Worlds BEST Chili!!!

Can I just tell you all how much I LOVE MY NEW CAMERA LENS for my Canon Rebel XTi! What a difference this lens makes!!! Everything is brighter, more professional looking and I can make the backgrounds get all blurry while the image I want stays crisply focused. Really awesome!

Today I had my normal, traditional salad...yummy!!! Romaine, Spinach, Carrots, Yellow Peppers, Avocado, Chik'N patty, hummus & BBQ sauce. I seriously could eat this everyday...wait, I do!?!

And for those who don't know me...I live in Florida. And for us Floridians...today was COLD!!! Like really cold! With the chill factor it was in the low 30s this morning...brrrr! So what's a Floridian to do on a cold day like today? Yes, bust out the Parka, dust off the un-used fireplace all 364 other days of the year, and make a big ol' batch of CHILI!!! And let me tell you...this IS the World's Best Chili. It is so good. My family ALL gobbled it down!

World's Best (and Spicy) Chili

Ingredients

1 tablespoon olive oil

1/2 medium onion, chopped

2 bay leaves

1 tablespoon ground cumin

2 tablespoons dried oregano

1 tablespoon salt

2 stalks celery, chopped

2 green bell peppers, chopped

1 jalapeno pepper, chopped

3 cloves garlic, chopped

2 (4 ounce) cans chopped green chile peppers, drained

1 (12 ounce) package vegetarian burger crumbles

3 (28 ounce) cans whole peeled tomatoes, cut some of the tomatoes

1/4 cup chili powder

1 tablespoon ground black pepper

1 (15 ounce) can kidney beans, drained

1 (15 ounce) can garbanzo beans, drained

1 (15 ounce) can black beans

1 (15 ounce) can whole kernel corn

Directions:

Heat the olive oil in a large pot over medium heat. Stir in the onion, and season with bay leaves, cumin, oregano, and salt.

Cook and stir until onion is tender, then mix in the celery, green bell peppers, jalapeno peppers, garlic, and green chile peppers. When vegetables are heated through, mix in the vegetarian burger crumbles. Reduce heat to low, cover pot, and simmer 5 minutes.

Mix the tomatoes into the pot (or in my case I used the Crock pot). Season chili with chili powder and pepper. Stir in the kidney beans, garbanzo beans, and black beans. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to low, and simmer 45 minutes, if cooking on the stove top. If using the crock pot, cook on HIGH setting for 2 hours. 5 minutes before serving, stir in the corn.

This chili IS a bit on the spicy side (even after reducing the amount of jalapenos and chili powder that was on the original recipe)...but spicy in a good way. BUT if you are spice sensitive, use only 1/8 cup of chili powder and 1/2 the jalapeno!

And YES...this chili is vegan. However...I dare you to give this to your favorite omnivore and tell me if they can taste the difference? It's seriously good!