Easy Chili

Ben has been in Colorado all week and is due to return tomorrow night. My "cooking" has been limited to English muffins, bowls of cereal, oatmeal and frozen meals.

I would probably still be eating buttered noodles or cereal every night for dinner if I was living by myself. With the exception of baking, I am lazy in the kitchen. Marrying Ben has made me a little less so.

After a week of eating food that didn't excite my palate, I decided last night to really cook. Instead of learning a new recipe, I whipped up a batch of chili, which requires no recipe. It's experimentation at its easiest.

Here's a rough sketch of what I made:

Easy Chili
Ingredients
--2 28 oz. cans of diced tomatoes
--1 15 oz. can of tomato sauce
--1 30 oz. can of kidney beans*
--1 onion, chopped
--1 green pepper, chopped
--1 jalapeno pepper, chopped **
--1 pound of hamburger
--Cumin, a few teaspoons***
--Chili powder, a few teaspoons***
--Cayenne red pepper, 1-2 teaspoons***
--Garlic salt, to taste***

Instructions:
Brown the hamburger with the vegetables. Drain. Add hamburger and vegetable mix to pot of remaining ingredients. Bring to a boil. Simmer for at least an hour.

*I used to loathe beans. But when I made my mother-in-law's chili several weeks ago, I didn't mind them. I say throw them in the chili. You can always pick them out.

**I got a jalapeno pepper from the grocery store but couldn't use it because the interior was brown. Gross. Nex time, I'll get it from a grocery store with better produce.

***I didn't measure.