Chili & Mini Corn Muffins with Jalapeño Peppers

   

Chili & Mini Corn Muffins with Jalapeño Peppers

 I was outside enjoying the fine warm weather that we don’t usually see in December and sweeping my porch when my next door neighbor came over to visit with me and bring me three bags of canned and boxed goods that included cans of vegetables soup kidney beans rice and corn muffin mix etc.
The reason she said she was sharing these things with me was that she had gotten way too much and thought I might be able to use them.
 I knew differently. It was because I had just given her an outdoor heating pad for her stray cats to stay warm this winter and not freeze to death. I knew she could not afford to buy one and that I could if I used the money I had in PayPal from sales I made on Ebay.  So no question about it I got it for her to use for the cats.
My philosophy is that they are God’s creatures and deserve a fair chance to survive until we find homes for them or take them to the shelter for adoption. 
 To paraphrase the poet Gibran I don't do it for recondition a feeling of satisfaction or thanks I do it because its the right thing to do.
 I do it for them not her but I will not press the point.

 it really doesn't matter if she understands why I do things because the bottom line is that she is sweet lady that likes to find ways to pay people back when she can and I did appreciate her gesture.   
She helped me bring the things inside and we visited  for a while and when she left I set about the task to find a place in my pantry for everything.  While I was doing this I had a great idea about what to make for dinner since it was going to turn colder and snow later that day. I asked myself what goes better on a day like that than Chili and corn muffins? If I was going to make this for dinner and have it ready by dinner time I better get started making it right away.
The first thing I did was to put  a half pound of ground beef in the frying pan with onions and spices while the ground beef browned.
 When the ground beef was ready I put it in a slow cooker with kidney beans a tomato that I had been storing in the freezer since the end of spring and additional spices and chili mix.  
I set the slow cooker to high and then turned to make the corn muffin mix. It was one of those smaller dollar store mixes. I followed the instructions and added a cap full of vanilla to add additional flavor and make it taste more like home made. Then I stopped and though to myself what else can I do to kick these muffins up a notch? Then the idea hit me of course add some Jalapeno peppers!

 I was lucky I had everything I needed to make this dinner on hand but if you have to go to the store to buy the ingredients  you would spend about four dollars and fifty cents for everything  because everything you will need is at the dollar store except for the ground beef. That you can get at the grocery store in the butcher department and you will need only to buy a half a pound of the ground beef for the chili. 

The peppers will come in a jar and you will be able to use the peppers for several other meals and they will last a long time. The rest of the ingredients you will use for dinner and it's not a bad idea to buy  some additional items to put in your pantry to make chili again in the future if you can afford it. If not you know where to get what you need the next time.
  When dinner was ready I had a nice big bowl of chili for dinner accompanied with two big tasty corn muffins with Jalapeno peppers. I really enjoyed this dinner and had enough left over to store in the freeze for at least two more meals along with a couple of corn muffins for the next time I wanted to have a chili dinner.

This all happened on the first day of winter  also known as the Winter Solstice. If nothing else it gave me a reason to celebrate. But then again I have never needed a reason to celebrate or turn an ordinary day into a party! 
The bottom line is that this is a wonderful  inexpensive and satisfying meal that will keep you on budget!