It may be chilly outside but it's chili inside

As you remember I had the dilemma of this

So when you have 2 lbs of kidney beans the only thing you can do is to make 5 quarts of chili!

The week of Snowpolycalpsye not only were we up to our necks in snow but in our house we were up to our necks in chili. While chili is a winter staple in our house I don't think we will be having it for a while given the massive quantities we had to eat last week. 

What I love about chili is its simplicity. Beans, Meat, Tomatoes. From those simple ingredients there are so many variations. I don't think I ever make my chili the same way twice. I may use different beans, substitute vegetables like squash and zucchini for meat, use ground turkey instead of beef, etc. The possibilities are endless. 

I am going to share with you my basic starter recipe with some minor notes as to what I modified to get the version we ate last week.  (Once again I don't have exact quantities since I cook to taste - sorry ;(  I know I need to start doing a better job about measuring while cooking.)

Chilly Outside Chili

Ingredients

• Canned Tomato Sauce
• Canned Diced Tomatos (sometimes I buy the ones that are already seasoned)
• Ground Meat (For this version I used ground turkey but the traditional is made with ground beef)
• Sausage (I like our chili meaty and usually add sausage. I use different varieties of italian sausage depending on what taste I am going for - sweet, mild or hot.)
• Beans (Traditionally made with red kidney beans (dark or light) but I use a variety of other beans as well - black, chickpeas, white, etc. For this I used black and red kidney beans.)
• Diced Onion (red or white)
• Diced Green Pepper
• Garlic (optional)
• Cumin
• Chili powder
• White pepper
• Hot Sauce
• Brown Sugar
• Kosher salt
• Bay leaf
• Beer (I use a lager. I don't use the whole bottle, probably only about 1/5-1/4 of the bottle)
• Cheese 
• Sour Cream

• Add in beans, tomato sauce, and diced tomatoes to crock pot set to high. Add in seasonings (cumin, chili powder, white pepper, bay leaf). Let cook for about 1 - 1 1/2 hours.
• While chili starter is going in crockpot cook ground meat, adding in any desired seasonings to meat. Drain from fat.
• Cook sausage. I prefer to bake the sausage in the oven. Let rest and pat off any excess oil (especially if cooking in frying pan). When sausage has cooled slice into bite size pieces.
• Add in meat, diced onions, diced green peppers, and garlic to crock pot. Also add in beer, hot sauce, and brown sugar. Taste and add in any additional seasonings (cumin, chili powder, etc).
• Let cook another 1 - 1 1/2 hours.
• Serve with grated cheese and sour cream.