Chili with ground beef, pork sausage, and vegetables

Oil: 1 Tbsp grapeseed or olive oil

Chopped vegetables:
1/2 medium yellow onion
2 cloves garlic
1 cup bell pepper (red, yellow, green, and/or orange)
1 cup carrots
1 cup celery

Meats:
1 lb lean ground beef
1 lb Jimmy Dean premium pork sausage

Beans:
1 - 15 oz can Black Beans, well rinsed and drained
2 cups Epicurean Specialty Gourmet Bean Blend, prepared following package instructions (may substitute red beans)

Spices (add to taste; suggested quantities are with high quality (Watkins) spices:
2-3 dashes salt
1 tsp black pepper
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp curry
.5 tsp cayenne pepper
1 Tbsp chili powder
1 Tbsp oregano
1 Tbsp basil
(also good with thyme, parsley, etc.)

Tomato products (S&W organic used for calorie estimate):
1 - 6 oz can tomato paste
1 - 14.5 oz can Italian Stewed tomatoes
1 - 15 oz can tomato sauce
1 - 14.5 oz can diced ready-cut tomatoes OR equivalent fresh tomatoes-peeled, and diced with juice

Take a walk through your garden and add or substitute any vegetables you have on hand. Some suggestions include squash (summer or winter), egg plant, broccoli, cabbage, sweet potatoes, green beans etc. When available, use fresh tomatoes. And when winter comes, any frozen or canned vegetables will make a delicious meal. When adding vegetables, you may need to adjust the amount of spicing and/or the tomato sauce/tomatoes. HINT: Be careful not to over power the meats and beans with the total quantity of vegetables; after all, it is a chili. Limit total vegetables to no more than equal portions to the volume of the meat and beans.

Use large soup pot for plenty of room to stir.
Over med heat, saute all vegetables until tender in the oil, Add 2-3 dashes of salt.
Add meats, cook until browned
Add beans
Add the rest of spices (no salt) and tomato paste -- stir and cook until fragrant (1-3 minutes)
Add the stewed tomatoes, diced tomatoes, and tomato sauce.
Bring to bubble then turn down to simmer. Cook until beans are warmed through -- the longer the chili simmers, the better the flavor. Left-overs are wonderful! Freezes great.

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CROCK POT Suggestions:
Prepare beans and cook meats and veggies as described above
(if using, frozen veggies: thaw and dice into cubes, then add to tomato sauces in crock pot--no need to saute')

In Crock Pot, add all tomato products, veggies, cooked meats and beans. Cook on HIGH for at least 3 hours, or on LOW for 5-6 hours until all ingredients are heated through.

Serving Size: makes approximately 16 1-cup servings