Chili - BASIC

On the stove, in a large pan, cover 4 cups of dry, small red beans or pinto beans with water. (I use red)

Boil for 5 minutes. (This breaks the seal and releases the GAS - no beano needed!...at least that's what my Mom told me.)

Drain the beans and rinse in a colander.

Put the beans into your crockpot (6 quart) and fill to 1 1/2" from the top with hot water.

Cook ALL DAY on HIGH until your beans are tender. This can be started the night before on LOW if you don't like to get up early and make beans...my usual method. Just check it the next day to make sure you don't need to add more water, just enough to cover the beans.

Once the beans are tender, at least 2 hours before eating add:

1 lb hamburger. If you're lazy like me, just crumble the raw hamburger into the hot beans and water and stir it in. Your meat will be so tender this way. If that bugs you, brown it on the stove first.

If your family is not as picky as mine, add:

onion, jalapeno, diced bell pepper, diced anaheim pepper, etc. when you add the meat. Obviously, we don't add any of these.

About 1 hour before dinner, after the meat is cooked, add:

1 small can tomato paste
1 tsp oregano
onion powder, cayenne? (how hot do you like it?)
1-2 packages of taco seasoning OR Chili seasoning from Sam's
1 Tbsp salt - taste to see how much you need
1 TBSP of sugar if your taco seasoning doesn't have enough (this cuts the acidity)
2 14oz can cut tomatoes, puree in blender if you need to for picky kids - use tomatoes with chilies if you like some kick. (I've used two 10oz cans and that's been enough.)

We top this with shredded cheese, some of us also top it with diced, fresh tomoatoes and sour cream. We like to make "chili nachos" out of ours by putting tortilla chips in the bottom of the bowl. It's also yummy over a baked potato.

*A great way to use my big buckets of beans in my food storage. This is our traditional meal on Halloween night. We enjoy this chili year round. I know, it's as plain as plain gets...but remember, I have picky kids. This one pleases all but the youngest, he can have plain cheese nachos. It's the perfect meal on a cold, snowy or rainy day.