Sunday, April 19, 2009

No more eating out: how we eat lots of chilli

Mr T and I booked and paid for our flights overseas for our trip at the end of the year. We have one little problem though we don't really have spending money so in an attempt to save as much money as we can, we are going to stop eating out, maybe not stop for the whole 6 months but cut down drastically from our usual 3+ times a week.

We lasted this whole weekend without eating out which is normally where we do the most amount of eating out. So far it has been good, we have been making more creative and tasty dishes and I've been pleasantly surprised.

Inspired by the Mexican potluck we made a big batch of chilli on friday night which made 7 serves! We would normally eat the leftovers the next day but for the bonus serves we would put them in the freezer for another time, but we enjoyed it so much that we had it for 3 meals in a row and also fed a friend.

Anyway on to the recipe, well a loose recipe:

Smoky bean chilli
3 cans chickpeas
3 cans kidney beans
2 cans butterbeans
2 cans tomatoes
1 can corn
1 cup water
1 bunch coriander
1 capscium
1 onion
2 cloves of garlic
liquid smoke to taste
cumin powder to taste
chilli powder to taste

Fry onion, garlic and capscium in vegetable oil until onion is transulecent.

Add beans, corn, tomatoes and water. Bring to boil and then simmer for 20 minutes. Add a little more water if needed. Add cumin, and chilli powder to taste. Simmer, stirring occasionaly for 20 minutes. Add liquid smoke and coriander just before serving.

Serves 7-8.

Served with corn chips and cheddar cheezly.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

this is really similar to the amazing chili tim makes when we feel like being skint. yay for liquid smoke!

shawna said...

mmmm. i think i might be making this (or something very similar depending on what cans we have on the shelf) tonite.
nice, easy but very filling meal.

Cindy said...

Yep, liquid smoke is an excellent investment!

Weekends are a great time to try demanding recipes. I often find that the grocery shopping is more expensive, but as you've noted it often pays for itself with leftovers. It can also be much more rewarding than going out for dinner and a movie when you cook together with a partner or friends!

Niki said...

I haven't managed to find liquid smoke in Melbourne - where do you get it?