It's that time again!

It's the perfect weather for the first batch of chili at the Silbaugh household. It's been a fun packed day designing my friend's menus for her cupcake business, Sweet C's Cups & Cakes (if you are in North East Ohio, she will be at the Pumpkin Festival in Huntsburg in a couple weeks, go and check her out!), my Hubbin and I painted a second coat of red in our bedroom (sorry but the Valspar paint and primer does NOT do what they say it should!), and chili is in the crockpot cooking away!

When we bought our house everything including the walls and the floors is a wonderful color that has been dubbed "Builder Beige". I love color and after a year or so we have finally spent some of our time deciding which colors we would like in our rooms and actually putting those colors on the wall. This is Heirloom Red and there's still a few spots that need touched up, but we'll get to that another day. I was worried with our dark bedroom furniture it would be too dark, but honestly it's perfect. And it will match a quilt that I'm working on so all the better!

And for what you've all been waiting for - my chili recipe. It's really easy, about 20 minutes of prep, and just let it cook all day and dinner will be ready when you are.

Ingredients:
* 2-3 pounds of ground meat (beef is good but use what you have, Same with the amoutn of meat, use what you have. Don't worry about making a special trip to the store if you don't have to!)
* 2 green peppers (diced into big pieces)
* 2 onions (diced into big pieces)
* 2 tablespoons minced garlic
* 2 cans of beans (it's great to mix and match these too)
* 2 cans of diced tomatoes (try some of the specially seasoned ones!)
* 2 small cans of diced green chiles
* 1 small can of tomato paste
* 1 cup of chicken broth
* 2 tablespoons of worcestershire sauce
* 2 tablespoons italian seasonings
* 2 teaspoons cayenne pepper
* salt and pepper as needed

Step One: Brown the meat in a skillet, season as desired. Remove the meat from the drippings and put into the Crock Pot.

Step Two: You can either discard the drippings and use olive oil, or use the drippings to slightly cook the diced green pepper and onion. Place these in the Crock Pot with the meat.

Step Three: Make sure you are using a large Crock Pot because of this step - add the rest of the ingredients to the Crock Pot and stir well until all ingredients are mixed.

Step Four: Set the temperature of the Crock Pot to Low (cook for 8-10 hours) or High (cook for 4-6 hours). Place the lid on the Crock Pot and DO NOT TOUCH until finished! The lid will be full of steam which will seal in all of the goodness. As much as you (or your Husband...) want to look and stir - RESIST! This does not do you good and actually causes the Crock Pot to lose heat and take longer to cook. (I'm still working on the resist to stir thing with Hubbin - tisk tisk tisk)

Step Five: Serve with your favorite companion such as roasted potatoes, spaghetti, baked potatoes, cornbread, or just by itself. Spoon and bowl might be necessary!

*If you find the chili too runny for your taste, a little thickening flour should do the trick or cook the last half hour without the lid on the Crock Pot.

Well, there it is. This is now one of my favorite meals (coming from the girl who didn't like chili until I was married!) and I look forward to making it often this time of year. This recipe does make a bunch so it will feed a crowd or freezes nicely. It's way too much just for Hubbin and I, so this also happens alot.

I hope you enjoy it, I know I am enjoying a bowl of this yummy goodness right now. Until next time!