Home Made Chile Powder

This sounds a little daunting, but is extremely simple. If you play around with what chiles you like, you can also customize it. I just kind of made it up, but I took 2 dried guajillo chiles, 2 dried chipotle mora chiles, and two chiles de arbol. (When I see dried chiles I just buy a bunch and keep them in the cabinet for impromptu recipes like this or chile-infused olive oil for black bean dip etc.) Head up a cast iron skillet to medium high. Split the chiles and take out all the seeds and veins. Two at a time, toast the chiles in the hot skillet, pressing down on them with tongs, until they start to blister a little (1-2 minutes). Put all of the toasted peppers in a food processor and blend until you have a powder. A couple bigger pieces are okay. Then use for chile, marinades, salsas... whatever you want!

Chicken Chili

I love chili. Nothing better on a rainy, awful night like last night than a big bowl of spicy chili to warm you up. So I had my friends Alice and Elaine over for a chili night. I made chicken chili to be healthy, and it's so tasty and satisfying and I only used 2 tablespoons of oil in the whole thing. All of the different beans make it colorful and have great flavor and texture and the chipotle powder gives it a little bit of smokiness. Next time I may double the recipe so there are more leftovers! (This recipe serves 6)

Ingredients:
1 package ground chicken (turkey is fine too)
1 28 can whole tomatoes, chopped or torn up w your hands, juices reserved
1 can red beans
1 can white beans
1 can black beans
2 tbsp canola oil
1 1/2 yellow onions, diced