Chili in a Pepper Bowl

I think everyone alive must have their own chili recipe. Chili tastes great and is easy to make. Back in the day I used to love to make chili and put it in a sourdough bread bowl. I would scarf down a mountain of chili and eat an entire loaf of bread with it because it had soaked up the sauce and well, who can resist that? I may as well have taken the bread bowl and pasted it to my thighs. What in the world was I thinking? You're exactly right... I wasn't thinking at all.

Now life has changed and I workout way too hard to eat a bread bowl... or any bread for that matter. I am healthier for it. My blood glucose levels have come down from an all time high of 220 to 74. In case I forgot to mention it before, I was considered prediabetic. I say "was" because for a long time now I have had no signs of the disease. It is completely controlled by my diet and exercise program alone. I don't suffer angry mood swings any more when my bloodsugar drops. Hubby must be delighted since he was the one on the receiving end of those "feed me now, or die" tirades.

So I have replaced my bread bowl with a beautiful and colorful bell pepper. Tonight I chose yellow. It's a fun and new way to serve chili. I hope you enjoy it.

What you'll need:

1 pound grass fed beef or turkey if you prefer

1 onion, chopped

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 big (28oz) can crushed tomatoes

2tsp ground cumin

1T chili powder (or more to your liking)

2 bell peppers (pick the color you like)

What you do:

Get a pot of water on to boil. Take your pepper and slice it in half the long way. Remove the guts. When the water is boiling put the pepper in and boil it for about 6 minutes. Take it out and set it aside. Saute the onion and ground beef together until it's browned and the onion is soft. Add in the garlic and saute a minute more. Poor in the crushed tomatoes and the spices and simmer. Now, walk away. Let the stove do the work while you sneak off to the bathroom and apply a clay masque to your face. You know you need it. You've been putting it off way too long. While the masque is on lock the bathroom door and dim the light. Take deep breaths and let a few moments slip away. Ignore the unintelligible banter coming from outside the bathroom door: "Mom... mom?... DAD WHERE'S MOM!!!!" Instruct your husband to say, "Mom who?" while you chant "I will get my fran time down... I will get my fran time down" in the final few minutes of pure solace that you have.

Back in the kitchen, scoop the chili into the pepper and put it in a baking dish. Bake at 350 for about 15 minutes. That is it! Can't get much simpler that that.

Enjoy!