Chop up an onion and about a cup worth of celery. Heat pot on medium and add a little oil to the bottom so you can sauté the celery and onion. Then cook up a pound of either ground beef or ground turkey in the same pot with the onion and celery. I usually add about a half teaspoon of salt and half teaspoon black pepper, and about a tablespoon of chili powder to the mixture. (Sometimes I need to add more chili powder than that but start with one tablespoon and add a little more at a time if you decide it needs it.)

 

When meat is cooked through, add in 1 or 2 cans of whatever kind of beans you like, and a 28 ounce can crushed tomatoes, & a 28 ounce can tomato sauce. Lower heat, cover and simmer about an hour if you're cooking it on the stove. If you use a crock pot, do the meat, celery & onion in a pan before you add it to the crock pot, then add the rest and let it stay in the crock pot 2-3 hours on high, or 6-8 hours on low. If it tastes like it needs a little more seasoning, I add a little more pepper and/or a little more chili powder.

 

You can serve it over rice if you want, and sprinkle shredded cheese on top. Dad sometimes likes to have a handful of corn chips with it if we have them in the house.

 

If you do not have cans of beans, measure out 1 cup of dry beans into a pot and put enough water in the pot to cover the beans. Then put the lid on the pot and let it sit overnight before using. Obviously, this requires you to plan when to make the chili since this step adds time. But dry beans do cost less than buying them in the cans.