Redneck Chili – Fun With Food Friday

I am participating with Fun with Food Friday again this week hosted my Mama Chocolate.

What?

It’s Saturday, you say?

Okay, okay… so I’m late!  I’m sorry!

Forgive me?

Thanks!

Now that we are done with that, I can tell what I cooked for you!

Christyn M. sent in the recipe for this week.  She said her family calls it Redneck Chili.

Here are the ingredients and directions that Christyn sent over for the chili:

2 Cans of tomatoes (i like the ones that have garlic with them for extra flavoring)

1 packet of taco seasoning (i use mild but if you like it spicy then use a hot taco seasoning)

1 packet of ranch dressing (i use hidden valley packets)

1 pound of cooked ground beef

Shredded Cheese

Then whatever beans you have in your pantry! I usually have pinto,kidney, white pinto beans and black beans

Mix all of the ingredients into a crockpot and cook on low for 4-5 hours!

Enjoy! I usually make garlic bread to go with!

Well, as you may or may not know, I don’t use ‘packets’ of things.  It is super hard to find packets without a bunch of ingredients that aren’t allowed in our house.

So, I omitted both the taco seasoning packet and the ranch dressing packet.  For the taco seasoning, I just used my own mixture of chili powder, garlic powder, and diced onions. ( I know that’s not all that is in chili powder, but that’s what I did…)  I also added salt and pepper to taste.

I cooked up the ground beef then put it and all the other ingredients (except the cheese) in the crock pot.  I set it for 4 hours and walked away.

I was a little concerned it would be too thick…  I normally add a can of tomato sauce to my chili, but it turned out a perfect consistency.

I added cheese to my bowl and it melted in the hot chili.  I LOVE cheese in my chili!

Okay, so what did I think of the chili?  Well, we just thought it was okay, HOWEVER, I don’t feel like that is a fair assessment since I omitted the taco seasoning and ranch dressing packets.  I am sure there is lots of flavor in those packets!!  And, we usually put other stuff in our chili too, so hubby was disappointed I didn’t do it like he is used to.

That being said, if you are in the mood for trying a new way to make your chili OR you just don’t know how to make chili, this is a great recipe to start with.  Chili is a forgiving recipe, so you can start with this and then change it up as you see fit.

Make sure to check out what Mama Chocolate and Staying Me made for Fun With Food Friday!  It’s a great way to get new recipes!

Let me know if you try this one and how you like it.

~Nicole~