Homemade Chili -- Take 2

Last night i decided i was going to try making baked beans again. I put a cup of dried beans on to soak and went to bed. This morning, i changed my mind, as women are apt to do,  and hauled out some hamburger to make chili. My last chili experiment ended up being good, but a bit bland and lacking in the spice department. With today's experiment, i was hoping to correct that. 

So i started with soaking the beans overnight, and then boiling them for an hour. I also cooked up a pound of hamburger. Into the crock-pot they went along with a tsp of jarred crushed garlic, a quarter of a green pepper and a chunk of red onion. For the sauce, i used about 3/4 jar of Newman's Own Marinara, left over from last week, a very small can of garlic tomato paste and a medium sized can of tomato sauce. I gave it a taste test and added about 1/4 cup of beer and chipotle BBQ sauce and about a Tbsp of HP steak sauce. These were all just dumps, so no true measurement. For kicks, i added about half a tsp of Mrs. Dash, a sprinkle of cayenne pepper and about a half tsp of crushed chillies. I gave it a stir and turned it on high, then went out and shoveled out the car (and called my big sister to come help me push it out of the ice). About 2 hours later, i turned it down to low, where i kept it for about 4 hours. 

To go with my chili, i decided to make another cornbread, it is a quick and easy recipe, since i did not have a lot of time it is perfect. My baby sister's wedding is 5 days away, today we had to go to the seamstresses to pickup our dresses. Thankfully, one of us decided to try it on, and the seamstress realized the inside layer of material was showing. It did not when she had them on her dress form. We ended up being there over an hour while she cut and hemmed two of the three dresses, thankfully the third was fine. 

So, with cornbread and chili made, i got an invite out to dinner. Two of the wedding party are flying in tonight from Atlanta, my sister decided to take them out to dinner after picking them up, and invited the rest of us along. So, my chili will wait until tomorrow and make great lunches for next week. I tried a bit, it has a really good kick! So of to dinner i go; tonight is also the bachelorette party (and the bachelor as well), so i will be out for that to! I dished up some chili for pictures, it looks great! 

And now i don't have to cook tomorrow! Have a good weekend, everyone!