Fabulous Fall Fridays: Zucchini Chili

Well, the weather has definitely been getting chilly (pun intended) in our neck of the woods this past week. We even had snow. In November. Seriously.

So, with that in mind I had to change my kitchen chalkboard (painted with chalkboard paint) to a more appropriate theme (it was fall leaves).



Then, I had to make chili. Which is sort of like a soup, I guess. Helping my transition into the inevitable crossover to soup blog. All soup all the time.

No, I'm just being silly. Speaking of silly, my husband kind of gripes about the fact that I throw icky vegetables in basically everything I cook. So I threw in the zucchini on purpose. To mess with him.

I guess the joke's on me, because this is some dang good chili :)
We both enjoyed it thoroughly and it is a great, quick weeknight meal.

Renee's Zucchini Chili

1 lb lean ground meat (I used 93% lean ground sirloin)
chili seasoning packet
can of mild chili beans
1/4-1/2 onion, diced
1-2 zucchini, diced
1/2 cup spaghetti sauce
1/4-1/2 cup broth (I used 1/4 c beef broth-it depends on how thick you want it)
1 clove garlic
seasoning blend (I used this one)

Put some water (or oil) in the bottom of your soup pan (just enough to coat the bottom of the pan to prevent sticking) and throw in the meat to brown. After it is halfway browned, throw in the garlic and onion and cook until meat is brown. Add your chili seasoning packet, then scootch the meat over to one side. Add the zucchini to the opposite side to cook for a bit. Season with seasoning blend (mine has a bit of a kick, which was welcome here). After about 5 minutes, stir everything together, add the spaghetti sauce and broth and simmer on low for about 20 minutes or until awesome.



In other news, my cookies for the cookie blog swap are going out today! I'm really excited about them.



I made a cutie pie little bottle cap snowman ornament for each recipient, too. Inspired by What I Live For blog.

If you are interested in making one, I hot glued 3 bottle caps together (and a piece of yarn to hang), painted the inside white (they were kind of greyish in the middle) and then Sharpied on the eyes, nose, mouth and buttons.



The cookie has the incredible trifecta of browned butter, toasted coconut and cocoa dusted almonds. They are currently my obsession.

Recipe will be posted right here on this blog on December 12th. Mark your calendars ;)



Have a great weekend, everyone!