I had the joy of making this recipe for my family while I was at my parents for the holidays.  It was Adam's idea and I must say I was a bit skeptical with being stuck in my old ways.  The way I used to make chili was with meat, beans, and veggies.  Making a more paleo friendly chili meant taking out the beans.  I thought if you were to do that, then it is not chili!

I decided to add some rice because I like my chili more chunky than soupy and with some ground meat and an assortment of veggies it actually looked like chili!!  Now with this recipe, I will be letting you guys in on what I consider to be a few family secret ingredients.  I've no idea how or when it got incorporated into our family's recipe for chili but it gives it have a little bit of an edge over other chili's that I've had. Read on to find out what they are!

Also, I was frustrated with my photos in this one.  I really wanted to take them in the setting that I had set up, but that meant losing precious natural lighting.  I couldn't tell on my little camera screen but I ended up having to increase my ISO which created a lot of noise in them!  Ugh!  So I apologize for what may come across as any blurriness in my photos.

(Hey all, Adam here! It is time for me to take a moment to explain why we usually avoid legumes for the most part. This will be the boring science part for some people.  The three major reasons we avoid legumes or beans (not talking snow peas or green beans here) are because they are FODMAPS, and they contain both lectins and phytic acid. FODMAPS  is a word for foods that a type of carbohydrate called galaco-ligosaccharides that can cause digestive issues for some people, especially in people that already have digestive issues like Crohn's disease or Irritable Bowel Syndrome. 

A lectin is a protein found in many foods and not everyone reacts negatively to lectins. However, the lectins with the most potential for toxicity are found in larger concentrations in foods such as grains and legumes. Lectins can cause damage to the intestinal wall which can promote hyper-permeability of the intestines. This is known by some as "Leaky Gut" syndrome and is associated with digestive and autoimmune issues. There are ways to combat the presence of lectins by taking tedious steps in preparing and cooking but it isn't a 100% fix either. I am pretty confident that restaurants and fast food joints aren't these steps while preparing food for you either.

The third and final reason we avoid legumes is the presence of phytic acid. Phytic acid is detrimental because it binds to the nutrients within our food resulting in the nutrients becoming unavailable to our bodies for digestion and absorption. There may be a lot of nutrients in foods like lentils or certain beans but once we eat them the phytic acid nullifies their potential benefits. Studies found there was a direct correlation between the amount of grain consumption (phytic acid is present in grains) and the incidence of Rickets' (a vitamin D deficiency which causes issues with calcium, and phosphorus levels, and negatively impacts bone strength). This means the more phytic acid that was ingested was correlated with a higher amount of nutrient deficiency. This is just a correlation however and not a direct causation. Enough with the science and on to the recipe! I'll hand things back over to Nicole now...) 

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 lb ground buffalo
• 1 lb ground beef (preferably grass-fed or pastured)
• 1 1/2 c rice
• 1 onion
• 1 red bell pepper
• 1 green bell pepper
• 3 garlic cloves
• 4 carrots
• 3 celery stalks
• 28 oz can stewed tomatoes
• 14 oz can diced tomatoes
• 15 oz can tomato sauce
• 4 oz can tomato paste
• 1 1/2 tbsp chili powder
• 2 tsp cumin 
• 1 tbsp basil
• 1 tbsp oregano
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp pepper
• 1 tsp onion powder
• 1/2 tsp cayenne
• 1 bottle gluten free beer (technically we used cider)
• 4 oz dark chocolate