The past week was a whirlwind of birthdays, starting with my fathers on the nineteenth, my boyfriends on the twenty-first and then my baby sisters husbands on the twenty-third, yeah a lot of testosterone going on here. My sister and I still wonder how we ended up with men who have birthdays that fall during the same week as our father, we think it’s a bad joke played on us by fate :).
This year we are having a little surprise dinner for dad and the guys, nothing too fancy just a way to say happy birthday and we love you. We decided to have a chili contest between my sisters and I and let the guys pick their favorite, even though the only vote that matters is dad’s so of course we are going to do what sisters do and outdo the other to win points with the old man 🙂
I decide to try a new recipe using black beans and stew beef, even though now that I’m thinking of it I should have used the pork roast (but we’ll save that for another day), my baby sister with her madcap self is opting for canned chili (REALLY!), only because her excuse is that she doesn’t have time to make homemade. Our middle sister we have no idea what kind she’s making we just hope she puts some salt in it or at least something to season it with (the girl’s food is bland). The sad and funny part will be if dad chooses the canned over any of the homemade chili’s and just plain wrong if he goes for the unseasoned chili (so we shall see Saturday night).
Along with the chili I figured I would make some sort of bread and as I thought about what to make biscuits or rolls or something I remembered I had a box of beer bread mix left over from my Tastefully Simple days and decided to fix that up.
Funny story I was supposed to add some of the Dried Tomato & Garlic Pesto to the bread mix to sort of knock it up a little but I mistakenly grabbed the Garlic Pepper seasoning and threw in two tablespoons, oh boy, thank goodness the chili is not too spicy so it will counteract the spiciness of the bread (at least I hope).
Black Bean Chili
Here’s the recipe I adapted this from
- 2 pounds boneless beef cubes for stew
- 3 teaspoons chili powder
- 2 teaspoons ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 2 cloves fresh minced garlic
- 1 medium onion (chopped)
- 3 cans Black beans
- 1 can Fire-roasted tomatoes
- 2 cans Tomato sauce
- 2 tablespoons Espresso vinegar (optional)
- 2 tablespoons Dark beer (optional)
- Mix Espresso vinegar, dark beer and 1 teaspoon of the chili powder and marinate for 30 minutes
- Sear in a hot skillet with a little oil to get a nice color to it
- Put stew beef in crock-pot, sprinkle with the chili powder, cumin and paprika
- Add the onion and minced garlic with the canned tomatoes, tomato sauce
- Drain the cans of beans and add to the crock-pot
- Cover and cook on low for 5-8 hours
- Season with salt and fresh black pepper
**serve with shredded cheese and sour cream
PS: My chili won of course 🙂
As you can tell from the photo above the guys were pretty happy, even though the candles I bought for their cakes were the relighting kind so it was funny to watch them try to blow them out, that was fun 🙂
Now your job is to tell me which of these handsome men is my nut? 🙂
Cheese & Pepper Beer Bread
I had a bag of Tastefully Simple beer bread mix left over that I used, but there are some other great mixes out there that will just as great.
- 1 package Beer Bread
- 12 oz beer (I used a lite beer)
- 1 cup Swiss cheese (grated)
- 2 tablespoons Garlic & Pepper Seasoning
- 3 tablespoons Melted butter
-
Combine everything and mix together
- Pour into prepared loaf pan
- Drizzle melted butter over top
- Bake at 350-degree oven for 50-55 minutes
- Cool completely before serving
Life Food and Me 
Nice birthday feast! We have a birthday month like you in December… My husband, myself, two of my kids, and my other son’s birthday is in November. Between the birthdays and the holidays it’s a crazy time of year! … I’m thinking the one on the right is your guy 🙂
Wow, that is a crazy time of the year for you, how do you keep it together 🙂 As for my guy he’s the dorky looking one 🙂
Lol, I don’t keep it together! Several things always end up falling through the cracks. If I try extra, extra hard to stay on top of business, holidays, and birthdays, I sometimes end up so run down that in January I come down with the flu. Better to let things slip a bit!
… nothing wrong with dorky… I’m known to be a bit dorky myself 🙂
Gosh I may substitute the Turkey for chili today. Making my mouth water just reading this. I’m going to try these recipes this weekend for football. I may throw in the garlic pepper to see what you guys experienced. Thanks! Happy Thanksgiving!!
🙂 let me know how it turns out and the garlic pepper wasn’t as overpowering as I thought it would be, it just added an extra kick. Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours also!