Chicago & Chili

Last week, I had the opportunity to travel with my husband to Chicago!  It was a great trip.  There are so many fun things to do in Chicago, and so many great restaurants to try.  I had a chance to meet up with some old friends, too!  Here was our view from the hotel room (which was downtown on Michigan Ave. - the Marriott):

Anyway, I have another crock pot recipe to share with you!  It is my chili recipe.  You can modify it to include things that you like to have in your chili.  Here are the ingredients I use (minus the garlic - I forgot about that):

To make the crockpot chili, you need:

2 lbs. ground beef, browned & drained
2 cans red kidney beans, drained and rinsed
2 cans diced tomatoes, drained (I mix it up and use one petite diced and one regular)
1 can (16 oz.) tomato sauce
1 can diced green chilies
1 onion, chopped and diced
4 Tbsp. chili powder
1 Tbsp. cumin
2 cloves garlic, minced
salt & pepper to taste

After browning the ground beef and chopping your onion and garlic, place them in the crock pot.  Drain and rinse beans, then drain the tomatoes.  Dump the rest of the ingredients in the crock pot, and cook on low approximately 6-8 hours.

We serve this topped with shredded cheddar cheese, but you could also use green onions and some sour cream!

I had an old crockpot that stopped working, and I noticed that my new crock pot cooks much hotter than my other one.  If you have noticed the same thing, please leave me a note in the comments.  I hope you like the chili!