It has been a mild autumn so far, but we’ve had a few rather cool days. I thought it was a nice time to make a pot of chili. I used organic ground pork from Mom’s Organic Market, one large onion, garlic, a jalapeño, a can of cannellini beans, a jar of crushed tomatoes, and McCormick chipotle chili powder. It was nice and spicy and turned out great. (P.S., I use organic products, including produce, whenever possible. I’m not going to keep saying it’s organic, but you can assume so. I’ll always say something about the meats I use.) 
I made the cornbread from a box of Jiffy — it’s an easy enough cheat. I followed the instructions, added a little sugar (we like it sweet in my part of the country) and I added a single serving can of corn, drained. I don’t bake and I’m not big on breads. Cornbread is great, but I’ve never made it before. It turned out just the way I was hoping! And I enjoyed the added surprise of the occasional bit of corn. My man kept asking if I was sure I made it. I guess it was unbelievably good, Umph!
I also made candied pecans for the arugula salad. I don’t really know how to do this, so I’ve created my own method. In this case, I put butter and brown sugar in a hot pan, let that melt a little and add the nuts. Sometimes it’s nice to use ground red pepper, ground black pepper and cinnamon.
Yum!
No, really, YUM!
The dressing for the arugula salad is lemon juice, honey, Trader Joe’s California Reserve Olive Oil, salt and pepper. Whisk to emulsify.
It might not look like much, but this salad delivers big in the flavor department.
Top the chili with a dollop of sour cream and a shake of chili powder, and voila! This meal provides a big bang for the buck.
Enjoy!
Give Me Some Yum! 