Secret Ingredient Chili

Happy Presidents' Day! For some reason, I get the day off work today. We are actually going to go meet with the caterers for our wedding today! :) Very exciting.

Even though it's going to be a whopping 40 degrees today in Michigan, we still have a ways to go with winter. One of my favorite winter meals is chili. I throw a bunch of things in the crockpot, go about my day, and come home to a warm hearty meal. (Sound familiar?)

Mat LOVES chili, but he has high standards. He loves a good old-fashioned beef chili, especially his Dad's. I've tried chicken chilis, chilis with pumpkin, and vegetarian chilis, and while he will respectfully eat them, I don't get any requests to make them again. 

I like a simple chili, too, but I also like to try different things. This chili, however, I've made at least four times in the past few months, and I'm pretty sure Mat would eat it every week if he could. You can sub the beef for turkey or chicken and add or change whatever else you want. It's pretty foolproof.

Sorry for the terrible picture, ha.
I swear it tastes better than it looks!

The ingredients:

• 1 lb. ground beef (I try to use a 90/10 lean beef)
• 1 can black beans
• 1 can white beans
• 1 can chili beans (we like it spicy, so I use the hot beans)
• 3 carrots, sliced into rounds
• 1 can diced tomatoes (I used garlic flavor)
• 1 packet chili seasoning (again, we like it hot!)
• Garlic powder (or minced garlic)

And the secret ingredient?? .... Cinnamon. When I was in school, there was a restaurant at MSU called Pizza House that had the best chili. It tasted of cinnamon. I finally started adding cinnamon to my chili and never looked back. It just brings out all of the other flavors. It's not overpowering at all, and I use a lot of it.

Brown the meat on the stove, then throw everything into your crockpot and cook for 6-8 hours on low. 

If you try it, let me know what you think! I know a  lot of people add cocoa powder to their chili, also. I'd love to try it, but Mat hates chocolate, so I will stick with the cinnamon.

If you haven't seen Jenny's song lyric DIY yet, check it out!

Hope you all have a great week,

Kristin