Hand-Me-Down Chili

"Do you love me?" texted I to my Man.

Seven entire minutes passed with no response so I texted again louder, "Do U love me???"

Quickly the return text read, "Yes...more than i could ever express." Sweet.

Unfortunately, my question was a leading one, so I texted back, "Could u attempt to express it with a delivery of about 6 cans of dark red kidney beans on your lunch hour?"
"Yes, do u need anything else?" he queried back.

I responded with a no and then thanked God for a man with a healthy sense of humor and a large measure of long suffering. Then I continued with my plans to make a double batch of the chili recipe that my mother-in-law handed down to me almost 16 years ago, when my man and I were newlyweds.

First, one of the best hurry-up-dinner-tricks I know: frozen chopped onions.  When a recipe calls for chopped onion, chop extra and freeze in a zip top baggie in 1/2 cup portions.  When you need it, just remove it from the freezer and add to the recipe.  The onion will thaw while you prepare your dish.

For a single batch of chili, you will need about 1/2 cup of onion (more or less to your taste) and 1 pound of beef (or venison if your dad is a skilled hunter who shares..uh hem...).  Brown the beef with the onion. If you are not using venison (uh hem...) you'll need to drain your ground beef to remove excess fat.

Return beef and onion to soup pot and salt and pepper to your taste.  

Next add a 46 ounce can of tomato juice,

2-3 teaspoons of chili powder,

 and 1/2 cup of sugar,

 and three 15 ounce cans of kidney beans, undrained. 

Now for the hard part...

 heat and stir. 

 The longer you simmer it, the better it gets AND if you have any left over chili, put it in the fridge overnight - that's where the magic happens. Second-day chili can't be beat!!

This is a basic recipe that can be customized to different tastes.  Use additional chili powder for more heat, more beans and less meat for a budget-friendly meal, or for a "smoother" taste drop a couple of chocolate chips into the pot like my sister does.  It seems just a few chips add that "little something" which makes chili special to my sister's gang.  They need something special in their chili, because they don't put any beans in it! Scandalous I know!

At the Wright Place, we eat our chili with crackers, sour cream, and cheddar cheese with a big fluffy piece of corn bread on the side.  Often we make a double batch of chili for the weekend and eat it while we watch football. Enjoy!

Here's the recipe for Hand-Me-Down Chili:
{Printable Recipe HERE}
1# ground beef (or venison...ah hemmmmmm!)
1/2 cup chopped onion
1 -- 46 oz. can tomato juice
salt & pepper to taste
2-3 teaspoons chili powder
1/2 cup sugar

3 -- 15 oz. cans kidney beans, undrained