Mama Walker's Chili Ala Molly

FINALLY...I'm posting something on the food blog!  Here's the chili recipe Rachel wanted.  It comes from the mother of a good friend of mine.  I love this chili recipe because it's heavy on the beans while leaving out all the stewed tomato stuff I'm not such a big fan of.  This recipe is "to taste," so it's kind of Marilynn-style.  Just put in whatever sounds good to you.  This is just a guideline.

Ingredients:

1 lb lean ground beef (I use 4% lean, usually.  Use meat this lean so you don't have to drain it when cooking or else you lose all the garlic and onion flavor that's cooking with it.)

salt (to taste)

fresh ground pepper (to taste)

1 yellow onion chopped

minced garlic (To taste, I use two to three cloves.)

1 large can of tomato sauce (I think it's 28 ounces, but whatever is closest to that size.  Or just use two small 15 ounce cans.)

1 large can of red kidney beans (Again, I think it's 28 ounces, or do two small 15 ounce cans.  You can also sub in one small can of pinto beans--one 15 ounce red kidney beans and one 15 ounce pinto in that case--so this is four-bean chili instead of three.)

1 can of black beans (15 ounces)

1 can of great northern white beans (15 ounces)

1 pkg of chili seasoning

1/3 cup of ketchup

2 tsp chili powder

1-2 cups frozen corn (White or yellow or a mix of the two--however much you want.)

Instructions:

Saute the onion and garlic in a little olive oil.  When the onions are getting tender,  add in the ground beef and cook till the ground beef is browned.  Mix in salt and pepper to meat as it's cooking.

Place meat mixture in crock pot.  Add in all the rest of the ingredients (including liquid from canned beans) and mix around.  Cook on low at least six hours.

*Goes really well with cornbread with honey and butter.  We also usually add cheese, sour cream, and sometimes chopped green onions on top when served.