Vegetable and Bean Chili Night (and laundry)

'Twas a dark and stormy night... just kidding... it was only your ordinary Sunday evening. Wes and I had spent most of the day at a laundry matte, turning our five-dollar-bills into quarters and breathing in the interesting smells of an old man in braids and a muscle shirt. It should be known that this was in fact only the second laundry trip we have made since we have lived here. We don't like going. And we don't like how much it costs. Anyway, after much procrastination we gathered the towels and piles of dirty clothes and threw them into the back of our car. Made the trek all the way around the corner to the Springtime Cleaners & Laundry and went in and scouted out "our spot." We took up a whole 4 washing machines and 3 dryers. Two hours later, we leave with our things and are thankful to no longer be smelling the body odor of an old braided man.

BUT what I was saying before I got on about our laundry was that it was an ordinary Sunday evening. A beautiful fall day, with beautiful sunshine and the crisp fall air. We sat on our couch and thought "hmm... what shall we have for dinner tonight?" We opened up the cook books and came across a vegetable and bean chili recipe. Sounded easy and delicious so we paired that with some yummy corn bread, made our grocery lists and set off for the grocery store. It was around this time that I realized our corn bread came with options. "Wes?" I said to him as we walked towards New Seasons Market, "Would you like to have Corn bread muffins or just plain corn bread?" Wes thought for a moment and replied (now I'm not over exaggerating on this one these are exactly his words) "umm, I think we should do Corn bread muffins because they are cuter." I erupted with laughter and said "Oh that is going in the blog for sure!" So, there you have it.

We made Vegetable and Bean Chili on Sunday night with corn bread muffins because they were cuter. I'm glad we did because they were so yummy we are having them again tonight. The Chili lasted us through Tuesday and my only complaint is that it was super spicy. It has Cayenne pepper in it so beware! I think next time we might omit the pepper because it has great flavor even with out it. Anyway, here is the Chili recipe:

Vegetable and bean chili

1 tbsp olive or veg oil
1 large onion, coarsely chopped (1 cup)
2 teaspoons finely chopped garlic
1 bag (1lb) frozen broccoli, carrots and cauliflower
1 can red beans, drained and rinsed
1 can garbanzo beans drained and rinsed
2 cans diced tomatoes with green chilies
1 can tomato sauce
2 cups frozen whole kernel corn
2 tbsp chili powder
1 tbsp ground cumin
3/4 tsp salt
1/8 tsp ground red pepper

In 5 quart dutch oven heat oil over med. heat. add onion and garli; cook 4-5 minutes stirring frequently. Stir in remaining ingredients. Heat to boiling. Reduce heat to medium-low; cover and cook 15-20 minutes stirring occasionally until chili is hot and vegetables are crisp-tender.

Hope you enjoy it as much as we did. Let me know if you make it! It makes 6 servings and is great as left-overs!

Love you all- a couple quick things: we ordered me a macbook so I will be getting my own computer soon, and also- Tuesday night I got home from work to hear that the yard workers pulled up all of our sunflowers. I cried I was so disappointed. While I know it is silly to cry over flowers that probably weren't going to make it through winter (says or next-door neighbor/pro-gardener) I was sad that we would no longer be able to stop and marvel at how they had grown in just one day. Sad, sad stuff.

Talk to you again soon!

Katie