Colorado Chili Sheppard Style!

Part of being an Army wife is the chance to move to new places. Recently my husband received orders for us to re-plant our roots in Colorado Springs, CO! I can NOT TELL YOU HOW EXCITED I WAS TO FIND OUT!! (Do the caps help to get across my excitement at all?)

One of the things that I learned when I moved from the east coast to the west coast earlier this year was what things to pack with you that you will need before all of the rest of your house gets there. Obviously this is still a learning process as there are some small things that I'm seriously kicking myself for forgetting, but for the most part, and after making a dozen lists of things to bring and lists of lists to make, I'd say we did pretty good. I remembered one pot, a 12" skillet, my favorite good spatula, all our spices, and a set of plates and silverware for us both. 

My husband wasn't around for the first move this year, so it was an eye opening experience for him to see what needed to be packed, cleaned, arranged, having someone come into your home and pack your belongings, etc. When all was said and done, and lists had been checked and crossed off, we were ready to go. As you can see below, some dogs were pretty stoked to be back in the car! (Goodness knows why they like to travel so much!)

We saw some beautiful sights along the way. I fulfilled my goal of going to Las Vegas, even if it was for less than 12 hours and I lost $50. It was worth it. The thing the husband enjoyed the most was the land as we passed. We drove through the Mojave Desert in California and Nevada and about a 40 mile stretch of Arizona. The bulk of our time was spent driving across the state of Utah and then about 2/3rd of the way across Colorado. The picture below was taken at the salt flats in Utah. It was the last place the Mormon founder, Joseph Smith tried to settle his people before finally ending up in St. George, Utah. It is a beautiful place! Its quiet and serene and really makes you appreciate what you have. The picture doesn't do it justice, but my husband is just so damn cute in it, I had to use it! Otherwise, I hated driving through Utah, especially toward the end. It was flat. And brown. 

On the trip I learned something very interesting. Driving through the Rocky Mountains is a completely different experience than driving through the Appalachian Mountains. Driving through a blizzard in the Rocky Mountains is a freaking crazy-once-in-a-lifetime-don't-know-if-I-want-to-repeat-it-at-10,000-and-12,000-feet-in-elevation experience. And I am not exaggerating at all. Seriously. 

It was once I got here and we are sitting around our empty house with nothing but an air mattress, a laptop with a handful of movies, that I realized meals would be a problem. I can't cook anything that needs to be baked because I have nothing to bake it in or on. I have no microwave to reheat leftovers. I only have the pan, pot and spatula. Hmm...and then inspiration struck! Anything that I cook in the pot I can reheat on the stovetop in the pot or pan! The husband was really excited about this and so, on our first full day in our new home, with the snow blowing all day long and it feeling like -9 degrees outside, I made chili. And as promised to my dear friend Patrice back in California, I am sharing my recipe with you! 

Colorado Chili Sheppard Style:

1.25-1.5 lbs of ground beef

1 diced onion

2 cloves minced garlic

1 can black beans (i used low sodium)

1 can light kidney beans

1 can dark kidney beans

2 large cans crushed tomatoes

1 can diced tomatoes for chili

1 palmful chili powder

1 palmful paprika

2 palmfuls cumin

2 dashes cayenne pepper

4 dashes texas pete (or your choice) hot sauce

olive oil

shredded cheese for garnish (if desired)

sour cream for garnish (if desired)

hot sauce for garnish (if desired)

crackers for garnish (if desired) 

Once I decided upon making chili, the grocery store became the next challenge. I don't have a knife for chopping an onion or garlic right now. Luckily they had the pre-minced garlic in the produce section but no diced onion. Challenge accepted. I diced my onion with my husbands leatherman multi-tool. And I must say, I was impressed! That blade works pretty well as a back up! 

To begin your chili, heat your pot over medium-low to medium heat. Once its up to temp, drizzle a bit of olive oil in the pan then add the onions. Saute them until they are golden brown. Add the garlic for a minute then throw in the ground beef. Break that up and cook until the meat is done. 

While the meat is browning, open up all the cans of beans and tomatoes. In a moment of brilliance while I was at the commissary, I realized I had no can opener so I picked up the most basic one they had for $1.99. I was proud of myself for realizing it and thinking ahead! It didn't even open half a can before it broke! My husband tried to open the cans with his leatherman, but it was going to take forever. So I ran out into the cold, knocked on my neighbors door (who I had not met prior to then) and begged for the use of his can opener. Luckily he didn't think I was a crazy can opener lady and was happy to loan it out for 5 minutes. 

Once the meat is done, add all the canned goods. I ended up only using about 3/4 of the second can of the crushed tomatoes mostly just due to the size of my pot but I don't think thats neither here nor there. Add the spices, and salt and pepper, if desired as well. Adjust the seasons to taste and bring the chili up to a simmer. Let it go for about 30 minutes on low. 

I love to pile cheese and sour cream on mine and then use crackers and eat some of it like a dip almost. The husband likes just sour cream and more hot sauce. Dress it up however you want! I think a corn chip would be a good garnish or maybe some corn even. Hmm...add corn to the chili also? An idea for next time! 

So Patrice and MC, I know you guys are having chili tonight for dinner and we are having leftover chili for dinner so it will be like we are having dinner together again. Can't wait to see you guys again and have dinner together for real! 

Thanks so much for coming by to check out the recipe! I hope you have a great night!