Crock pot chili

So I made some chili the other day, as planned. I didn't quite realize, or well think about the fact that 6 quarts is a gallon and a half of anything. So in the end I created 1/5 gallons of yummy chili...that consisted of 3.5 lbs of beef. :-)

I read some basic recopies to remind myself of ratios and get an idea of quantity for the crock pot, as I'd never attempted chili in the crock pot.

Crock Pot Chili

Ingredients:

1 lb ground beef
2.5 lbs stew meat
1 can diced tomatoes
2 cans spicy V-8
1 can chili beans
1 can red kidney beans (drained and rinsed)
1 medium onion chopped
2-3 cloves garlic chopped/minced (depending on taste)
1/4 cup chopped jalapeños (to taste)
ground cumin
chili powder
cayenne pepper
oregano
salt
pepper
hot sauce

Directions:
First, I chopped all things that needed to be chopped or diced. Then I put some mined garlic paste (jalapeño* liquid from jar) in a pan and turned on the heat, then I added the ground beef. Began to brown beef, and added stew meat. After all meat was in pan I added the onions and some of the garlic I had chopped reserving some to go straight into the Crockpot (we like garlic).

Served with a few Fritos and Cheddar on top

While meat was browning I added the canned tomatoes, V-8, and beans to crock pot and stirred together.

Once the meat was browned on the outside, I drained the fat and added it to the crock pot. Mixed all items together then added all the seasonings. I knew basic measurements and just eyeballed everything, so I can't post the amounts that I put into the crock pot. The hot sauce I used was called After Death and I only added 3-4 drops, that was enough. But we like things super spicy most of the time.

Then turned the Crockpot onto low for 7-8 hours, I stirred it a few times throughout the day, just to insure no meat dried out from stick out at the top. It was a little soupy in the end, but for leftovers I added a table spoon of cornstarch (mixed with water) and that thickened it up really well and made it a more traditional chili consistency.

*Whenever we brown beef we typically add some jalapeño liquid from the jar and a 6 pepper blend to add some flavor to the meat, no matter what dish we are creating.