Wendy's Chili - Homemade Version

I love chili! It's one of those winter comfort foods that I enjoy a lot this time of the year. For some reason I thought I'd already posted the recipe for my homemade version here... but when I went to look for it earlier today I discovered it wasn't here. So I'm posting it now. :-) This is taken from the CD Kitchen website -- lots of great recipes there. 


Copycat Wendy's Chili 


Ingredients: 

• 2 pounds Ground beef 
• 1 can (29 ounce size) tomato sauce 
• 1 can (29 ounce size) kidney beans w/liquid 
• 1 can (29 ounce size) pinto beans w/liquid 
• 1 medium Onion, diced 
• 2 Green chili, diced 
• 1 Rib celery, diced 
• 3 medium Tomatoes, chopped 
• 2 teaspoons Cumin powder 
• 3 tablespoons Chili powder 
• 1 1/2 teaspoon Black pepper 
• 2 teaspoons Salt
• 2 cups Water

Pam's Additional Ingredients:

• Replace ground beef with ground turkey
• Sliced mushrooms
• 1 cup black beans 

Brown the ground beef and onions together. Drain and add to crockpot. (Wendy's rinses their ground beef in water before adding it to the chili.) Add all the other ingredients to crockpot/slow cooker. Let it simmer all day. I personally use the canned green chili - half of a 4oz can. I also use canned diced tomatoes instead of fresh.


Enjoy!
~Pam