Chili

I have this habit of not feeling like anything sounds good for dinner. Usually in this situation, I call my mom, and she tells me what to make- It works for me. I don't have to think, just do. And I can do, and do do, most of the time. Yesterday was the exception. Nothing she suggested sounded good. Nothing I found in the cupboards sounded good. But eventually, we came up with something worth eating.. Homemade from scratch Cornbread and Chili. I know, sounds great right?!! Well, I looked in my freezer, and I had some sausage. I looked in my pantry, and I had some kidney beans, stewed tomatoes, corn, and tomato paste. I added some other good stuff for flavor- and found a whole new corn bread recipe (the last one I tried was blah.. too bitter and not sweet enough for our tastes! So here you go- clean out your pantry chili and yummy cornbread!

Chili

1lb Jimmy Dean Sausage- Hot
1 small- medium onion, chopped
1 can Red Kidney Beans (drained)
1 can Whole Kernel Corn (drained)
1 can Stewed Tomatoes (undrained)
1 can Condensed Tomato Soup
1 can Tomato Paste (those small cans.. I know, I should look up ounces and what not...)
2 Tbsp Brown Sugar
2 squirts Ketchup (so probably around 2 Tbsp or so)
2 quick squirts Mustard (mustard squirts and ketchup squirts are NOT EQUAL! = 1 tbsp(ish) mustard)
1-2 tsp Red Pepper (we like chipotle red pepper, it gives it a nice kick/after burn/smokey feeling)
1 tsp Cumin
1 tsp Black Pepper
1 tsp Salt

So.. This is what was in my pantry yesterday. Brown the sausage and add the onion while browning (the onion is the only other thing that actually needs to cook!) Once browned, add in the cans- Beans, Corn, Tomatoes, Soup, Paste. Bring to a boil, stirring occasionally to prevent sticking. Turn down to a simmer, and start adding the rest of the flavor. Use caution on the mustard- a little bit goes a long long way. Salt and Pepper to taste, the spices are all tinker-able.

Cornbread

2/3 cup Butter or margarine, softened
1 cup Sugar
3 Eggs (beaten)
1 2/3 cups Milk
2 1/3 cups All-purpose Flour
1 cup Cornmeal
4 1/2 tsp Baking Poweder
1 tsp Salt

Preheat oven to 400 degrees and grease a 9x13 pan. Cream butter and sugar together. Add eggs and milk, mix in well. Add the rest of the ingredients, combining well. Pur mixture into greased pan, and put in the oven for 22-27 minutes (make sure that the bread is all the way cooked through by sticking a toothpick or knife in the middle- when it comes out clean, it's done!)

Now, if you were smart about it, you'd do the bread first, since the prep work takes the longest- and you can make the chili while the bread cooks.

Some of you might argue that true chili doesn't have meat in it.. well... tough luck! I like the sausage in my chili, and it gave it just the right consistency that probably would have been missing had it not been added! So there. Nay-say all you want. It was good!

Enjoy!