Love, Lydia - Notes from a geeky, plus sized artist.: My Mom's Chili Recipe

Sunday, December 21, 2014

My Mom's Chili Recipe

Hey folks,

So this weekend I made chili for Bryan and I, and I wanted to share the recipe with you all.  It's ridiculously easy to make and always a crowd pleaser.  I got the recipe from my mom, and then changed it a bit to suit our tastes.


Here's what you'll need:

1 can Pinto Beans
1 can Dark Red Kidney Beans
1 can Light Red Kidney Beans
1 can Petite Diced (Peeled optional) Tomatoes
1 can Corn (We like Sweet White, but it's harder to find)
1 packet of your chosen chili seasoning (We use Kroger's mild variety)
a 1lb package of Regular/Mild Breakfast Sausage (Jimmy Dean, or whatever brand you like)
1 1/2 cups water

Optional ingredients/condiments
1/8 cup sugar
1 diced onion
1 box Ritz Crackers
8 oz Sour Cream
2-4 cups Shredded Cheese (We usually get a Mexican style blend, but Colby Jack would do well too.)

You can make your chili spicier by using hot seasoning and sausage, or add the sugar to make a more savory chili.

Don't drain the beans, corn, or tomatoes, their juices are part of the chili too.  The skin on the dark red kidney beans tends to be thicker than Bryan likes, so we often put them in a chopper long enough to break the skin and split most of the beans, allowing the beans to soften as they cook.  But this is not necessary.

We don't care for onion, but my mom originally put it in her chili if I remember correctly.  So for those who like onion it's great.  My own addition to this chili is corn, which adds just a bit of flavor on the savory side.

Brown the meat (drain off fat if needed), then put all the ingredients in a crock pot set to high for at least 5 hours stirring occasionally.  By that time it should thicken up nicely, and once it's thickened it's ready to serve.  You can let everyone eating add crackers, sour cream and shredded cheese as they see fit.

The recipe serves 4-5 people, and is quite hearty.  However, you may find folks go back for seconds, if so you can double the recipe.  Though it won't fit in a standard crock pot if you do, to get around this I usually set a bit of each ingredient aside in a bowl.

Feel free to add more ingredients to make this recipe your own!

Love,
Lydia

No comments:

Post a Comment