Crazy Chili

For the first 10 years of our marriage I didn't make chili more than oh, maybe 5 times. We weren't ground beef eaters, we didn't eat a lot of red meat and we lived in area's of the country where the winters we not very cold. (Southern California, for example.) After we moved to Minnesota we started to eat more ground beef in part because it was regional but mostly because we were a family of five living on one very, very small income and trying to pay a mortgage. With winters being 7 months long and the temperatures often staying below freezing for a week or two at a time, I made chili more often! I also found a mixture of ingredients that our family loved and it became my chili recipe.

I've made roughly the same chili recipe for about 12 years now. A year or two ago I stumbled across a recipe without a real name, that included can after can after can of beans. In the end I realized it was a 'chili' recipe but the ingredients, with a pound of brown sugar, a bottle of maple syrup and a kazillion cans of beans was just... crazy! Which is why I call it "Crazy Chili".

You can add up to 3-4 more cans of whatever beans you want to this list... personally I think more chili beans make it more 'chili' like but it's a great crowd-pleaser as it serves so many and is kept in a crock pot!


Crazy Chili

1 1/2 to 2 pounds ground beef - brown and drain
1 pound bulk sausage - crumble, brown, and drain
2 c chopped onions sauteed in oil or butter
1/8 C. A-1 Steak Sauce,
1/8 C. Worcestershire Sauce,
2 T Concentrated Hickory Seasoning (Liquid Smoke)
Dash Frank’s Red Hot Cayenne Pepper Sauce,
1 lb. bag brown sugar
12 oz bottle Aunt Jemima Original Syrup
1 can Oscar Mayer Real Bacon Bits
1 can Campbell’s French Onion soup (do not add water)
1 can Maple Sugar Baked Beans (15.5 oz.)
1 can hot chili beans
1 can Butter Beans (15 oz.)
1 can Traditional Refried Beans (16 oz)
1 can Spicy Pinto Chili Beans (14.1 oz.)
1 can Blackeyed Peas (15.5 oz)
1 can Black Beans (15 oz.)
1 can Pork and Beans (31 oz.[1lb. 15 oz])
1 can Great Northern Beans (15 oz.)
1 can Kidney Beans (15 1/4 oz.)
1 can Fresh Cut, Peeled Diced Tomatoes (14.5 oz)
1 can White Beans - Premium Small (15 oz.)
3-4 more cans of whatever beans you may want to add!

Simmer in a crock pot on low for 8-10 hours. Serve with a sprinkle of grated cheddar cheese on each.






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