So last night was the first time we ate a home-cooked meal since late last week as we’ve been traveling here and there for the Portland Marathon. What I cooked is so good that I just have to share this with you.

This week, I’ve decided to make it my mission to get back to cooking at home and not just any cooking, but cooking that’s healthy, balanced, and does require some preparation. Now that my office is a block away from a grocery store, I really have no excuse to not cook dinner at home at least a few nights a week.

My trusty new issue of Cooking Light this month had a recipe for Poblano-Sausage Chili which sounded absolutely delicious on a cool Seattle night. It’s getting to be that time where I bust out my boots, scarves, and fall clothing. Add to that some delicious warming meals at home. Now if only we had a fireplace…

On a side note, you all are probably cozying up with your Starbucks Pumpkin Spiced Lattes too, right? Pumpkin love. There’s currently a major can of Libby’s pumpkin that needs to be used up and I’m not quite sure what I shall make with it. Any ideas? I’m thinking pumpkin oatmeal, pumpkin scones, pumpkin muffins…

So back to the Poblano-Sausage Chili dish. The recipe itself can be found online here.

I basically followed the foundation of the recipe and made a few modifications including:

• Swapping out the two poblano chilis for 3/4 of a green bell pepper for a milder pepper flavor. I’m a big fan of spicy meals, but Tapatio was calling our name.
• Swapping out the sour cream for Chobani Plain Greek yogurt – this is a typical swap in our household. Try it if you haven’t yet.
• Swapping out the Sweet Italian Turkey Sausage for Mild Italian Pork Sausage as the grocery store didn’t have turkey sausage.
• Omitting the bay leaf as we just didn’t have any.
• Omitting the fresh cilantro (would’ve been amazing but I didn’t feel like having extra in the fridge)
• Adding Tapatio hot sauce at the end… who loves Tapatio as much as I do? I think it’s much better than Cholula.

Now let me tell you – this recipe was spot on! Despite the added preparation of chopping the onion, removing the sausages from the casing, mincing the fresh garlic, etc. that adds time, this meal really further solidified my mission to cook more at home.

Joe couldn’t stop raving about the chili as he ate it. I couldn’t either. If you can make your guy happy with a good (and lightened!) chili recipe, that’s a recipe keeper in my book.

I highly recommend this chili on a chilly evening. Bundle up with the bowl of chili and eat up. 🙂 It’s even just as good the next day. Trust me, we both had it for lunch leftovers today and it was delish.