Chilly weather chili

The weather here in Georgia has been cool and drizzly.... just perfect for a mug of Pumpkin Spice hot chocolate, or better, a big ol' bowl of chili (with Frito's, please!).

I just made a big pot of it last night and it turned out quite tasty. As you may remember I mentioned some delicious chili I sampled at our local grocery store. Every week Publix features a quick, easy, and cheap dinner recipe. This week theirs happened to be chili. After the sample I just knew I had to make some for myself. I really liked what I tasted, but I also love my mom's chili recipe, so I took a little bit of both and made my own. The final dish wasn't half bad if I say so myself and ended up being a perfect dish for a somewhat busy evening since I was able to make it early in the day and let it simmer in the crock pot.

I am going to share my chili recipe with you, but first, a disclaimer...

*I am NOT promising you the BEST chili ever, because I cannot make the best chili ever. In my opinion this was some tasty chili, but in actual fact I am not a very good judge of chili. To be completely honest, I would call myself somewhat of a chili "virgin" due to the fact that I only in the past two years rejoined the meat-eating crowd, and pre-vegetarianism I would not touch beans (and thus chili). Thanks to the majority of vegetarian entrees containing some sort of bean, I have come to love them, and along with that, chili! In fact, I love beans so much that I put a lot of them in my chili, so you chili purists out there who say chili shouldn't have "fillers" can just ignore me and enjoy your meat and sauce elsewhere.*

That was a really long disclaimer, and I used the word "chili" 10 times!

So here is my chili recipe, adapted from my mom's recipe.

Ingredients:

• 1 onion
• 1 lb. (or more if you like it meaty) ground beef
• 2-3 cloves of garlic
• 2 tsp cumin
• 2 tsp oregano
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp pepper
• 1 1/2 tbsp. chili powder
• 1/2 green bell pepper
• 1 green chili pepper (optional if you don't want heat)
• 1 can diced tomatoes with chilies
• 1/2 cup beef broth (I used a can of tomato soup this time... I liked it but Jason prefers the beef broth)
• 1 can black beans
• 1 can "chili beans" (pinto beans in chili sauce). Choose your potency- I chose "medium."
• 1/2 a small can of baked beans (adds an awesome flavor, believe it or not!)

Directions:

1. Sautee onions until tender
2. Add garlic, cumin, oregano, salt, pepper and chili powder
3. Add ground beef and cook until no longer pink
4. Add peppers, beef broth, and tomatoes. Stir to combine.
5. Let simmer on stove top (or in crock pot) 1 1/2 - 2 hours.
6. Add beans about 30 minutes before serving. (I actually add about 3/4 of each can instead of the whole can, but that's because Jason doesn't like beans like I do.)
7. Taste test (a must!) and add salt, pepper, chili powder and/or red pepper flakes to taste

And, by the way, I truly believe chili is NOTHING without Frito's on top and some cheddar cheese... just sayin'!

And since I pretty much never do a post without a picture, and we kinda devoured the chili before I thought to take a picture, here are some pictures of my mess....

I am a pretty sloppy cook!