Mellow Beantastic Chili for Slow Cooker Saturday

Hi folks. Little old me again. I have the Slow Cooker Saturday post I promised and am late with. I swear if I was ever on time with anything the world would come to a grinding halt. Okay so it wouldn't, in the grand scheme of things I suppose I am not overly important. So when you think about it like that who cares if I'm late. I mean who cares if any of us are late. I mean we can all be late till the end of time because in the grand scheme of things it really isn't important. Life changing words to live by from you little old Lunatic. Your boss will thank me I can assure you.

I am going to make this post snappy, as in quick, not witty and snarky. Or with me snapping my fingers in time with the words. Just wanted to clarify that. I mean I wouldn't want you expecting a snarky, witty, finger snapping Lunatic standing over your shoulder while you read. That would just be annoying. I might gum pop occasionally but finger snapping crosses the line.

Chili is a fave around the Bee household. I should clarify again. Chili is a fave around the Bee household except with mini-me who turns her nose up at anything that isn't pizza or steak. But since this is Cravings of a Lunatic and not Cravings of a Kid who only eats pizza and steak, well I can make chili all I want right. I mean she eats well, so once in awhile if she makes a grilled cheese or kraft dinner while we have chili I think she'll survive. Thank goodness B likes anything. And everything. And large quantities of anything, and everything. I really should just have our house moved to the back of the grocery store so he has constant access to it. Would be so much easier and time efficient. I am lucky though, he likes healthy food so he helps balance the scales in the bigger scheme of things, and helps offset mini-me's love of junk. He's the healthy yin to her junky yang.

This is an easy chili. It's a variation of my sister's recipe. I shall ask her if I can post her full recipe for you guys. She is an amazing cook. I call her whenever I have problems in my kitchen. Or many times when I am in the grocery store and stumped by an ingredient I need. She always walks me through things. Now your thinking okay total normal sister stuff. Well, not really. She lives in B.C. and I live in Ontario so it means a ton of long distance phone calls and odd hours. Just today I called her in a panic attack as I thought I did something horrendously wrong to some puff pastry. She assured me I wasn't nuts, I didn't believe her, we laughed, we cried, I made tarts while we talked. All in a days work here at the Bee household. My recipes and kitchen would be sorely lacking without my sis. She is my cooking guru. My supplier of spices and fine sauces. I have a couple of her recipes here on the blog. But I always like to check with her before posting any of hers. This is close to hers with a few modifications.

So for the time being here is a mellow, very beany chili for you guys to try out. Hubs said it was too bland. I may or may not have said "bite me" but I think he heard it's got bite, so it's all good. He'll never know.

Mellow Beantastic Chili:


Ingredients:


1 pound of ground beef (I have to say it was not enough. You should use 2 pounds!)
7 cloves of garlic, pressed (you can half this, 7 is alot of garlic)
5 celery sticks, diced
1 white onion, diced
1 sweet onion, diced
3 green peppers, chopped
2 shallots, diced
2 tablespoons chili powder
2 tablespoons onion powder
2 tablespoons onion flakes
2 tablespoons dried oregano
2 tablespoons dried basil
Salt to taste
2 x 28 oz cans of whole peeled tomatoes
1 x 13 oz can of tomato paste
2 x 19 oz cans of red kidney beans
1 x 19 oz can of white kidney beans
1 x 19 oz can of black beans
1/2 cup brown sugar (you can use half that, I like mine sweet)
1 cup beef stock

Directions:


Brown your ground beef in a skillet.


Also saute your onions, shallots, celery and green pepper lightly in a skillet ahead of time.


Rinse all your beans.


I blended my tomatoes as I abhor big chunks of tomatoes. You can skip this step if you'd like.


Now toss everything on the list in the slow cooker.


Turn on low and cook for 6 or so hours. 


Serve with a smile and a handful of beano.

EAT IT PLAIN....

OR EAT IT WITH SOME CHEESE....

BUT FOR THE LOVE OF ALL THAT IS GOOD IN THE WORLD PLEASE EAT IT WITH SOME BEANO

Toodles and smoochies.xx