My Family Chili

More like soup than a thick chili. Prepare in the morning and let cook all day in the slow cooker and serve for supper over corn bread. During harvest time, I prepared in the evening, turning to warm setting over night for husband to take to work the next day. Once at work, he turned on low until lunch time. Guys at work sent tons of compliments home with him.

• Ready In: 4 hrs 10 mins
• Yields: 4 quarts

Ingredients

• 1  medium  white onion
• 1  lb ground beef
• 1  teaspoon black pepper
• 1 (15 ounce) can dark red kidney beans (rinsed)
• 1 (40 ounce) can tomato juice
• 2 (14 ounce) cans diced tomatoes (do not drain)
• 3  tablespoons chili powder (plus additional dashes to your taste)

Directions

1. Slice onion into small pieces (not diced).
2. Brown ground beef, sliced onions, black pepper. Drain any excess grease.
3. Turn slow cooker on low and add: tomato juice, diced tomatoes, kidney beans, chili powder. (I start with about 3Tbs. of chili powder and sometimes add additional dashes to taste after it's cooked a while.) Add ground beef mixture after meat is cooked & drained.
4. Cook on low in slow cooker stirring occasionally 4 to 5 hours for best flavor throughout. Serve with crackers or over corn bread. (It fills up a 4-qt slow cooker, so I prepare in my 5-qt. slow cooker).
5. * Variations I've tried. Try any one or a mix of them. 1. Add 1 medium green pepper, sliced. 2. Do you like lots of beans in your chili? Add a second can of kidney beans. Don't like beans? Leave them out. 3. Change up the flavor by using the various flavored diced tomatoes. 4. Want a little more spice, substitute the black pepper for cayenne pepper when browning the ground beef.