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A little over a year ago at Christmas, my sister and brother-in-law, being frugal and creative as they are, got me the gift of ingredients and recipe for homemade chili in the slow cooker. It was wrapped up under the tree. You have my permission to chuckle by the way, just don’t tell my sister that I said you could. That being said, it was an awesome gift. Before that, I was too intimidated to make chili and I had only used my slow cooker once since I got it a couple of years before. I made it for the first time right after that and it has since been added to my portfolio of things I can cook, which is still quite limited.

This past year I stopped eating out (except for rare exceptions) and started cooking at home and bringing leftovers to work for lunch everyday. It has been a great habit to get into since I have saved hundreds of dollars so far and am eating healthier, which makes me feel better. I have been making the chili a lot lately and bringing it to work for lunch. My co-workers have commented countless times on how good it looks and smells and how they would like to have the recipe. I gave it to one co-worker who made it and her husband loved it. It’s cheap, easy to make and it tastes outstanding so I figured I’d share it with all of you so you can join in on the fun! I don’t follow my sister’s recipe anymore but instead use one that I sort of crafted from it that’s in my head. Here it is:

Things You’ll Need:

• A slow cooker
• A frying pan and spatula (and a way to drain your grease)
• A good knife for cutting vegetables
• A big spoon to stir your chili in the slow cooker
• Time to let the chili cook

Ingredients:

• 1 lb of ground beef
• 2-4 whole carrots
• 1 green bell peppers
• 1 red bell pepper
• 1 yellow onion
• 1 bag of McCormick Hot (or Mild if you don’t like hot) Chili Seasoning Mix (1.25 OZ)
• 1 small can of tomato paste
• 1 regular can of red kidney beans
• 1 regular can of diced tomatoes

Directions:

1. Turn the slow cooker on high to let it heat up
2. Brown the ground beef
3. Cut up your green pepper, red pepper, onion and carrots into small pieces and add to slow cooker
4. Open tomato paste, diced tomatoes and kidney beans and add to slow cooker
5. Open the bag of seasoning and add to slow cooker
6. Drain your browned beef and add to slow cooker
7. Mix it all up and let it cook for 6-8 hours on low (I leave it on for the first hour or so high until it heats up but you probably don’t have to)

I’m not positive how much it costs for everything, but if you buy the ingredients at reasonable prices, the whole thing should cost under $10 and it lasts me for at least 4 meals (and I eat a lot). That’s $2.50 per meal and it’s incredibly tasty and healthy! So go try it and let us all know how it went and what you thought of it!!