Chili season is here!

       My favorite time of year; football season!  I love the game and everything that comes along with it- cold weather, hot apple cider, busy work weeks followed by lazy weekends, pumpkin spice lattes, sweaters and scarves, and most of all, the FOOD!  Of course, being from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, I am a natural born sports fan and look forward to football season like I do to Christmas, but it's not only the game that I love,  it's the atmosphere and the food.  Above all, the fall season means Chili! 

        I am immediately taken back to my mother's house in Plum on a chilly (no pun intended), fall day and my nose is filled with the aroma of chili wafting through the house as it simmers for hours in the huge silver pot on the stove.  My mouth would literally water in anticipation of that first bite.  Chunky green peppers and onions, tomatoes, and beef...it was spicy.  We served it over rice and loaded it with cheese and ate saltine crackers on the side.  Years later she even started to put sausage into her mixture of goodies... We ate leftovers for days!  This was how I fell in love with Chili; a warm, filling, comfort food.

       Now, that I live in Texas, I have sampled many-a-chilis.  I have tried to make a few different recipes, until I think I have finally decided on one.  Even still, I will probably make it spicier the next time.  I also opted for the crockpot instead of cooking it stove top.  Although my recipe is not exactly the same as my mother's, I made it with her and all of our memories in mind. 



Best Crockpot Chili recipe ever!

1-1.5 lb. ground meat, browned

1 can Busch's dark red kidney beans   

1 can Busch's chili ready beans

1 can tomato paste 

2 cans chili ready tomatoes

1 green pepper chopped

1 onion chopped

5 cloves of garlic minced

2 stalks of celery chopped

salt to taste

Garlic salt to taste
Chili powder

Fiesta brand San Antonio style quick chili mix (or other chili seasoning)

Mesquite country seasoning (or other mesquite seasoning)

Shredded cheese

Sour cream

Saltine crackers

Combine and mix beans, tomatoes, and tomato paste in crock pot on high.  Chop green pepper, onion, celery, and garlic, add to crockpot, and stir.  In the meantime, brown the ground meat.  Don't worry about totally cooking it because it will cook in the crockpot (duh)!  Add meat to 

mixture, and stir frequently.  Add salt and garlic salt to taste, followed by chili powder, chili seasoning, and mesquite seasoning. (Sorry I do not usually measure my seasonings!  I just decide how much to use by tasting it!)Cook on high for 4 hours stirring frequently.  
Top with sour cream, shredded cheese, and eat with saltine crackers (or Doritos!)

Do it naked...

or add the fixin's!
                                                                                                                              
Makes the best leftovers!!- gooey goodness to help me get through grading papers!


Chao and good eats...  ~ LML