Smokey Steak Chili

First of all, anyone who has done the Open workout 14.4 deserves a cookie... a paleo one of course :) I don't know if I have ever felt so sick during a workout. Brutal. I am thinking the motion of the row combined with the toes to bar followed by wall balls was just bad for my vertigo. Anyway, because I am sadistic and always know I can do better I am going for it again tomorrow. I finally can do muscle ups and am determined to do one in the open.

Secondly, I have to admit that the weekends I don't have Charlie and incredibly hard. I know people go a night or two without their children and it is a nice break, but going from Friday morning to Monday after work is brutal. I have yet to drive to the box from work on a Friday and not cry. Having a night off is nice, I like sleeping in, not having to worry about anyone but myself, but a whole weekend is not fun and I honestly would forgo the extra few hours of sleep to have her back home.

As I was thinking about what I wanted to make this weekend the sadness from this weekend mentioned above made me want something comforting. Chili is a little time consuming because of the time it takes to cook, but the longer it cooks the more flavor it has and it is fairly easy to put together. The combination of ground beef and steak in this is fantastic! To save myself dishes I put the browned steak in the container I am going to store the chili in while cooking the other beef and the use of stew beef is definitely a time saver. I recommend serving this over a baked sweet potato with some avocado...yum!

Smokey Steak Chili

(Printable Version)

- 1-1.5 lbs Stew Beef (or skirt steak, chuck roast)

- 1 lb Ground Beef

- 1 small onion, diced

- 2 cloves of garlic, minced

- 2 Tblsp Chili powder

- 1 tsp. Liquid smoke
- 1 Chipotle in Adobe, minced

- 3/4 cup Low-sodium beef broth

- 1 tsp. Cayenne pepper 

- 1 can of Tomato Paste

- 1 28-ounce Fire-roasted Crushed Tomatoes 

Directions: 

1. Add a few tablespoons of oil to a dutch oven or large pot over medium-high heat. Cut the stew beef into bite-sized pieces and add it to the pot. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Brown the beef (~5min) and remove it from the pot. While the beef is browning cut the onion and the garlic.

2. Turn the heat to medium. Add the onion, garlic and ground beef to the pot. 

3. When the beef is browned add the remaining ingredients including the stew beef. Simmer over low heat for at least 3 hours stirring occasionally.