Slow Cooker Chili

One of my all-time favorite things to make in the fall is Chili. Every year, at practically the same time, the first cool weekend of the season, I make chili. Truthfully, I only make it once or twice a season and I'm not sure why, it's so easy, cheap, delicious and feeds us for days. I know it's really fall when I get the itch to make chili.

I'm not sure where I got this base recipe but I've added a few things and tweaked some others.

makes about 8 servings, depending on serving size.

Ingredients

1 pound lean ground beef - browned and drained

2 cans kidney beans - one drained

3/4 - 1 cup diced onion

3/4 - 1 cup diced celery

3/4 - 1 cup diced green peppers

2 cloves minced garlic

2 - 10 3/4 oz cans tomato puree

1 can cannellini beans - undrained

1/2 T. chili powder

1/2 T. parsley

1 t. salt 

3/4 t. basil

3/4 t. oregano

1/4 t. pepper

1/8 t. tobasco

cajun to taste

4-5 links italian sausage cooked and diced

Directions

Mix all ingredients together in slow cooker/crock pot, cover and cook 8 hours on low, 4 hours on high.

I always use pre-cooked italian sausage because I cannot stand cooking raw sausage (boiling, then grilling or browning, it's just a pain). I usually use a pre-cooked Hillshire Farms or something of the like but this last time I used a three-cheese sausage from Sam's Club, the brand was Artisan Fresh, but for the life of me I can't remember the exact name.

Most of the time I actually prep the chili the night before and cook it over night so we can eat it for lunch. Normally, once we get the idea of chili in our head, we get so excited to eat it so the earlier we can eat it, the better for us. ;)  I suppose it would be better to prep it the night before, pop it in the fridge, then pull it out in the morning and turn the crock pot on.

My husband says this is the best chili he has ever had.

Oh, and I told you our favorite color is red. Did you notice the red crock pot? :P  Our kitchen has two yellow walls and one red well. <3