Sweet Potato Chili

Happy New Year! I've been absent lately due to foot surgery I had done in mid-December. It took a couple of weeks to get me mobile again, and the holidays sort of knocked me off my feet metaphorically. But it is January 1, and I'm ready to tackle the year! Yesterday, I wrote out my goals for 2013 in six different categories (spiritual, financial, physical, nutritional, adventure and personal), and then broke out my weight loss goals into a more in-depth mini-goal type of system. While 2012 was monumental in the fact that I completed my first marathon, it wasn't so great for losing weight. Ultimately, I lost, then gained, then lost, gained and so on, up and down for roughly 10 lbs. The end result is that I still have 61 lbs. to go until I reach my final goal (or thereabouts) and 2013 is the year to do it. I'm very excited!

It will be challenging as I plan on having a major surgery on my right foot mid-year, but I LOVE a challenge, and it just motivates me to prove I can do it! To start the year off right, I made a sweet potato chili that my sister, Kylla, passed along to me. This chili is vegetarian, although I used chicken stock (you could use vegetable stock to make yours vegetarian), but you do not miss the meat! It's quite tasty, and is heavy on the spices. If you're not a big spicy chili eater, you might want to cut down on the chili powder and cayenne. This chili is chocked full of fiber, protein and flavor, but very little fat! Yum!

Sweet Potato Chili
Ingredients:
1 large red onion
2 cups veggie broth or water
3 Tbsp chili powder
1 tsp cayenne
Salt and pepper to taste
3 cloves of garlic
2 cups chopped (1/2”) sweet potato
1 28 oz can diced tomatoes
1 can pinto beans (I used cannelini beans, as I was out of pintos)
1 can black beans
¼ cup chopped cilantro
1 lime
1 tbs olive oil

1. Saute chopped onion and chopped garlic in olive oil until clear/soft. Then add broth, salt, pepper, cayenne pepper, chili powder and sweet potatoes and bring to boil. Simmer about 20 minutes until tender.

2. Add tomatoes, beans, cilantro and lime juice. Cook for another 20 minutes. You can top with your favorite chili toppings.