E's Chili

I've been making my chili for years... but I've never written it down, just made it over and over from memory. So now it's official and I'm sharing my secret recipe with you!

Time: 15 mins prep, and 6+ hours to stew in your crock pot. (Start around noon and it will be perfect by the time you are ready to eat dinner.)

Feeds: Your whole family or a loving couple with days of leftovers.

Recipe continued after the jump...

Ingredients:

• 1.5 LBS eye of round steak
• 1 LB ground pork sausage 
• 45oz diced tomatoes
• 8oz plain tomato sauce
• 30oz kidney beans, drained
• 1 packet chili seasoning mix
• 1 TB chili powder
• 1 tsp paprika
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 2 TB dried minced onions
• about 2 cans water
• S&P to taste

Steps:

• Slice your steak into small cubes (I tend to leave most of the fat on the steaks. It melts while stewing and gives a good flavor to the chili.)
• Brown steak cubes in med-high skillet (with about 1 TB olive oil in your skillet to keep steaks from sticking.) Spoon out any grease/liquids from skillet in mid cook to keep up a good sear and reduce the greasiness of your chili.
• Brown sausage. Spoon out any grease/liquids from skillet when finished to reduce the greasiness of your chili.
• Drain and rinse kidney beans.
• Into the pot mix: kidney beans, browned steak, browned sausage, tomato sauce, diced tomatoes and the juices, chili seasoning, paprika, chili powder, garlic powder, minced onions, and S&P.
• Using the tomato cans pour in about 2 cans of water enough to cover the meat and beans, and stir. (I like my chili soupy, but if you could use 1 can of water if you like your's thicker.)
• Recycle your cans!
• Stew for at least 6 hours, the longer it stews the better it gets. In a crock pot: cook on high about for 4 hours and then put it down on low for the last 2+ hours. On the stove: bring it to a boil, then reduce heat to med-low (or setting 3) to let simmer for about 3 hours, and then put it down to low (or setting 2) for the remaining 3+ hours.
• Stir occasionally while cooking.

I love chili, bowl after bowl of chili. AH, I'm SO FULL now... This chili is really great, although I may be a little bias since it's my own recipe. The sausage adds such great flavor, and the steak is so tender it just melts as you chew.
Give it a try and tell me what you think! :D 

ENJOY!