Tastes like Wendy's Chili

Chili was not my main focus tonight, but I am so glad I made it. I was trying for a real diner style meal, with a cup of chili, a salad and some home fries. Those fries just didn't work out too well. I tried the radish home fries off Linda's site, but they never worked out for me. The texture was all wrong, and I pretty much burned them trying to get them crispy. What a waste of my precious bacon salt! Maybe something was wrong with my radishes, because mine never turned the rosy color as in Linda's. If you want to give it a go, the recipe is here.

My second thought chili was really good though, especially if you have a fondness for Wendy's chili. This is mild, and the pressure cooker makes the beef tender just like theirs. I wish I could give the exact recipe, but I wasn't expecting to be posting about this, so I just eye-balled it. Not to mention I ran out of chili powder. The following is my approximation of my recipe. Be looking for more chili recipes as I get ready for our upcoming Chili Cook-off in my support group. My other pressure cooker chili recipe is here.

Tastes Like Wendy's Chili

2 pounds ground beef
1 onion
1 green bell pepper
1 rib celery
14.5 ounce can diced tomatoes
8 ounce tomato sauce
1 cup water
3 Tablespoons chili powder
1 Tablespoon cumin
1 teaspoon chipotle chili powder
1 Tablespoon cocoa powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 can black soy beans
shredded cheddar and sour cream for topping

Brown and drain ground beef. Place it in the pressure cooker. Dice onion, celery and bell pepper in a food processor. Add all ingredients to the cooker and mix together. Bring up to pressure and cook for 20 minutes. Top with cheese and sour cream.

I guess I shouldn't be surprised my radish fries were a failure. I am having a rough day today. The toilet has been broken. The plumber came to fix it. With a part that cost $27.50, the bill for 15 minutes of work totaled $127.50. Yikes. We even had the replacement part, but the plumber wouldn't use ours. I figured it out. The plumber was making $400 dollars per hour. The ad claimed no fee for a service call, but gee whiz--$100 for labor? Sure wish I could work for that! Add to that, my oldest called home to let us know the master brake cylinder went out in his truck. More good news. I will thank the Lord that although his brakes failed, no one was hurt, he did not have a wreck, and he did not damage anyone's property. I will be thankful in all things. Add to that, the chili was tasty. Tomorrow is another day.