Slow cooker chili con carne with beans

I love my Slow Cooker. Not that I've ever tried to keep that a secret, I just wanted to put it out there. Slow cookers are amazing for so many reasons: it's super easy, takes little to no time/work on your part, and makes meals so much cheaper. You just prep, throw all the ingredients in, then go do whatever you want. You can buy cheap ingredients in bulk and turn them into a zillion different types of meals. If ever I meet the inventor of the Crock Pot I will hug them.

I know, some of you are thinking, but wait it's August in Colorado, why are you making winter food? While it is true the Rocky Mountain blizzards haven't yet begun (and thank god for that! stay away as long as possible please...) it has been rainy/overcast here. Weird, right? Isn't Colorado basically a really high-up desert? That's what I was told. Someone lied to me, because we've had some serious torrential downpours recently. It's far too late to save my porch plants, but at least maybe they'll lift the fire ban and allow fireworks again soon...

Anyhow, so I was craving some chili. After an in-depth discussion with my boyfriend, who is from Texas, arguing the general attitudes of some people towards the many different types of chili (with beans, never beans, meat types, heat level, sweetness, over noodles, etc) I decided on a thicker, meatier kind of chili with minimal fuss, not sweet and with beans.

Ingredients:
1 pound ground beef (as you can see, I popped mine right in there from the freezer)
1 can pinto beans
1/2 onion, diced small
1 can diced tomatoes
1 can diced tomatoes with green chilies
1 small can V8 or tomato sauce
Garlic salt
Coriander
Chili powder

 Step 1: Put meat in crock pot, add all canned ingredients. Dice up the onion, add that and spices to taste. I don't measure, as a general rule. I like garlic salt, so that's probably about 3 tbsp worth, coriander comes out slow so maybe 1-2 tbsp, chili powder is kinda key so I'd say I used maybe 1/4 cup worth.

 Step 2: Put that sucker on low overnight. In the morning, break up the meat chunk into smaller bite size pieces. Leave on low all day too. You can taste it to see if it needs more spice of any kind, and add extra liquid (tomato sauce/juice is best) if it needs it.

 Coming home from work to the knock-your-socks-off smell of chili just can't be beat on a cold, rainy day!

I made some corn bread muffins to go with it, (I totally cheated and used a 50 cent Jiffy mix, no judgment) as well as serving it with shredded cheddar cheese and sour cream. It was amaaaaaaaaazing. And makes plenty for several servings and leftovers too.

Leftover chili is great on its own, or over hot dogs as chili cheese dogs, over cooked pasta, or on a baked potato with extra cheese, sour cream and or avocado. I've even seen it as pizza! (Which I will need to try making someday soon).

Enjoy!