The Adventures of Lactating Girl

I have been looking for a good recipe for Navajo tacos since I was pregnant, so when I found one in The Food Nanny cookbook that looked like it could be it, I had to try it out. It. Was. It. OMFG they were so delicious. I ate leftovers for lunch today and was actually happy about it. Surprisingly, Peanut was too.

I love chili—particularly the canned variety. In giving up all of my processed food, that’s one I just haven’t been able to beat. The problem with canned chili (and processed food in general) is that it’s incredibly unhealthy. I’ve actually resorted to midnight chili snacks so that Peanut is asleep. Since she started eating food, she must eat everything I’m eating. She screams bloody murder otherwise. While it’s frequently inconvenient, it’s forced me to live up to my standards for her with myself.

This chili (that goes on the Navajo tacos) tastes really, really close to the same as the canned chili and I know it’s good for us! I used organic beans, hormone-free meat, etc. so I am confident that it is something I’m okay with giving to my Peanut.

Of course, I was worried about it being messy. Oh boy was it messy. If you’re planning on serving chili to your kiddos, don’t put them in their Sunday best—which I would think you would assume anyway.

I was surprised that she was picking up the individual beans and putting them in her mouth. She ate every little piece I gave her! If she were younger and not so pincer-enabled, I probably would have spoon fed individual chunks to her.

She really liked the scones too. We just used Rhodes rolls flattened and fried as the scones. Yet again, this is something that I would have been iffy about giving her in a restaurant for fear of whatever they fry their scones in, but since I did it at home (therefore, I know I used healthy frying oils) I feel great giving it to her!

Here’s the recipe for the chili:

1 (14.5-ounce) can diced [organic] tomatoes, undrained

1 lb [hormone-free, vegetarian-fed] ground beef

1 lb [hormone-free, vegetarian-fed] maple-flavored bulk sausage

1/4 medium [organic] onion

1/4 cup red wine vinegar

1 (46-ounce) can [organic] tomato juice

1 (15-ounce) can [organic] black beans, undrained

1 (15-ounce) can [organic] pinto beans, undrained

1 (16-ounce) can [organic] kidney beans, undrained

3 tablespoons [organic] chili powder

1/4 cup packed [organic dark] brown sugar

1/4 teaspoon cayenne (optional-we didn’t use)

2 teaspoons salt (I didn’t omit this like I normally do because it’s such a small amount for how much chili there is in the end)

1 teaspoon [organic] paprika

Brown beef, sausage, and onion in a large pot over medium heat. Drain the fat. Add the vinegar and cook for 1 minute to reduce the liquid. Add the rest of the ingredients and simmer for 1 hour.

And the recipe for the actual Navajo tacos:

1/2 recipe of the chili or 1 (40-ounce) can chili with beans

2 cups canola oil

12 Rhodes rolls (thawed according to package) or 8-ounces of bread dough

Toppings:

[hormone-free] Cheddar cheese

[organic] tomatoes

black olives

[organic] romaine lettuce

[organic] sour cream

salsa

Flatten, stretch, and deep-fry the rolls (on both sides until they’re brown) in the canola oil to make scones. Top with chili and other toppings. Be forwarded that this recipe takes a lot of time (1 hour for chili to simmer and 3-4 hours for dough to rise) so start preparation way ahead of time. Don’t make the same mistake that I did! We ate at 10pm. :-/