One of the most frustrating things we have to deal with during any diet is the feeling that you’re being deprived from eating good food. Depending on the type of diet you’re on, what we would typically consider really good tasting foods are now forbidden to us, while we watch family and friends happily enjoying them all around us.

When I started my current wellness plan, the limitations on sugar, carbohydrates and sodium prescribed by Dr. Sam felt like torment! So many foods were instantly removed from my list, and my list of potential ingredients seemed to dwindle every time I visited the grocery store.  What I really wanted was to make something that was great tasting and felt like it was off my diet, but it actually wasn’t.

I wanted a low carb easy recipe, so I started experimenting with what possible ingredients I could still use to make a really good pot of chili. Personally, I can eat chili year round, and it’s one of those meals that will have plenty of leftovers – a great thing if you’re trying to stretch your grocery dollars!

My final recipe draws elements of mole style cooking, combined with Texas style no-bean chili. Going bean-less really lowers the carbs!

Mike’s Mole Chili Con Carne

• 2.5 pounds of lean ground sirloin (optionally, you can use a 50/50 combination of ground round and lean ground turkey)
• 1 large green pepper – diced
• 1 large yellow onion – diced
• 4-6 oz. of fresh chili peppers – diced (I usually use a combination of 3 serranos, 2 jalapeños and one habenero – I like spicy!) Note: When dicing the chili peppers, latex gloves are recommended to avoid burnt fingertips.
• 1 tablespoon of olive oil
• 1 large can of low sodium crushed tomatoes (28 oz.)
• 1 large can of low sodium stewed diced tomatoes (28 oz.)
• 2 cups of water

Spices:

• 2 tablespoons of cocoa powder (unsweetened)
• 1 teaspoon of ground cinnamon
• 4 tablespoons of chili powder
• 3 tablespoons of ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon of garlic powder
• 1 teaspoon of black pepper
• 1 teaspoon of thyme (dried)
• 1 teaspoon of oregano (dried)
• 1/2 teaspoon of cayenne pepper
• 1 teaspoon of paprika
• 1 teaspoon of salt
• 1 tablespoon sugar substitute

Preparation:

• Brown the ground beef in a stew pot in the olive oil, breaking the meat up into fine pieces.

• Add the diced onion and green pepper, cooking it in the meat until the onion starts to turn a little translucent.

• Add the chili peppers and all the spices, mixing them into the meat/veggie mixture until everything is well coated with spices.

• Stir in the canned tomatoes and crushed tomato, and then add the water, stirring everything together well and continuously until the pot comes to a light simmer.

• Reduce heat to medium/low, and let it cook uncovered. Simmer the chili for 4-6 hours, stirring once every 30 minutes while the chili reduces.

• Serve with shredded cheddar cheese on top.

Yields approximately eight 10-12 oz. servings.

Estimated Nutritional Statistics

Calories: 411 | Carbs: 29 | Fat: 18 | Protein: 34 | Sodium: 610 | Sugar: 14

I’ll be sharing more from my low carb easy recipe files in the near future!

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