Saintly Chili!

After 15 weeks of Mia's birth - I've officially dropped down to my pre-pregnancy weight! Yay!

To celebrate I wanted a really comforting meal and a glass of wine. I've been so good with what I have been eating so I didn't want to stray too far.

Unfortunately Leigh has a football match tonight so I needed to make something for myself but would still be as tasty for Leigh when he gets home and reheats it.  We love our spicy food so this always gives me a chance to add extra chilies and some other spices I have milling around my kitchen cupboards.

I stick to quite a standard recipe... I won't bore you with the details (there are hundreds online). However I choose to add a few twists of my own:
fry off roughly chopped thin chili (the skinny green ones) at the beginning with the onion
A mix of pork and beef mince (an idea I have picked up from Italian cooking) and/or a handful of pancetta/bacon lardons
A few portions of frozen spinach after I've browned the meat
two teaspoons of smoked paprika

Also due to having a low carb, high protein diet I choose to have a half portion of brown rice. This means I have loads of rich chili to tuck into instead of a bland rice dish. To mop up the extra sauce, a handful of rocket goes great on the side (actually you can have two or three handfuls if you like)

I always have it in a bowl as it's easier to eat on your lap with just a fork!

Don't worry too much about the extra fat in the bacon lardons or pork. These are good fats that your body will love.

Remember - It's WHAT you eat, NOT how much