Good evening! I hope great weekends were had by all. Stephen came to visit me, and we had an AWESOME weekend full of food and fun.
Let me rewind a bit….
Friday afternoon, when I returned from work, I started prepping a meal to celebrate Stephen’s arrival…Wheat Berry Chili.
When I told Stephen what was on the menu, he crinkled his face and said, “Lily, I really don’t want to eat fruit in my chili.” I died laughing.
Wheat berries are simply whole wheat kernels.
Grind these up, and you get whole wheat flour.
Cooked wheat berries are chewy and have a nutty flavor. They are often eaten as a side dish or added to oatmeal.
Wheat Berry Nutritional Info:
(Serving Size-1/4 cup uncooked)
Calories-160
Calories from Fat-10
Total Fat-1 g
Saturated Fat-0 g
Total Carbohydrate-33 g (11% RDA)
Dietary Fiber-6 g (23% RDA)
Protein-7 g
Calcium-2% RDA
Iron-10% RDA
Add wheat berries to chili, and you get this.
Wheat Berry Chili
(Recipe adapted from here.)
Ingredients:
-
1 cup wheat berries
-
3 cups water
-
1 white onion, chopped
-
1 green pepper, chopped
-
1 red pepper, chopped
-
14.5 oz can whole kernel corn (try to find a variety with no added salt or sugar)
-
14.5 oz can kidney beans
-
14.5 oz can great northern beans
-
14.5 oz can navy beans
-
30 oz can black beans
-
28 oz can tomatoes, diced
-
8 oz can tomato sauce
-
2 cups beef broth
-
1 tbsp olive oil
-
4 tsp chili powder, or to taste
-
1/4 tsp hot pepper sauce
-
1/8 tsp black pepper
-
salt, to taste
Directions:
- Cook wheat berries in 3 cups of water for 1 hour until tender. Drain thoroughly.
- Add olive oil, onion, and peppers to 4-quart pot. Stir for about 2 minutes.
- Add the remaining ingredients, bring to a boil and simmer uncovered for about an hour. Stir frequently!
Note: When I’m preparing food for others, I go light on seasonings. That way, each individual can choose their desired amount of spice. Stephen and I added a lot of Tone’s Southwest Chipotle seasoning to each of our servings.
I hope you try this recipe! Stephen and I really enjoyed it.
***
On to other weekend happenings. Saturday, Stephen and I took a road trip to one of my favorite grocery stores…Amazing Savings! Usually, we drive to the Easley location, but on Saturday, we wanted experience the big daddy of Amazing Savings: the Black Mountain, NC location.
This trip was everything I had imagined and more! It deserves its own post, so I’ll be chronicling the trip in full tomorrow.
Today, we went to my parent’s house for a celebratory dinner. Stephen received some good news this past week, so my parents threw him a mini party.
My mom made chicken paella, a kale salad, white potato chips, sweet potato chips, and focaccia bread.
Along with one of her famous pumpkin pies.
“YEH!” is apparently my mom’s version of “YAY!” We teased her mercilessly about this.
And of course, I had to take pictures of my cats. Here they are with the man of the week.
Goodnight all!
Question: What’s your favorite celebratory meal and/or dessert?
Wow Lily that wheat berry chili looks amazing!!! I have to admit, I did not know that wheat berries are whole wheat kernels. I learned something new today! My celebratory meal is generally filet. Or a bagel in the morning if I’ve been eating well. It doesn’t take much to make me happy
That’s cute that he thought they were berries. It is weird that they are called that.
Hmm, I don’t know what my celebratory meal is. Maybe chips and guacamole? Or a beer!
OMG. Your mom is so healthy as well! I loved the spread of food!! Jeez! BTW mom’s are so cute! She was just trying to be “in”
That chili recipe is so unique and looks delicious! And too funny about the pie, it’s cute that she wrote on the top.
haha that pie is so cute, your mom sounds like a funny lady! glad the chili turned out great, it sounds amazing!
Oh my gosh, I love that pie! And, your wheatberry recipe!
My favorite celebration meal involves a bunch of girlfriends and an amazing bottle of wine!
haha omg that pie is SO awesome!! wheatberry chili sounds so unique and delicious I will HAVE to tryu this recipe
wow, this all looks delicious. i’m impatient for it to be lunchtime so i can have my own chili!
a bientot!
“I don’t like fruit in my chili.” Classic! It looks so colorful and delicious! I totally understand the celebratory thing when Stephen comes. Matt and I did long distance for almost two years, with him in Knoxville and me in Boston. We only saw each other every six weeks or so. Whenever we were together we celebrated, usually with pizza.
Haha I’ve mentioned wheat berries to my parents before and they thought the same thing! Your chili sounds really good
My favorite celebratory dessert would have to be cake (esp. carrot cake)
Wheat berry chili sounds amazing! My favorite celebratory meal is my dad’s spaghetti. I don’t know what it is, but I love it on a special occasion.
Your mom’s pumpkin pie looks divine! My favorite desssert is and always will be pumpkin pie!
hmm pumpkin pie! That’s so sweet of your mom to have a celebetory dinner. My favorite.. meal… well I can’t think of it but dessert would be my mom’s carrot cake.
lol fruit in the chili? haha
I’m bookmarking your chili recipe. I love chili!
also the YEH is soo classic!
“YEH!” Haha, love it! Totally something my mom would do!
I did NOT know that about wheat berries…would Whole Foods carry something like this? TJ’s? I’ve never seen them before, but the chili looks awesome, and I love whole wheat flour
Celebratory dinner is typically crab legs. What can I say, I have expensive tastes
Nicole, I can’t remember exactly where I bought the wheat berries. It was either at the Whole Foods or Earthfare bulk bin.
Loveee wheatberries! I just had some in my salad for lunch today. I love how they deliciously *pop* in your mouth!
My favorite celebratory food is COOKIES!! Every event is made special if there’s a batch of homemade cookies involved =)
Your wheat berry chili sounds like a great idea! I have been trying to take foods that I love such as chili and pizza and incorporate healthy ingredients. I will definetely have to give this a try. As for desserts…I absolutely LOVE pumpkin pie. Stephen is lucky that he has someone to make them for him.
That pie with the “Yeh!” cracks me up! I totally want to do that sometime.
Lily, thanks for leaving a sample of your wheat berry chili for your mom and dad to try. We both reported that it was quite good. I particularly enjoyed the fullness sensation of the wheat berries. A great recipe. Thanks for sharing.
[...] Comments « Celebrating Good Times [...]
Yea! I love BBQ ribs and beef!
congrats on whatever the good news is, the pie is too cute!
[...] contributions included Wheat Berry Chili and Wonderful White Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookies. I hope Faith and Cole enjoy these [...]