Lone Star Chili

One of my favorite things about winter time is eating a hot steaming bowl of homemade chili! 

I hope you are ready for a fun and warm recipe this Monday morning!

Gary is the chili cook in our house; we have been married for over 10 years...every year his chili recipe just gets better and better!

I think the pot we cook it in has a huge influence on how the chili turns out.  We use this old pot.  It was Gary's moms.  She made many a roast in this fun ole pot, but we are using it for chili!

 I am sharing our chili recipe with you today!!!

What you need:

2 1/2 lb ground beef 

4 (8oz) cans of tomato sauce
1 can rotel
1 medium yellow onion
2 Tbs minced garlic
2 1/2 Tbs chili powder
1 1/2 Tbs cumin
1 Tbs black pepper
1 Tbs salt
1 tsp red pepper flakes
1 sleeve of Ritz crackers (crushed into almost a powder)

What to do:

Brown the meat, but do not overcook and break up the meat as finely as possible.
Take off heat and place in chili pot DO NOT DRAIN the grease.
In the same skillet saute finely chopped yellow onion until soft.
Add minced garlic to the pan and saute with onion for 2 minutes.
Remove from heat and add to chili pot.
Pour in 4 cans of tomato sauce and one can of rotel.
Add all spices and bring to a boil while stirring constantly.
Reduce heat to a simmer and cover.
After one hour the grease will rise to the top of the pot.
Do not panic...add the crackers to the pot.  Stir every 20 minutes.
Let simmer for 2 1/2 hours.

The key to really good chili is letting it sit. Let it simmer and let the flavors mingle together!!

I love my chili with Frito's and cheese. Gary adds jalapenos to his.  He likes it hot!

What do you put in your chili?  Crackers on top? Cornbread? Sour cream?