Time To Break Out The Slow Cookers

With summer right around the corner for most of you and temp's getting well into the mid to upper 80's around these parts..it's that time of year again to break out the slow cookers. I mean, come on...heating up an already hot home is too much to bear, seriously. Oh, and turning on the central A/C which in turn increases the electric bill by $200 bucks just to turn on a hot oven just doesn't appeal to me much at all either.

That is money better spent on shoes and Starbucks, in my opinion anyway. :0)

Today I leave you with a family favorite of ours and I call it...

"Slow Cooker Chili"
Lord only knows, Ia m not really original in my recipe naming.

If your family is like ours and will devour most anything at dinnertime, give it a try. No heating up the kitchen involved..and that is just plain cool. {no pun intended..LOL!}

This is what you will need to buy:

2.5 lbs. hamburger {the cheap stuff works well since you are draining all the nasty fat stuff away}
2-16 oz. cans Kidney Beans {drain them too}
2-14 1/2 oz. cans of diced tomatoes {I use the Italian ones} {don't drain these}
1-8 oz. can of tomato sauce
1 huge onion...chop it chunky
2 green peppers {or yellow or red or all three whatever you like} {chop it chunky}
4-5 garlic cloves chopped up {if your not into garlic use less, we love garlic alot}
Chili Powder
Italian Seasonings {this is optional..I use it cuz I like it}
Fresh Oregano {optional...use only if you want that Italian flavor}
Salt
Freshly ground pepper
Pasta/Rice/Egg Noodles/Whatever you like {Optional..but I like to put my chili over something}
Finely Shredded Cheese {we like Colby Jack but you use what you like best}

OK...now here is what you do, this should take no more then 15-20 minutes tops.

Cook up your hamburger till there is no more pink stuff.
Drain the nasty fat.
While that hamburger is cooking, chop up your veggies and throw all the other ingredients {except the cheese} into a huge bowl then give that a nice stir.
Transfer the meat into the slow cooker.
Drop that bowl of all the rest of the stuff into the slow cooker.
Sprinkle a little extra Chili Powder on top.
Cover and set that bad boy on high for the next 6 hours.

That's it..your dinner is done!

Serve it up, sprinkle some cheese on top and you get something that looks alot like this...



BTW...this recipe will feed about 6 hungry hell raiser hellions.

Now, before I leave today here is a little tip.

Because we have been going healthy these past few months around here, white starchy stuff is a thing of the past. Needless to say, my boys are not liking me much anymore {you should have seen them in the grocery store a few days ago telling the white potato bread how much they missed it..hehe}, although I still let them have their chips once in a while cuz, well..I can't be that mean, right?
So, I did switch to wheat pasta but that seriously did not go over well. Then I found "Barilla Plus" pasta and since it is still colored white, my boys are none the wiser and love it. I toss the box at the bottom of the trash can, they think they are eating "real" pasta and I get the satisfaction of knowing I am pumping their growing bodies full of extra grains, protein and omega three.

Score one for Mom. :0)

Have a great day everyone!!!

Love, Kim