Raise your hand if you’re busy this week. (Unless, of course, your hands are in the middle of de-boning a turkey. You can just give me a nod.)
Our oldest son is home from college right now, so we are a family of six again. So what if he’s been “away,” living in his college dorm only 8 blocks from home? We don’t see him much and we miss him. Having him home for longer than five minutes has been a joy.
I would say that we’re taking life easy while we prepare for Thanksgiving, but would you believe our son #2 has two huge projects due for his online college history class on Thanksgiving day? What? And yes, he would have had them done ahead of time except that it wasn’t possible because of all the other projects he had due before these.
I’m telling you, these online classes my kids take are threatening to kill us all with a long slow death. (The on-campus classes are much more managable.) Well, anyway.
We’re hosting Thanksgiving this year for 15-20 people from town. Then we’ll head to Kansas to celebrate “Thanksmas” with my side of the family. I baked the turkeys over the weekend. The green bean casserole is in the freezer. Slowly but surely I’m pulling the meal together so that come Thursday, I can actually enjoy the day instead of cooking and cleaning for hours!
In the meantime, the six of us still need to eat regular meals. (They didn’t like the idea of fasting in preparation for Thanksgiving. Whatever.)
Meals like this Simple Last Minute Lentil Chili are amazing for weeks like this! Thaw no meat. Soak no beans. Just go to the stove and put this soup together.
Truth: I didn’t think I would like chili that didn’t have meat in it.
I am such a meat loving girl! We are a meat loving family.
But in fact: My family didn’t even notice this didn’t have meat in it until I told them an hour after they ate it. “Really?” they said, “It tasted like it did!”
Score.
Simple Last Minute Lentil Chili
- 3 Tablespoons minced onion
- 2 teaspoons garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon dried red pepper
- 2 Tablespoons olive oil
- 4 tsp. chili powder
- 16 ounces dry lentils
- 32 ounces tomato sauce
- 32 ounces vegetable or chicken broth*
- sea salt and pepper to taste
- In a large pot, heat and stir olive oil with minced onion, garlic, and red pepper.
- Add chili powder, lentils, tomato sauce, and broth.
- Season with salt and pepper to taste.
- Bring mixture to a boil, then turn heat down to simmer for about 30 minutes or until lentils are tender.
- Serve with cheese and/or sour cream if desired.
Let this chili recipe save you some evening this week while you’re busy preparing to host or travel!
More Simple Recipes
- Simple Baked Salmon and Asparagus
- Simple Crock Pot Chicken Soup with a Kick
- Simple Skillet Taco Pasta
- Simple Sweet and Sour Baked Chicken Legs
- 20-Minute Taco Soup
- Simple Cheesy Baked Chicken
- Simple Creamy Chicken Stew in the Crock Pot
- Simple Italian Beef and Broccoli Skillet
- Simple Bacon Ranch Chicken
- Simple Hawaiian Crock Pot Chicken
- Simple Taco Rice Dinner
- Simple Last Minute Nacho Plate
- Simple Chicken Cheeseballs
Don’t do all the work yourself! Let Simple Meals save your family time!
Do you have big plans for Thanksgiving?
