Thursday, August 27, 2009

Easy, Cheap Chili Recipe

UPDATE: Click on photo to view in color.

chili is one of my favorite foods. I like it spicy, but I don't make it spicy, for the children. It is also easier to make than macaroni and cheese.
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1 pound ground beef - $1.30
1 chopped onion - $0.17
1 can (28 ounces) diced tomatoes - $0.87
1 lb cooked beans - $0.40
3 teaspoon chili powder - $0.13
1 teaspoon salt - $0.02I throw garlic in there as well, maybe two tablespoons. I do this because I'm pregnant, have young children, a husband who works at Walmart and who is about to return to college, so I'm concerned about swine flu. I know garlic won't immunize us, but it soothes my paranoid pregnant self. When I'm not pregnant and paranoid, I omit the garlic, so I'm not including it in the cost breakdown.
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I get a big bag of beans, soak and cook them, then divide them by the pound and freeze them. I put the beans and beef right into the crock pot, still frozen, with the rest of the ingredients. I stir it every few hours to make sure the beef isn't cooking into one big clump. If I start it late in the day, I cook it on high. Or, I start it in the morning on low all day, maybe even switching it to the warm setting until it's time to eat.
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This meal is a huge hit in my family and provides leftovers for my husband to take to work and for me to eat at home. My husband like chili dogs, so he sometimes microwaves a hot dog, cuts it up and puts it on top of his bowl of chili. This variation costs us $0.11, bringing the grand total to $3.00.

9 comments:

Scrappy quilter said...

We are a family that loves chili. I don't use a pound of hamburger though. We don't eat hamburger. What I use is deer burger which has been given to us free. It makes wonderful chili.

btw - is there a way I can follow your blog? I find it so easy if I can be a follower. Just a thought.

Emily said...

Deer meat sounds real good in chili.

I added the follower thing to the bottom of the blog.

Anonymous said...

How do you get ground beef for $1.30/pound? Is that a special deal or the normal cost by you? It costs $3-4/pound by me.

Emily said...

There was an advertised sale about a month ago at Walmart and I bought it all. But I don't pay more than $1.50 for ground beef ever. You can always get it for $2/pound at Walmart if you get the big package. Then, if you see the big package marked down because it is near the "Sell By" date, buy as many as you can get into your freezer. I have almost 70 lbs in my freezer, and it's just a regular freezer.

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the tip! I will need to a better job of stocking up and putting some in my freezer instead of just buying it from the grocery store on an as-needed basis.

Patty said...

Hey, I'm new to your blog but love the how you live.
I noticed in this article you mentioned your husband likes chili dogs but in the coupon clipping article you imply oscar meyer weiners are not food...
"No, food is not featured in coupons. It is stuff that resembles food, like Hamburger Helper, and Oscar Meyer Weiners."
What hot dogs do you use or do you make your own? I've been trying to do more scratch cooking as we discovered what MSG is doing to us...next to try is sausage!

Patty said...

I have read a bit more of your blog + comments now and I see a hot dog theme. Sorry to add to that! I was just curious what you tend to do. We do eat Oscar Meyer hotdogs (only brand my husband allows) when I find them on sale + coupon. It doesn't seem to affect him as much as other items with MSG have but its unknown what is really in the dog.

Emily said...

Patty, in case you haven't gotten there, here is my hot dog replacing sausage recipe.

http://under1000permonth.blogspot.com/2009/09/sausage-105.html

It doesn't work for chili dogs, but my husband has transitioned off of hot dogs without too much of a problem. (:

oceans5 said...

I just wanted to say that right now chili is in my crock pot. I omitted the beans since none of us like them and it is turning out very tasty. We are turning ours into frito pie tonight with corn chips and some shredded cheese. Very simple and yummy. Thanks for the recipe.:)

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