It is finally cold enough for chili! Hooray! I could eat chili anytime of the year, but my husband only likes me to make it when it’s really good and cold out. So sometime in the winter I’ll make a huge batch and freeze individual servings so that I can have chili in the summer.
I know there are two schools of thought on chili: with beans and without beans. I am a member of the “with-beans” school. In my opinion chili without beans is just chunky spaghetti sauce. My step-daughters mom makes an amazing chili without beans that I absolutely love, though. Her chili is more like a thick soup, whereas mine is more like a chunky chip dip. That is the wonderful thing about chili though. Everybody has their own different version: with beans or without, lots of jalapenos or none, ground beef or ground turkey. There is no one set-in-stone recipe for chili. It’s kind of like mac-and-cheese . . . a blank canvas for variations.
This is my recipe for chili. The first time I ever made chili I googled “chili recipe” and made it and it was yummy. Then I googled the recipe for Wendy’s chili. I made that and it was yummy as well. My recipe is sort of a mish-mash of those two recipes and some variations of my own. Feel free to alter this recipe to make it your own as well.
HEATHER’S CHILI
2 lbs ground beef; browned and drained
1 large white onion; diced
2 stalks of celery; diced
1 4-oz can diced green chilies
1 29-oz can tomato sauce
2 15-oz cans pinto beans; drained and rinsed
2 15-oz cans kidney beans; drained and rinsed
2 14-oz cans diced tomatoes w/ chili seasoning
2 10-oz cans Rotel seasoned diced tomatoes w/ green chilies
3 tbls chili powder
1 ½ tsp black pepper
2 tsp salt
DIRECTIONS
Combine all ingredients in a large pot and simmer until hot, stirring frequently
OR
Combine all ingredients in a large slow-cooker until it’s hot all the way through and you are ready to eat.
I like to leave this on low in my slow-cooker all afternoon, especially on a really cold day. It makes the house smell so delicious. I have a really big slow-cooker but this recipe with totally fill it up. So be forewarned that if you go that route you may want to keep a towel nearby because my slow-cooker “spits” sometimes.
The measurements for the chili powder, black pepper and salt are approximate. I never measure those. I put a little bit in the pot, stir and taste. If it needs more I add more.
The beans in the recipe are just what I used the day I wrote the recipe down. Sometimes I will use all kidney beans, sometimes I use black beans. Pick your favorites.
I serve this will a little diced white onion and shredded cheddar cheese on top, and cornbread on the side. I have no fancy cornbread recipe. I’m a Jiffy girl. My husband likes to eat his chili with tortilla chips.
Chili is also really yummy served on top of spaghetti noodles . . . like a chunky spaghetti sauce. Hey, if Steak-n-Shake can do it then so can I.
I hope you enjoy your chili. Imagine an afternoon spent outside building snowmen and then coming back inside to a house filled with the scent of hot, hearty chili. Yum! I can’t wait to make it this weekend!
If you have a favorite recipe I would love to hear it. Feel free to share it with me. My email is heathermc@forevercomm.com, or you can send it to me on facebook: www.facebook.com/heather.mcribbits. I look forward to hearing from you.
Until we meet again, have a hoppy day!
Heather
