One of my favorite things about Fall and the cooler weather is making chili. Now even though I love chili and I love to cook, I’ve never made my own chili. I guess that could be because there are always chili cook-offs this time of year, which means so many people have perfected their recipes already. That can be a little intimidating for me, but that also means I can get lots of yummy chili for free. Right now the temperature is 64 degrees in Tampa Bay, but in general October is a pretty warm month. Before this cold front is just a memory, my mom and I decided to make a big pot of chili.

Now when I say that I made chili with my mom, I mean that she bought the ingredients and provided the kitchen. She loves to recruit me to cook for her, which is fine because I love to cook and I’m poor. Here’s how we made it:

Ingredients (amounts are approx.)

• 1 lb ground beef
• 2 cans of tomato sauce
• 2 cans of crushed tomatoes
• 1 can of white beans
• 1 can of black beans
• 1 can of light red kidney beans (I prefer dark red ones though)
• 2 bell peppers (1 red, 1 orange)
• 3 cloves of garlic
• 1 cup of chopped white onion
• olive oil
• cayenne pepper
• chili powder
• cumin

Directions

1. Brown the ground beef in a large pan. I season the meat with chili powder, cumin and cayenne pepper.

2. Cover the bottom of a tall stock pot with olive oil.

3. In the pot toss in the chopped peppers, onion and garlic. Cook on medium high for a minute or two.

4. When the meat is done cooking, add it to the pot. You may want to drain some of the fat first.

5. Next add the cans of tomatoes and tomato sauce and stir all the ingredients together.

6. Then pour all 3 cans of beans in a colander in the sink to drain the sauce (and sodium) and dump the beans in the pot.

7. Stir everything together and season with chili powder, cayenne pepper, cumin, salt and pepper to taste.

8. Let simmer over medium-low heat for half an hour or as long as you can stand to wait.

9. Chow down on your delicious chili!

I added a little Louisiana Hot Sauce to mine and topped it with a dollop of sour cream and a little shredded cheddar cheese. Sometimes I eat it over rice and sometimes I don’t. You could easily add some hot peppers to this recipe but we like it mild so everyone can enjoy it and add their own heat as desired. Both my 3-year-old and my 9-month-old enjoyed this chili and my husband LOVED it. Now I just have to decide if I want to enter it in one or both of the chili cook-offs that Gulf Coast Community Church and Our Savior Lutheran Church are hosting. What do you think? Feel free to share your chili recipes on my Facebook page.