PoorMan Pantry – Homemade Chili

Poor Man Chili w/ Cheese

🎂 Rummaging The Cupboards

I didn’t grow up in a rich family. We got by and we were certainly better off than some. We were the definition of middle class. There were times when I was a kid that we didn’t have money for the grocery store so my Mom and Dad rummaged the cupboards and we had whatever was in the pantry.

A lot of families are really hurting in these tough financial times, I decided to share our PoorMan Pantry recipes from my childhood. I hope it helps those who need it most.

This weekend the man-child asked if we could have chili for dinner. We picked up a can of Hormel Chili and a bag of Tostito’s Scoops Tortilla Chips and waited for the weekend. A Saturday dinner would be perfect for this and we waited for the weekend to arrive.

Yeah, if anyone finds a stray can of Chili, let me know where it is. How we lost an entire can of chili I have no idea. But when $1.98 is a lot of money to your family, it’s worrisome and upsetting at the same time. And then there’s the desire to give the child what he asked for so he doesn’t feel neglected or deprived. Which means using supplies in the kitchen that could be used for something else that gets you through the week. It was frustrating!

But this event helped create a new Poor Man Recipe. Homemade Chili.

Ingredients:
You can use hamburger or chicken; actually you can use whatever you think will tasty to yo and your family. Ham, fish whatever. We had a little less than 1 lbs of hamburger so that’s what I used. Then open your pantry and see what you have, or what you forgot you had and give it a go.

Here’s the ingredients you would normally use to make chili, along side what we had in the pantry to scrape something together.

Typical Ingredients For Chili

PoorMan Ingredients For Chili

Chili Powder: – You can use a package of McCormick Chili Powder – Or make it from scratch: ½ teaspoon paprika/li> 1 teaspoons ground cumin ½ teaspoon cayenne pepper ½ teaspoon oregano 1 teaspoons garlic powder Chili Ingredients: 1 lbs Ground Beef 1 Onion, chopped 1 14.5 oz can of Stewed Tomatoes 1 15oz can Tomato Sauce 1 c Water 1 tblspn Chili Powder (from above) 1 tblspn sugar or honey Salt and Pepper to taste

PoorMan Chili Powder: We had to make it from scratch: If you like it hot, double the Cayenne Pepper and don’t leave out the Cumin. ½  teaspoon paprika ½  teaspoon cayenne pepper ½  teaspoon oregano ½ teaspoons garlic powder Chili Ingredients: This is where you may need to get innovative. There were no stewed tomatoes or tomato sauce in our pantry. 1 lbs – Ground beef Use what you choose; we had a little less than 1 lbs. ¼ c Chopped Onion No onion, but we did have a jar of chopped onions in the cabinet. 1 c Ketchup Yep..no Stewed tomatoes or tomato sauce. 1 c Water Chili Powder (from above) 1 tblspn sugar or honey Salt and Pepper to taste

Directions:

PoorMan Chili Stuffed Scoops

Regardless of which ingredients you use, cooking is the same.

• In a medium skillet, add the onion and beef. Brown these over medium heat.
  If the beef was lean meat add 1tspn of butter, if it wasn’t lean drain all the grease but 1 tablespoon.
  
• When the beef has been browned, add the remaining ingredients and stir thoroughly.
• Cook for 10minutes (still over medium heat), stirring occasionally.
  The chili should boil or at least bubble for 5 minutes.
• Remove from stove and serve hot.

We decided to spoon out our chili in bowls. The child wanted to spoon out two big scoops of chili, then place his cheese on top and top that with two more big scoops. I was happy with two scoops and cheese on top. And then..the scoops to eat it.

It was surprising good. It’s not going to win any Chili competitions; but for a poorman dinner, it was good enough for the child to ask me to write it down and post it. All the accolades I need.

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