Secret Chili Recipe

Fall is my favorite season and there is nothing that goes better with fall than chili! I recently made this chili for my daughter's birthday party and got a ton of compliments. My husbands Grandma, who is very picky about her chili, told me is was "...very good", and then raved about it to my mother-in-law saying that it was better than her own chili. It is super yummy if I do say so myself, and really healthy to boot! The perfect blend of carefully choosen spices is the key to this recipe :) Okay, maybe not. I will let you all in on my secret ingredient: V8 Spicy Hot. There, the secret is out. So, here's the recipe that I created with the V8.

You will need:

- a green pepper
- an onion
- a pound of ground beef (I used a pound and a half because that is what was in the package)
- two cans of kidney beans, dark or light - your preference, I use dark
 - 3 -12 oz bottles of V8 Spicy Hot (if  you can't find the small bottles, then just get the big bottle and use            about 36 oz of it)
 - one can of rotel diced tomoates with green chiles undrained

First brown the ground beef in a big pot. While the beef is browning, cut up the green pepper and onion and add it to the browning beef. Once it's browned, drain it and set it on a cool burner for about 5 minutes to let it cool down. Then take about 5 paper towels folded together and soak up all the yucky grease that didn't come out when you drained it (I learned this healthy tip from my friend Alison, so THANK YOU Alison!) Repeat with 5 more paper towels and you will be amazed at all the grease and fat that comes out of the beef. This helps make the beef SO MUCH healthier!

Next, put the browned beef back on the hot burner and add all the remaining ingredients. Don't drain the beans or the diced tomoatoes, just throw everything in and bring to a boil, then let simmer until ready to eat. You can always add more spices, such as chili powder, but my kids and husband do not enjoy really spices meals and the Spicy V8 gives it GREAT flavor that you certainly don't need to add anything else unless you LOVE a really HOT-n-SPICY soup.

Super healthy, easy, and yummy, all in one! I hope you give this a try and let me know what you think!