Eat, Read, and Be Mommy

If you know me at all, you know I grew up in RI but now live in UT, which means I pretty much gave up amazingly authentic (and just plain amazing) Italian food for amazingly authentic (and also amazing) Mexican/Latin food.  (Not quite a fair trade, given my Parmesan cheese obsession, but not a terrible one either.)  When I opted to try this One-Pot Chilighetti recipe for dinner last week, I was hoping it would be the kind of mashup that gives a nice nod to both contributors, and I have to say, we weren’t actually disappointed.  No doubt my Italian friends’ grandmothers are shuddering in their graves, and possibly some of my Latino friends are rolling their eyes, but all of my kids really liked this one, and I enjoyed it, too.  (Although next time I’m totally chopping up some olives for the half of us that like them to put on top.)  My bean-hating-8-year-old said not a word about the beans, my almost-3-year-old fed FAR more of it to herself than she usually bothers with, and my 5-year-old gave it two thumbs up.  Even the 11-year-old was pleased, and my hubby willingly ate the leftovers, which almost never happens with pasta.  A clean sweep all around!  I did mess with the spices a little, since I vastly prefer cumin to chili powder–I used 2 tsp of cumin and 2.5 of chili powder, after consulting with my friend Andrea–and I swapped out the kidney beans for red beans, since they sit with my digestion a bit better.  (I may also have tossed some garlic in to saute with the ground beef and onion at the end–I honestly don’t remember.)  OH, and I used V8 instead of plain tomato juice, because I like the taste.  What really matters is that everyone ate it happily, and while it made a ton, they all ate the leftovers happily as well.  THAT, my friends, is a clear win.  You should try it for dinner this week!