Maybe you have a better one. My parents’ chili recipe is pretty darn good…nonetheless…we think this is a delicious chili recipe and had to share!

Anyway, becoming Mrs. Dial also means becoming a better cook. (I think I just heard Mr. Dial shout “Amen”.)

After moving away from home and cooking for no one but myself for nearly 5 years, I was lucky to bake some chicken, heat up some canned green beans or whip up a healthy salad for myself. Now that I’m hitched, (and we have all these fancy kitchen gadgets and cookbooks!), I’ve really been branching out in an effort to try more unique, healthy, home-cooked recipes…which brings us to this evening’s meal - Springfield Chili.

We’ve been talking about cooking up some chili since back in October and finally decided it was time to get down to business and do this. I found this recipe on cookinglight.com. Although it took about an hour to prepare and cook overall, it was totally worth it.

Springfield Chili

Ingredients

• 1  bacon slice, finely chopped
• 2 1/4  cups  finely chopped onion, divided (about 2 medium)
• 2  garlic cloves, minced
• 1  pound  coarsely ground turkey breast
• 1/2  pound  coarsely ground sirloin
• 1  (12-ounce) can beer (such as Budweiser)
• 3  tablespoons  chili powder
• 1  teaspoon  Worcestershire sauce
• 1/2  teaspoon  kosher salt
• 1/4  teaspoon  ground cumin
• 1  (14 1/2-ounce) can diced tomatoes, undrained
• 1  (8-ounce) can no-salt-added tomato sauce
• 1  (15-ounce) can pinto beans, rinsed and drained
• 1/2  cup  (2 ounces) reduced-fat shredded cheddar cheese
• Oyster crackers (optional)

Preparation

1. Cook bacon in a large Dutch oven over medium heat 5 minutes or until browned. Stir in 2 cups onion; cover and cook until onion is tender (about 5 minutes). Uncover and stir in garlic; cook for 1 minute.

2. Increase heat to medium-high; add turkey and sirloin to pan. Cook 5 minutes or until browned, stirring to crumble. Add beer; cook until liquid is reduced to 1/3 cup (about 7 minutes). Stir in chili powder and next 5 ingredients (through tomato sauce). Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 30 minutes or until mixture thickens. Stir in beans; cook 10 minutes or until thoroughly heated. Ladle 1 cup chili into each of 6 bowls. Top each serving with 4 teaspoons cheese and 2 teaspoons onion. Serve with crackers, if desired.

We hope you enjoy! Have a favorite chili recipe? Please share with us!

So, it’s Friday and I’ve been up since about 6am with my head just a-spinnin’ with ideas and things I want to do today…or one day…when I grow up.

Surprisingly enough, the first thing I scratched off my to-do list is making some homemade, from scratch blueberry buttermilk muffins made with fresh blueberries that Philip and I picked up from the Farmer’s Market a few days ago.

As I was sharing my early morning cooking adventure on Facebook, I had a few folks asking for the recipe…so here it is:

BLUEBERRY BUTTERMILK MUFFINS

1 cup buttermilk
1/2 cup butter or margarine, melted
2 eggs, beaten
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup sugar
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups fresh blueberries or dry-pack frozen blueberries

In small bowl, combine buttermilk, butter and eggs until blended. In large bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Make well in center. Add buttermilk mixture, stirring until flour mixture is just moistened. Fold in blueberries. Spoon batter into greased muffin cups, filling 2/3 full. Bake in preheated 400-degree oven 20 minutes or until tops are golden and wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Remove from pan. Serve warm or cool on wire rack. Makes about 18 muffins.

Mrs. Dial’s Observation – In the end, some muffins were bleeding blueberries, some contained 1 or 2 blueberries and others were JUST the right balance of blueberries to batter. Next time, I’ll make sure to fold blueberries into the batter more thoroughly. These muffins are tasty little treats and totally approved by Mr. Dial. Trying to resist the temptation to grab a third one. Eek! Enjoy!