Chili and Cornbread...

It's fall, y'all, not really, but it is sort of getting cooler, so I am crockpotting it baby!!  I made my dad's favorite chili, with fire-roasted tomatoes.  What I didn't take into account was that the spices would become magnified when cooked all day, so it was spicy to say the least!  I am going to get right to the recipe this time.  Just as a reminder, I own the world's smallest crockpot, so this was a challenge.  And in the words of Barney Stinson,"Challenge Accepted!"

Just so you can see how itsy-bitsy my crock is, I took a picture of it next to my tomatoes:

First step: Scramble 1 Pound of Ground Turkey (93% lean)

While that is cooking, add these ingredients to the crockpot:
1 15 oz can of fire-roasted tomatoes
1 8 oz can of tomato sauce
1/2 chopped yellow onion
2 teaspoons of onion powder
2 teaspoons of garlic powder
3 teaspoons of chili powder
1 teaspoon of oregano
1/4 teaspoon of cayenne pepper
dash of salt and pepper

Then add your meat:

Mix it good, mix it real good, then turn it on:

I put it on High at the time shown above!  I want this to be realistic and relatable, so this is really what I did!

I turned it down to low about four hours into cooking, at 3:30 pm I added a can of black beans and a can of light red kidney beans.  We were able to eat at 4:30 that day, during that time I returned the setting to high.

How exciting, huh?  Well, I did an interesting thing that day on the stove, I made poached pears. 

I am having a fight with my refrigerator, suddenly my fruit is getting too ripe in it, so I am going to have to cook it, so we can use it. 

Here's what I did to cook my pears, they were a big hit:

1. Peel 2 Ripe Pears, Halve Them, and Scoop Out The Seed

2. Stick Them In A Saucepan

3. Add 2 Cinnamon Sticks and 1 Teaspoon of Ginger

4. Add One Juice Box of Apple Juice

5. Add 3/4 Cup of Sugar

6. Add Enough Water to Cover the Pears

Stir and Bring to a Rolling Boil.....Once Boiling, Cover with a Lid and Simmer for 15 minutes

This is the end result:

Stick them in the fridge for 2-24 hours before serving. They are sweet like candy when cold.

Tomorrow I will give the recipe for the muffins which were made out of our pear juice. Crockpots beware, this gal is coming for you......