Tasty Tuesday: In-Your-Sleep Chili

Mrs. Eyecansee often posts Tasty Tuesday blogs annnnnd I thought I'd do one myself this week! Don't get used it though. This whole cooking thing is becoming more frequent, but I wouldn't go so far as to call it "regular" quite yet.. ;)

I was actually looking for a good beef stew recipe Sunday as a break in some serious deep cleaning of the casa (I went cleaning cray-cray on Sunday). I wanted the kind with the big chunks of carrots and potatoes and green beans and corn and... well.. I didn't trust myself enough to throw it in the crock pot without some guidance. (Feel free to offer tips on stew if you have any!)

And that's when I stumbled on the in-your-sleep chili on Better Homes and Gardens website! I thought "Hm.. I could go for some chili instead..." Eric's mom sent me a chili recipe this week, but it's on my work email and I couldn't get to it! Pppft! But, I've seriously been wanting to make some, so my stew idea was abandoned.

Okay, so all this rambling aside, this stuff is called in-your-sleep for a reason. It's SO easy, people. And it doesn't require a ton of ingredients...only FIVE! I love that b/c well.. as I've said before, I'm an inexperienced cook, SO I don't just have a pinch of this or that laying around. I likely have to go buy a bunch of this or that just to get the pinch it asks for. Slowly but surely acquiring a better spice supply. Anyway...

Mine turned out pretty yummy looking (and tasting) if I do say so myself! :)

Here are the instructions straight from bhg.com (with my added commentary)

• 1pound ground beef
• 1
  large onion, chopped
• 2
  15-ounce cans chili beans in chili gravy (aka chili "sauce" or anything else. I spend 10 minutes looking for "gravy" only to realize it's all the same darn thing). 
• 1
  14.5-ounce can diced tomatoes and green chiles, undrained (I got two 10-ounce cans and estimated 14.5)
• 1
  11 1/2-ounce can hot-style vegetable juice (V8 juice-hot style)
• 
  
  Sliced green onions, dairy sour cream, and/or shredded cheddar cheese (optional) (Cheese should never be optional). 

directions

1.In a large skillet, cook ground beef and onion until meat is brown; drain off fat.

2.In a 3 1/2- to 4-quart slow cooker (/crock pot). combine ground beef mixture, beans, undrained tomatoes and green chiles, and vegetable juice.

3.Cover; cook on low-heat setting for 4 to 6 hours on on high-heat setting for 2 to 3 hours. If desired, top each serving with green onions, sour cream, and/or cheddar cheese.

I went ahead and used one mild can of chili beans and one can of medium chili beans. Probably didn't need to do that b/c the hot-style veggie juice definitely gives it a little kick. :) I opted to cook it on high for 2 hours (instead of low for 4-6) and it was done perfectly. :)

If you're looking for an easy and yummy chili, this is a good one, friends!