the great chicago blizzard/fire

This week.... what do I say about this week? Challenging? Maybe that's the word. But let's start at the beginning.

Last Monday I heard about the upcoming blizzard. In a rare act of thinking ahead I trudged to the store and got fixins for a new chili recipe I'd just come across. It touted itself to be the best ever veggie chili and I wanted to test it out, as I love to knock down superlatives like that. So I made it, it was ok, not the best. Then I took a picture of it to post. Then there was a really scary fire (apparently caused by a space heater) in one of the bedrooms of my apartment and it's now unusable and one of my roommates has to move out.  This was all during a record-breaking blizzard. As my now super-pissed off landlord said, "We sure picked a great time to have a fire."

The past several days have been spent in crisis mode- scrubbing down the walls and cleaning like crazy, fretting about getting evicted, watching my roommate sleep on my couch. I'm just trying to keep up with everything, take it all in, and stay positive and focused. Thanks for the calls. It really meant a lot. And now, a chili recipe...

The Best Vegetarian Chili EVER! (but not really) via The Picky Eater: A Healthy Food Blog

1 can Kidney beans, drained and rinsed
1 can Black beans, drained and rinsed
1 can Navy (or pinto) beans, drained and rinsed
1 cup frozen corn
1 chopped red pepper
1/2 cup chopped red onion
1 28 oz can crushed tomatoes (I used 2- 14oz cans of diced tomatoes, because I had them)
1 cup vegetable broth
4 garlic cloves
1 heaping tbsp chili powder
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp coriander
1 tsp unsweetened cocoa powder
2 sprinkles garlic powder
1 sprinkle cayenne pepper
3-4 glugs Worcestershire sauce
1/2 tsp kosher salt
A few grinds of black pepper
 

Chop the garlic, onion, and red pepper. Saute lightly over medium high heat in 1-2 tsp olive oil.
Add everything else into the pot. Bring to a boil.
Reduce heat and simmer for 30 min or longer as needed