Quick and Easy Leftover Taco Chili

These days my name should be budget momma or something as equally endearing. I feel like my days are spent trying to figure out how not to waste the food in our fridge and work with a tight budget. That gets easier with soups, stews, and chilis that lend themselves well – and often better, when using leftovers. Yesterday, I got creative and spent some time in the fridge and pantry and came out with a hearty, delicious, quick and easy leftover Taco Chili. 

This budget friendly dish is just what was needed to fill the hungry mouths around this house. If you have a home of growing boys, and a strapping husband, you’ll know exactly what I’m talking about. Food just seems to go into a bottomless pit. It’s so important to our health and budget to find good for you foods that aren’t just going to be fillers – but will in fact fill us up with nutrients. I had just a small bowl of this and was way satisfied. Give a man a decent sized bowl of this and he should be able to skip at least one snack. 😉

To be completely honest, I started out really wanting to make this from scratch. We have fresh food in the house most of the time and things with very little seasoning. I really like to be able to control the flavors, salt, etc. in each dish. I want to know what it is I’m making and what’s going into the bodies of my family. Making this though, my stomach got ahead of me. I decided to take some shortcuts in the homemade department and use some canned ingredients. It turned out wonderful so I really can’t complain.

I really love recipes that allow you to either do things fresh and by hand, or take short cuts. Especially when you have to make a large amount of something, things like McCormick’s seasoning packets (no this is not a sponsored post – just a real mom in real life) just make it so much easier. Let’s face it, sometimes when it’s easier there is more love in it – especially as a tired mom.

Side note: I wonder how many more times I can say especially in this post.

Anyway, Chili recipes are one of my favorite dinner time meals to experiment with. It seems as though each family has their own secret Chili recipe that’s been passed down, and yet there are a ton of them out there. Chili’s are so easy to make and to tweak. Adding just one extra element like a packet of taco seasoning can transform your recipe to be able to eat it all week long. Believe me, winters in Maine – Chili is a staple!