The perfect autumn meal – Pumpkin Chili and Cornbread Waffles
People often ask me what's my favorite holiday. The answer is simple – whichever one is next! I love them all. We're big on tradition in our home and every Halloween we like a big pot of soup simmering all day. I'll be making pumpkin chili for our party tomorrow. The recipe always gets raves and I thought you all might like it too.
It's perfect for Halloween because it's family-friendly comfort food with lots of protein and just look at all these veggies; tomato, peppers, onion, beans, chilies and pumpkin. This is practically virtuous! Put it in your crockpot in the morning and you're set for supper in the afternoon.
It's very thick, more like a stew, really. To give it a little va-va-voom I serve it over cornbread waffles. Ridiculously good? I know!
SLOW COOKER PUMPKIN CHILI
Yield: 8 servings Prep time: 20 minutes Cook time: 4-to-8 hours
The preparation for this delicious chili comes together really quickly. Other than browning the sausage and onion, most of your time will be spent opening cans.
What You'll Need:
1 lb. sweet Italian sausage
1 large sweet onion
1 (6 oz.) can tomato paste
1 (14 oz.) bag frozen red, yellow and green bell peppers blend - thawed
1 (14.5 oz.) can of tomato sauce
1 (14.5 oz.) can ounces of diced tomatoes
3 cups cooked beans OR 2 (14 oz.) cans of beans – your choice of kidney, garbanzos or black beans
1 (4 oz.) can of green chilies
2 tablespoons chili powder or more to taste
1 tablespoon cumin
1 (15 oz. can) pure pumpkin puree – not pumpkin pie mix
Cornbread waffles – recipe below
Sour cream and cheddar cheese - optional garnish.
Here's How:
In a medium skillet, brown the sausage with the chopped onions until meat is nearly cooked through and onions are translucent. Add the tomato paste, mix it all together and continue to sauté until the tomato paste is lightly browned and caramelized in spots. Do not burn! Place the meat, onions and tomato in the slow cooker. Then add the remaining ingredients to the slow cooker and give it a good stir. Set it on HIGH for 4-5 hours or LOW for 8 hours. Serve over cornbread waffles garnished with sour cream and shredded cheese.
Cornbread Waffles
There is a time and place for baking from scratch. Tonight isn't one of them.
What You'll Need:
1 package Jiffy corn muffin mix
1 egg
3/4 cup milk
2 tablespoons butter, melted
Here's How:
Pre-heat your waffle iron. Blend all ingredients together, batter will be lumpy, that's okay. Place about 1/3 cup waffle batter in each well of the iron. They're done when you no longer see steam coming from the iron. Too easy, but take the credit anyway.
If you wanted to serve the chili as soup rather than stew, just add a can of beef or chicken broth and make corn muffins instead. Easy peasy. Happy Halloween!
Frugal Festivity contributed by Patti Diamond from Divas On A Dime – Where Frugal, Meets Fabulous! www.divasonadime.com Join us on Facebook at DivasOnADimeDotCom.
