Make this warm, nourishing recipe for your family on a cold, rainy weekend.

Don’t you just love a warm, savory bowl of homemade chili?

I have some in the crock pot right now. Really, I do. 

I usually bake fresh cornbread with my stash of local, raw cornmeal from McCalmont farms that I keep in the freezer. 

Warm from the oven cornbread slathered with butter and a dab of honey… 

Oh boy, my mouth is watering.

I make my chili a little different every time but I have an SOP (standard operating procedure) that I follow and if you worked for me you’d know what an SOP is. HA.

I use my slow cooker and let all the ingredients simmer together for 6-8 hours. The low and slow cooking process melds the flavors of the chili seasoning into every bite and the beef becomes so tender, juicy, and irresistible. You can cook on high for 3-4 hours if you need to.

Star Ingredients:

Beef: Shady Spring 100% grass-fed ground beef is what I use. Venison that my son harvested is a favorite too. Make no mistake, grass-fed makes a huge difference, not only in flavor but in health. 100% grass-fed beef has Omega 3 fatty acids, the stuff that once upon a time made beef a healthy, nourishing food. CAFO beef is not good for you. period. Eat 100% grass-fed beef or don’t eat it. 

Onions: I get creative here. Shocker, I know. This time of year I will use frozen onion and garlic and/or scallions. I like a lot of garlic in my chili. I puree fresh garlic in the fall, freeze it in ice cube trays and pop it out when needed.

Peppers: You guessed it. Diced, multicolored Oak Spring peppers. I dice and freeze red, yellow and green peppers in late fall. Frozen jalapenos are great too. 

Tomatoes: OSF frozen or canned tomatoes. Don’t have any?  I love Muir Glen organic fire-roasted diced tomatoes. 

Beans: I use both canned and dried beans. I prefer black beans or kidney beans but I’ve made chili with all kinds of beans and I think they are just fine. I strain and drain my canned beans. 

Chili Seasoning: I make a simple homemade blend with 1 TBLS each of chili powder, smoked paprika, cumin,OSF Chipotle salt

2 tsp each of garlic powder, oregano, and pepper.  I also put in a dollop of our Smoked Cayenne Pepper Sauce, yum!

For a pot of chili use:

1# Shady Spring 100% grass-fed beef

1 c of diced onion

4 cloves of garlic, minced 

1 c diced sweet pepper

1 quart or 28-ounce can of diced tomatoes 

1-2 cans of beans, drained and strained

2 TBLS Homemade Chili Seasoning

Saute the diced onion and pepper together in your favorite pan. I love my cast iron pan. 

Add garlic after 3-4 minutes cook for another 2 minutes and add to the crock pot.

Saute the ground beef in the same pan until just cooked, crumbling it as it cooks.

Add the seasoning, saute one more minute, add to the crock pot. 

Add one quart of diced tomatoes (quart canned or a 28 oz can)

Cook for 6-8 hours. Add beans an hour before serving.

Garnish with diced avocado, grated Daily Crisis raw milk Cheddar Cheese, sour cream and fresh cilantro, chives or scallions

This will warm you up and nourish you for sure.

Enjoy!

Want more information on how to have all these great chili ingredients in your freezer for a cold, rainy day?

Click here to learn more