It’s nearing the end of September in good ole Central Florida and its as if Summer never left. Temps are still hovering around 90 degrees, hot and humid air is all around and afternoon showers are still to be expected.
However.. Seasonal pumpkin flavors are popping up on my favorite grocery store shelves. Football is taking over the weekends. And TV is fresh again with brand new shows. Fall is starting to sneak in and I can’t help but get in that spirit.
I always forget how much I love Fall until all the great things about it start popping back into my life. Hearty soups and chili being high on that list.
For the past week, I’ve had the biggest craving for Chili. This morning I decided to say screw the hot weather and go ahead and make my first pot of chili for the season. Thanks to your comments and tweets I had plenty of delicious recipes to choose from.
In the end I went with a Pumpkin Chili recipe that was recommended by Caroline.
I slightly altered the recipe to my satisfaction.
My first big change was instead of using pumpkin, I incorporated fresh baked Acorn Squash.
So I guess I can call it Acorn Squash Chili instead?
Other changes included:
- Addition of Cumin, Pumpkin Spice, Red Pepper Flakes and Garlic Salt to the seasonings
- Beer instead of Water
- Pre-cooked brown rice instead of Bulgar
Besides those changes I pretty much followed the simple recipe.
I topped my serving with some Plain Oikos and Crumbled Feta Cheese – the only cheese I had.
It’s a sin to have chili with out corn bread!
I went with simple for this one and used the recipe off the back of this bag of ground cornmeal.
Fresh baked homemade corn bread. There is nothing better.
I definitely had more corn bread then what you see on the tiny plate. 
I now have plenty of chili left overs to satisfy my cravings for a while.
This afternoon I had a serving of Pecan Love Bites between meetings.
For once in my life I have no desire for any dessert tonight. Who am I?
Instead I’m going to enjoy my ice tea and get some sleep.
Sweet Dreams Everyone!
{ 28 comments… read them below or add one }
You and I were so on the same wavelength tonight
I made pumpkin & veggie soup! Your chili looks fantastic! Get some rest…I’m thinking of heading to bed too!
Acorn squash chili sounds AMAZING! Thanks for the recipe!
very creative use of the acorn squash! why is it so shiny? did you rub it with something???
Nope. Not sure why its shiny
Yum! We’re having chili tomorrow. I Twittered the recipe to you, but it’s SO good! Lentils, ground turkey (if you want), water, apple juice and salsa…mmm.
It’s a little colder here, though (high 60s)!
Pecan love bites?!? YES PLEASE!!!
Courtney
Adventures in Tri-ing
Pumpkin chili? Hello Fall!
Good looking chili. I might try that with sweet potato!
the weather is still warm here too, but all the seasonal veggies are in full bloom. I bought my first can of pumpkin
. I love CORNBREAD!
That’s probably because you had a rockin’ dinner! Sometimes dessert just can’t beat it
Hope you have a good night!
Your pumpkin/squash chili sounds heavenly! I have been craving chili this past week too but it has been too hot. It was the perfect temperature tonight for what? Yup, I hate CHILI too!!
Except, I didn’t have the delicious cornbread
It wasn’t the same without that as the side.
Last time I ate acorn squash I had no craving for dessert either, weird? Maybe it was because mine was covered in maple syrup and brown sugar though haha :/
Mmm I love pumpkin and chili, so I will have to try them together!
looks like ya got some nice leftovers of chili!
jenna
MMM glad you got your chili! i’ve been craving this forever, so i can’t wait to whip up some!
http://saladdiva.wordpress.com
That acorn squash chili looks amazing!
It’s cold here in Iowa so that would be perfect right now!
The chilli looks delicious! It’s still cool here (Adelaide, Australia) so that’s perfect for our current weather.
Chili and cornbread…yay for hot foods again!
Yum…that chili looks amazing! I’m going to have to make it this week!
I haven’t heard of pumpkin or butternut squash chilli. What a great idea. I swear these butternut squash recipes are sprouting up everwhere and I love it!!
K – I’m glad that you decided not to go with my chili recipe, because now I got to see this interesting recipe! Thanks girl!
Yay! I’m glad you liked the recipe! I must bake up some cornbread next time I make it:)
Chili looks great, i can’t wait to dive into some when it gets a little colder here.
That looks like such a delicious dinner – warm and comforting, yum!
That chili looks so good. Great fall meal!!
That chili looks AWESOME! Such a great idea with the squash. I just had my first butternut this weekend
I’m Tina and I’ve been reading your blog for about a year and a half. I just started my own blog-about trying to stay healthy as a freshman in college! I can’t wait to get involved in this amazing blogging community
thenaturalterp.wordpress.com
YUM! What a fabulous chili!
Great choice for the cornmeal, it is also gluten free! I absolutely love Lamb’s products. You should try their pancake mix sometime. you would never knows it GF! Love the blog and can totally relate to it!