Anyone catch the Journal recipe article a couple of weeks back for the “Chan Chili”? I decided to give it a try, but made a few modifications. First, had to scale it up for more blocks. Second, had to bring the protein/carb ratio to unity…this resulted in some tasty carb additions. Lastly, dropped the fat blocks…I prefer my fat from nuts or avocado. In the end, it tasted great and I have plenty left for the week. Here is my recipe if you are interested. I include some sizing/shopping commentary as well. I am not sure if it is still technically Paleo with the addition of the beans, but still all preferred Zone carb block sources.

“Chan-stings Chili”
45 ounces of cooked, lean ground beef…probably ~3.75 pounds of raw ground beef (30 protein blocks)
7 cups of assorted Peppers, chopped (green, red, yellow, orange)…~6 medium/large peppers (3.5 carb blocks)
4 cups of Zucchini, chopped…~2.5 medium zucchini (2 carb blocks)
3 cups of Onion, chopped…~2 medium onions (2 carb blocks)
2 cups (or 1 can) of Black Beans (8 carb blocks)
2 cups (or 1 can) of Kidney Beans (8 carb blocks)
3.25 cups (or 2 small-sized jars) of your favorite Salsa…make sure it is organic and doesn’t have a bunch of extra junk in it (6.5 carb blocks)

Saute the onions, peppers, and zucchini (I did this in batches because there was no way it would all fit in my largest skillet). By the way, chop or dice your veggies as big or small as you like…its all personal preference.
Mix “cooked” ground beef with beans (no need to drain the cans, the extra moisture will be good), salsa, and sauted vegetables in a suitably sized pot.
Simmer the covered mixture on the stove on a low to medium-low setting (or you could try a crockpot) for long enough to heat the mixture and distribute the various flavors throughout (I did it on low and on a simmer plate for about 2 hours and still needed a microwave zap for extra heating before eating).
Stir the mix every 10-15 minutes to prevent burning on the bottom.
It may seem like the mix is dry in the beginning, but the lengthly simmering will bring out the juices. Also, if you saute your veggies over a longer period of time (on low), you can use the juice/water from there too.

IMPORTANT – Everyone’s recipe will yield a slightly different total prepared volume. It is paramount you figure out the volume of your final mix. If you followed this recipe, you should have 30 blocks of protein and 30 blocks of carbs. You just need to figure out how blocks are in a cup or how many cups equal a block so you can block it out before you eat.

My recipe yielded 18 cups of prepared chili. So,
30 blocks/18 cups = 1.6 blocks/cup
or
18 cups/30 blocks = 0.6 cups/block

I rounded up and said that 2/3 of a cup = 1 block (protein & carbs).

Awesome job Aaron. I think i’m gunna try this recipe tomorrow. I bought a bunch of ground beef and when i got home i realized i had no clue what i was doing with it. Good timing. And ya i watched that journal video and all i could say was why would they go through all that work to only make like a days worth of food… Oh and holy crap to their insanely spotless fridge!