_ Gwynnevere's Chili w/Beef, Beans & Vegetables

About 1 lbs of X-lean 96/4 ground beef
1 large onion (2 cups chopped)
1 large jalapeno pepper, chopped
2 cups of Pinto beans or Ranch style Beans
1 large Red Bell Pepper (2 cups chopped)
1 large Orange Bell Pepper (2 cups chopped)
1 large Yellow Bell Pepper (2 cups chopped)
1 large Green Bell Pepper (2 cups chopped)
2 zucchini (2 cups chopped)
2 summer squash (2 cups chopped)

1 serving = approx. 2 cups

Fry the ground beef without oil in a large non-stick skillet; enough grease from ground beef, but if you want you can lightly spray the skillet with pam or similar baking spray.
Add the chopped onion (finely chopped = more intense flavor)
Finely chop the jalapeno pepper (remove the seeds if you want to reduce the heat) and add to the beef and onion.
Reduce the heat to medium
Add the chopped Bell peppers (all 4 available colors) and stew for about 5 min
Add the chopped Zucchini and Summer Squash and stew for another 5 min
Add the Pinto beans or Ranch style Beans and let simmer for about 10 min.
Add 2 cups of boiling water (more if you like a more liquid chili soup)
Add hot pepper sauce to taste. I add about 1 tbsp, but I like it really hot ...

1 serving is a good size bowl, about 2 cups.
The more water added, the larger the serving size will be.

The multi-colored vegetables and the beans make for lots of added minerals and vitamins.

The X-lean 96/4 ground beef makes this a very low fat meal.

Optional: add 2% cheese crumbles
Optional: add whole wheat toast

Optionals are not included in calorie count.

Number of Servings: 10

Recipe submitted by SparkPeople user GWYNNEVERE..