I haven’t had much time to cook lately, what with visitors in town, busy weeks at work and more. I also haven’t been feeling terribly motivated to try any new recipe – no craving for anything in particular, no dish I wanted to have a go at. So this week when the thought crossed my mind to give chili a try (spurred on by a disappointing experience with a bowl of deli chili for lunch recently), I decided I should follow my taste buds and see what I could concoct in my tragically underused slow cooker. I dug around for a few recipes that seemed like the kind of chili…

For the last month or so, I’ve been generally successful at keeping inordinate amounts of dairy out of my diet. Butter on my toast, cream in my coffee – these things remain. But generally speaking, I’ve avoided macaroni & cheese lunches (if you’ve ever had TJ’s frozen meal version, you realize what a sacrifice this is) and cream-cheese-laden bagels (which is nearly torturous in New York City of all places) for several weeks and am filling the space with roasted vegetables and broth-based soups instead. But since the dietary change wasn’t due to any intolerance or other medical requirement (thank goodness), I’ve found myself resisting a craving for something creamy…