Southern Chili Spaghetti #foodbloggers4fl

As I am sure everyone is aware, the Caribbean islands and our Southern states have been rattled by not just 1 but 2 very powerful hurricanes (and now a third)! This is looking to be a very active hurricane season and it's not even close to over.

Hurricane Harvey and Hurricane Irma made their way through the South with no holding back.

There was so much devastating destruction caused by these two storms that we all need to be thinking of our neighbors to the South until they can get back to rebuilding and back to normal again.

95% of the Miami area sustained building damage with the winds and flooding. It is so scary to think of what those people had to go through and are still dealing with.

So little time to get the things that matter most to you and get out of there before they were trapped. I know a few people who live in Florida and made it through unharmed but what a scary thing to have to endure.

Irma made its way to affecting 5 states. One of the states affected was Georgia, where I have an extensive group of family located. They were without power for days with no end in sight.

The rain and storms pounded them for days and schools were closed.

I lived in Georgia for 2 years and while we had a few scares when it came to tornadoes, the storms out there are no joke. I was raised in California where you are lucky to get a little rain throughout the year. Meanwhile, the southern states spend a majority of their time wet and under a cover of clouds.

As intense as it was for them, the islands to the south of the continental US and Florida itself are experiencing real devastation - so just as we did last week for Hurricane Harvey and Texas, today we are collaborating with several bloggers to highlight a few ways to help out.  The following are a list of places to donate:

Heart of Florida United Way

Volunteer Florida 

Miami Diaper Bank 

South Florida Wildlife Center

All Faiths Food Bank

Second Harvest Food Bank of Central Florida

Harry Chapin Food Bank of SW Florida

The SOS Foundation Keys Food Bank

Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency

Fondos Unidos 

Community Foundation of the Virgin Islands

St. John Community Foundation

Anguilla Beaches - Ways to Help

We also want to share a really good article on what sort of help to offer and when:  So You Want to Go Help After a Major Disaster.  It goes a long way to making the really overwhelming question of how to help a bit more manageable.

One thing I learned from living in Georgia was that they have an amazing knack for comfort food and family. This is something that our southern neighbors need right now - comfort and family.

When you think Southern cooking, what do you think of? Fried Chicken, collard greens, Mac and Cheese? Yum, I am making myself hungry now!!

Like all the regions in the South, they have so many  unique foods out there in Georgia. Everywhere I went, they had offerings of corn bread, biscuits, banana cream pie pudding, and so much more.

One thing stuck out to me more than anything because it was so unexpected: Chili Spaghetti! Excuse me, what?! Chili Spaghetti, what the heck is that?

Well it is exactly just that... Chili poured on top of spaghetti noodles. It was everywhere that they sold burgers. One place that I tried it was Steak and Shake. It was delicious.

I understand that this is also what "Cincinnati Chili" is - but from what I can tell, that is layered rather than combined and their chili is sweeter.

But chili spaghetti? That's a Georgia specialty! After we moved, I had to learn to make it for myself with my own twists.

So, I have a prize winning Chili recipe. I earned a prize for this at an American Legion Chili Cookoff!

But first, the eternal fight with chili is - Beans or No Beans? Well, Georgia uses Beans! We use beans and love it! So with this recipe, I suggest you follow true to it and embrace the beans or it just will not taste as good as it should!

Georgia Chili Spaghetti
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 6-8 hours

1 pound ground sirloin, uncooked
1 can dark red Kidney Beans, not drained
1 can diced tomatoes (Italian style), not drained
1/2 a can of Tomato Paste
1/4 cup of Worcestershire sauce (yes, 1/4 cup - don't skip this!)
1 tablespoon of ketchup
A dash of Salt and Pepper
1 tbsp of Red Chili Flakes
1 box Spaghetti Noodles, cooked to your liking

Add everything to  a crockpot and cook on low for 6-8 hours. The longer you let it cook, the thicker it will get.

You want it to be semi-thin when you pour it on top of the noodles so if it gets too thick, add a bit of water when you start cooking your noodles, and stir.

Once it is all cooked up and  smelling amazing, you want to cook up your noodles. Once those are done and strained, put them on your plate and pour the chili right on top as you would a marinara sauce!

I dice up some green onions and put on top. You can also sprinkle some Parmesan cheese on there if you like. Mix it all in and take a bite!

YUM!

A couple of comments - you may use any sort of hamburger, but it won't have the same taste as the sirloin does.

I add this into my crock pot frozen.

You can cook first if it feels better to you. But, I find that when I add it in uncooked, it breaks up to the really small consistency that you get with a good chili.

If you do it like I do, make sure that half way through your cook time you break up the hamburger, as it should be cooked by then. It may stay a patty at the bottom if you don't.

Also, I add in my beans and tomatoes without draining. The juice from the kidney beans acts as a thickening agent!

This is my comfort food and I cannot wait to dig in every time I make it!!

I hope you'll take some time to check out what other bloggers are doing  for this collaboration:

An InLinkz Link-up