Somehow, in the midst of planning a wedding, getting married, changing my name, training/running a marathon, etc. I’ve become increasingly “busy” feeling. Busy enough that it felt like I had so much to do post-wedding that I couldn’t even return to a full-time work schedule — something I realize is entirely silly. If I had a “real” job, working for someone else with hours I was expected to be in a certain place, I would have gone back to work almost immediately.
So, in recognizing my silly “busy” feeling, I’ve been slowly simplifying my life. Kind of. I’m using an editorial calendar more — planning what I’ll cook, photograph, blog about, etc. I’m also really trying to cut back on wasted time, particularly in my email and feed reader — a task NOT easy to do.
I’ve been subscribed to many a wedding blog, for the last few years even, and while I still thoroughly enjoy looking at beautiful wedding pictures, I realize I am scrolling extra-fast and probably don’t need to be subscribed anymore. It’s taken about two weeks to actually DO something about it (it’s hard to let go!), but I finally unsubscribed from the wedding blogs I follow. Sad, sad day! It will be a time saver, though, to not spend my time scrolling past long, photo-rich posts.
The other thing I’ve been tackling are emails: in my migration to a new email address, I’ve been cracking down on extraneous messages. Things from companies I probably once bought a product from, or a newsletter I thought might be interesting but I never actually read: I’m unsubscribing. This, I fear, will be a LONG process. I generally check my email on my phone before getting out of bed, at which point I just delete, delete, delete. Unsubscribing means I have to open, scroll down, click “unsubscribe” and then follow any silly instructions they have (sometimes they make it very hard!). So, I’ve been doing a few each day. Hopefully, in a few weeks, my email load will be significantly less!
In the spirit of change, I bring you this chili. It’s based on our favorite, Skyline chili, but with some veggies thrown in. I love making Skyline chili, but always feel like I need to eat a lot of vegetables afterwards — so I thought, “Why not combine the two?” Ta-da! Our dinners are turning more soup-inspired these days, with the cooling weather, so get your soup-pants on!
Despite the pictures, we ate this chili over pasta (as you do with Skyline chili!) — seriously, do it. If you’ve never put chili (particularly THIS chili) over pasta, you’ll be blown away. And don’t forget the cheddar (TONS AND TONS OF CHEDDAR). This is method #231 for how we eat 5 pounds of cheese each week in this house. You think I’m joking… I’m really not.
- 1 medium white onion, chopped
- 4 cloves of garlic, diced
- 2 lbs ground beef
- 2-3 large sweet potatos, scrubbed and cubed
- 3 Tbsp chili powder
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1 tsp cayenne pepper
- 1 tsp allspice
- 1 tsp ground cumin
- 2 tsp salt
- 4-6 cups of water
- 29 oz can of crushed tomatoes
- 2 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce
- 1 Tbsp white vinegar
- 8 drops of Tabasco Sauce
- 3 bay leaves
- 2 cans black beans, rinsed and drained
- pasta and grated cheddar cheese for serving
- In a large heavy soup pot over medium heat, combine the onion, garlic, and beef. Cook, stirring frequently, until the beef is browned.
- Add the sweet potatoes, and all the spices, and cook for another minute, stirring well.
- Add 4 cups of water, the tomatoes, Worcestershire sauce, vinegar, Tabasco, and bay leaves. Bring to a simmer.
- Allow the chili to cook for at least one hour, and up to three for more flavor. Add water as needed.
- Ten minutes before serving, stir in the black beans and cook to heat them through.
- Serve over pasta, topped with cheddar cheese.
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