Hoedown - food pics and recipe!

Our school has an annual HOEDOWN!, and it's sooooooo fun!  

Square-dancing with a caller and band, lots of friends, and a big crazy chili & pie potluck feast!

--If you just want the Chili recipe, scroll down to the bottom--

If you avoid sugar, gluten and dairy to keep your child feeling great, you know that being social with food is a bit of a "thing."

Well, for this party I went for it and brought the whole dang meal.  

It didn't take long.  I made the chili during breakfast before school, and took about 2 1/2 hours before the party to make everything else.  (Except cornbread - for that I texted my husband a longshot, asking him to play it down and distract our little boy, which actually worked, hooray!!)

These days, my confidence is rock solid in how I feed my family at events.  It wasn't always that way, but everyone has a better time when I just do what I need to do so my family eats and has fun (without the aftermath of physical and mental health reactions!).  I even label and hide the desserts until my little boy's had his share!  The other gluten-free and/or dairy-free folks know they can depend on me, and they're grateful.  It really feels good.  

Here's a little photo essay of the process, and below I shared the chili recipe because it was so darn good - the pot was scraped clean so fast, we barely got any ourselves! Ha - that's a good thing, right?

It was the best hoedown yet, and I had the best dance partner ever!

What are your greatest accomplishments these days?  What are you most proud of?  I want to know, so I can cheer you on!  Hit reply and tell me :)

Love,

Elissa

Chili for a Hoedown

Ingredients

1 1/2 lb ground beef

1 1/2 lb ground pork

4 onions (any; we used one each of sweet, yellow, red, white)

5 peppers (any; we used 3 green 2 red)

6 tomatoes

1 carrot

1 small chili pepper, seeded (optional)

1 heaping Tablespoon oregano

1 heaping Tablespoon cumin

1 heaping Tablespoon chili powder

Toppings

3 bunches chopped cilantro

1 tub non-dairy sour cream

1 bowl shredded non-dairy cheese

Directions

1.  Turn the crock pot on high, and drop the meat in the bottom.  Leave the lid off while you prepare the vegetables.

2.  Chop the veggies into a size you like to eat, mince the chili pepper, and add to the crock pot.  

3.  Add the oregano, cumin and chili powder to the crock pot, toss just enough to incorporate, put the lid on, and reset to low temperature for 8 hours.

4.  Stir once before serving (you may need to break up the meat), and dish up with any or all toppings - enjoy!