The Prudent Wife

Today is a gorgeous day, sun shining brillianty, blue purple mountains in the background, lake glittering, trees barren in their winter slumber, yet it is only 22 degrees! The perfect day to come home from church to a bubbling crockpot full of homemade, spicy chili made completely from scratch, with narry a preservative in it! Chili is a very personal thing, and everybody has a different recipe. Here is what we make at The Prudent Wife.While there are several steps, it really whips up easily with little stress and you know you are giving your family a protein packed power meal! Use as many organic ingredients as you possibly can for the healthiest chili out there.

Step 1: Soak the Beans

• Dried Pinto Beans 4 or 5 cups

Saturday morning, dump 4 to 5 cups of pinto beans in a big bowl. Add about 2 tablespoons of Organic Cider Vinegar and cover generously with water. Total soak time is about  8 to 12 hours, just ignore them! The beans will begin to soften. When the time is up, drain the beans. Rinse and pick over. Dump rinsed, soaked beans into the crock pot.

Step 2: Cook Meat

• 1 to 1 1/2 lbs of lean hamburger, ground turkey/chicken, deer meat 
• 2-3 onions chopped
• 4-6 garlic cloves crushed
• salt and pepper to taste
  
• optional, for more flavor, add a diced jalapeno pepper, or some of the juice from jarred jalapeno peppers

 Brown the meat, onions, and garlic in a pan. Transfer to a container, refrigerate overnight. 

Step 3: Cook the Beans

Cover the soaked, rinsed beans with fresh water about an inch above your crockpot. Cook overnight on LOW (about 8-10 hours) Wake up in the morning, and while your coffee is brewing, dump the beans into a colander. Allegedly, if you dump the cooking juices out, they will be less gassy. Put the drained beans back into your crockpot, keeping it on LOW.  

Step 4: Add Meat Mixture to Beans, Spices and Let COOK!

•  2 large cans of CRUSHED tomatoes (2-28 oz cans use whole, chopped, diced or whatever you have on hand and whatever texture fits your palate) 
• 1 small can tomato paste 
• 4-8 Tablespoons of dried chili powder (4 Tbsp is a mild chili, 8 Tbsp gets spicier!)
• 2-4 Tbsp of cumin (this is the secret ingredient that makes chili taste like chili!) 
• 2 Tbsp of garlic powder
• 2 Tbsp onion powder
• 2 Tbsp pepper
• 2 Tbsp sea salt
  
• optional - 1 or 2 diced jalapeno peppers
  

Stir the spices into the tomato sauce, fold in the paste being careful to incorporate spices. Add the meat mixture, blend. Stir into the drained pot of beans in the crock pot. Stir well, add a little water if the mixture is too thick. Cook on low for 4-6 hours. You will come home from church to a fabulous spicy pot of chili that is perfect for serving guests!

Fun options

Baked Potato Bar!

Scrub potatoes. Rub a bit of olive oil into each potato, and sprinkle with sea salt. Place in the oven, and set the timer to come on 1 hour before you arrive home.  Fun for a baked potato bar with all the fixins -- cheese, onions, jalapenos, corn chips, chopped avocados, olives, sour cream or whatever you like!

Chili and Chips

Take corn chips (baked or regular) and top the bowl of chili with cheese, corn chips and more! Kids love this - it is a fun treat!

Chili with Corn Bread -

Make our famous Prudent Wife Cornbread and you have a winning combination that cannot be beat!

Chili and Salad

A big bowl of chili, a delicious salad and cornbread are the perfect way to chase away winter's chill.