Chili

2 lbs turkey/beef - ground and browned/drained with garlic/onion/green pepper/chili powder
1/4 bag each of your favorite four beans - cooked (i cook overnight in crockpot for next day's usage), drained
14.5 oz can tomato with green chilies UNdrained!
6 oz can tomato paste
3 cans diced tomatoes, italian style, drained
1-2 onions, diced
1-2 green peppers, diced
1T garlic, minced (i use fridge kind - VERY fast to scoop and dump in)
2 t mustard, dry
2 T chili powder
2 bay leaves
1 t pepper, cracked black

salt to taste. (i never add salt to dinner dishes - many times, we've discovered it's not needed - esp if one serves this with tortilla chips! - my kids LOVE this chili with chips. . . they'll eat huge amounts this way!)

crockpot low all day. YUM!

tastes even better as leftovers! freeze some for another day, too - or share with a friend. . .

This is a very, very mild chili. my husband and middle child do not like heat. so, if you're like me, just add a few splashes of tobasco sauce to your bowl at meal time. :)


Here's what I do to cook beans overnight.
1) open bag of beans (i use 2 bags personally).
2) rinse off beans in a colander - look for beans that are not perfect and also any rocks/grit/stuff that's not a bean. :)
3) put the rinsed beans in a ...good sized pot for the stove.
4) add a bunch of water - read the back of the bean bag for 'fast soak' instructions. Follow those instructions (takes about 20 minutes or so) on stove.
5) I then drain off the beans and dump those beans in my LARGE crockpot (affectionately named Martha - I think she's a 6quart one). Fill the crockpot with water - it ends up being too much water, but I'm ok with leaching out a few more vitamins.
6) put crockpot on low all night.
7) in morning, i drain the beans into my huge colander and put the beans back in the crockpot (usually I rinse out the crockpot, too, and get rid of the bean ring.)
8) layer all ingredients on top of the beans from the crockpot recipe posted here.
9)stir all ingredients gently into the crockpot (except the bay leaves - I leave them on top/slightly pressed into mixture so I can find them easily at dinner time).
10) crockpot on low. Dinner time, take bay leaves out and stir one last time and put crockpot on table. Dinner is served. Open a bag of tortilla chips to dip into the chili in your bowls. Put tobasco sauce, salt, shredded cheese, sour cream on table for folks to serve themselves. Seriously easy and very VERY tasty!
11) I have big eating kids - they will eat several bowls of this stuff, so I end up with 2 bags of leftovers and one small bowl for darren's lunch the next day. freeze or give away the 'leftovers' and make friends happy not to have to cook. :)