Chili and Cornbread

Chili and Cornbread are very easy to convert to your needs. You will have to cook from scratch. Ready made items that don't have something I, or another member of the family is allergic to, takes a bit of work. With the pervasiveness in which manufactures use common allergens like, corn, dairy, and gluten, vigilance in reading labels and cooking from scratch are two important survival techniques. Using the ready made or the preseasoned tomatoes and beans will mostly likely not be possible. Remember to read all labels. My chili recipe is Gluten-free, Corn-free, dairy-free, and a serving or two, for one member of my family, bean-free. This meal was a big hit with my family.

Chili
Start with browning the beef, onions and following spices:
1 ½ lbs ground beef
½ medium onion diced
1Tbs chili powder
½ tsp garlic powder

Drain the fat off the beef, then add:
2, 28oz cans diced tomatoes
1 Tbs Chili powder
2 Tbs green chilies
¼ tsp Cheyenne pepper (feel free to adjust this for taste)
a dash garlic powder

One person I am serving has a bean allergy, so at this point I remove a couple of servings. I simmer this for about 10 - 15 minutes before serving.

To the main pot I add:
2, 15 oz cans of kidney beans – or 1 cup of dried kidney beans soaked the night before, and cooked earlier in the day.
Then I add enough tomato juice to adjust the consistency of the chili

I set this all to simmer while I make the cornbread. While there are 3 members of my family that can not have corn the 3 men can. So, I am using up what is left of my cornmeal and corn flour on this recipe.

Corn bread
¾ cup corn flour
½ cup tapioca Flour
¼ cup course ground whole corn meal
¾ cup medium grind whole corn meal
1 tsp Xanthan gum
¼ cup of sugar
2 tsp baking power
½ tsp salt
1 cup milk - take your pick of milk type (cow, goat, soy, rice, hemp,...)
¼ cup vegetable oil – if making for those without dairy allergy this recipe is very good with butter as the fat
1 egg, slightly beaten

Heat oven to 400° f. Grease 8 or 9-inch pan. Combine dry ingredients. Stir in milk, oil, and egg, mixing just until dry ingredients are moistened. Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake 30 to 35 minutes or until golden brown and wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean.

For those who could have the corn bread I serve gluten free bread.