 - 1 cup of celery, diced
 - 1 bell pepper, diced
 - 3-5 cloves of garlic, minced
 - 4 cups of chopped organic tomatoes (I used frozen tomatoes from our garden!)
 - 2 tablespoons of chili powder (make sure it's not too spicy!)
 - 1 1/2 teaspoons dried oregano
 - 1 1/2 teaspoons dried cumin
 - Salt and pepper to taste
 - Shredded cheddar & chopped cilantro, for garnish

Step One:  In a cast-iron soup pot, add the hamburger and brown.  Drain off any excess grease.

Step Two:  Throw in the celery, onions, pepper, garlic, tomatoes, and spices.  Mmm...smelling good, isn' t it?

Step Three:  Allow it to simmer until you can't stand it anymore.  I let mine hang out for about an hour or so.

And you know what I did during that hour?  I cooked a separate pot of beans so that Georgia and I could spoon some into our chili.  Everybody wins!

An alternative would be to add all these ingredients to a crock pot and allow the goodness to simmer on low until dinner time.  If you slow cook the chili in this way, you could even sub browned stew meat in for the ground beef!  Sprinkle with some freshly grated cheddar and fresh chopped cilantro!  Oh, the possibilities!

Want to know how hard it's been for me to focus lately with all this 'future plan' stuff going on?  

This is my only photograph of the chili:

I ate half the bowl before I remembered to photograph it for the post.  Wow.  Nothing that'll make you want to cook this chili like a half-eaten, sloppy bowl of it. 

Forgive me.

My brain is having a future-plans-spasm.

But regardless of this, I assure you the chili is wonderful.


Just in case you're PMSing.  And in need of comfort food.  Don't worry, it happens to the best of us.

The end.

For other great meal ideas, no matter what your dietary restrictions, check out the meal planning service I use: Real Plans.

Caveman Chili

• 2 pounds grass-fed ground beef
• 1 large onion, diced
• 1 cup celery, diced
• 1 bell pepper, diced
• 3-5 cloves garlic, minced
• 4 cups chopped organic tomatoes (I used frozen tomatoes from our garden!)
• 2 tbsp chili powder (make sure it's not too spicy!)
• 1 ½ tsp dried oregano
• 1 ½ tsp dried cumin
• Salt and pepper to taste
• Shredded cheddar & chopped cilantro, for garnish

1. In a cast-iron soup pot, add the hamburger and brown.  Drain off any excess grease.

2. Throw in the celery, onions, pepper, garlic, tomatoes, and spices.

3. Allow it to simmer until you can't stand it anymore.  I let mine hang out for about an hour or so.