When my kids were super, super small, I struggled to find a meal they all liked. Well, besides pizza, but I have yet to find a child who doesn't like pizza so I am not sure that counts.
Seriously, I spent months upon months hoping and praying that there was ONE meal out there that everyone in my house would enjoy. One meal that I could look over at their little faces when the food was placed in front of them and they didn't give me THAT look. You know the one I'm talking about, moms. The one that says "please don't make me eat this."
And then one day I made a pot of chili and everyone ate it up quickly. And then they asked for a second bowl.
VICTORY!
When you are a mom, it is the little things, am I right?
Then, years later we learned the secret of topping our chili with cheese and corn chips.
Listen here, moms. You put chips on your child's food and you instantly become mom of the year to that child. And not only will they willingly eat the chips, but they will eat all the good for them stuff too in that bowl. The beans, the hamburger meat, the tomatoes. Not the onions though. They'll pick those out and put them in a pile on your table.
Can't win them all I guess.
Anyways....once you make chili you will discover that it is pretty forgiving. Throw a bunch of stuff in a pot with some spices and as long as you let it sit for awhile, it will end up as pure deliciousness.
Here's how we do chili at our house.
Easy-Peasy Chili (Printable Recipe)
1 lb of hamburger
1 onion, diced
3 cloves of garlic
1 can of tomato sauce
1 can of diced tomatoes
1 can of black beans (or 2 cups of cooked dried black beans)
1 can of red kidney beans
1 can of mushrooms
2 Tbsp chili powder
For topping:
Corn chips
grated cheddar cheese
For stove top:
1. Cook up the hamburger meat on medium-high heat until about half cooked through. Add the onions and cook until hamburger is completely cooked through and is no longer pink.
2. Add garlic and saute for a minute or two. Add the tomato sauce, diced tomatoes, black beans, kidney beans, mushrooms, and chili powder. We keep our chili powder on the mild side so that my kids will eat it!
3. Bring the pot to a boil and then drop the heat to a simmer. Simmer for at least one hour, but two hours will give an even better taste. We tend to let it simmer for only one hour though as I usually start the chili too late than I wanted to!
4. Serve with corn chips and grated cheese on top.
For crockpot:
1. Cook the hamburger meat on the stove on medium-high until about half cooked through. Add the onions and cook until hamburger is completely cooked through and no longer pink. Add the garlic and saute for a minute or two.
2. Transfer the meat, garlic, and onions into the crockpot. Add the tomato sauce,d iced tomatoes, black beans, kidney beans, mushrooms, and chili powder. Cook on high for 4 hours.
3. Serve with corn chips and grated cheese on top.
Chili is the perfect comfort food for these cold winter days. It is also a frugal meal to add to your rotation. And now you have two different ways to make it! Next goal for myself - to make chili on the woodstove.
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