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Spicy Slow Cooker Chili

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Spicy Slow Cooker Chili

If you’re looking for a hearty chili that works great in the slow cooker and has a great flavor boost, this is the one!  The combination of sweet and spicy sausage instead of plain ground beef gives it great flavor.  And if you like it even spicier, you could use all spicy sausage.  This recipe is included in November’s Family Favorites Menu Plan!  Learn how to get yours here.

Ingredients:

  • 1 pound spicy bulk pork sausage, crumbled
  • 1 pound sweet bulk pork sausage, crumbled
  • ½ c. organic chicken or vegetable broth, plus additional, if needed
  • 4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
  • 1 medium white onion, finely chopped
  • 2 stalks celery, toughed ends removed and chopped into small pieces
  • 2 carrots, peeled and chopped into small pieces
  • 2 cans (15 oz.) white beans, drained and rinsed
    2 cans (15.5 oz.) red kidney beans, drained and rinsed
  • 2 cans (28 oz.) tomato puree
  • 1 can (6 oz.) tomato paste
  • 1 can (28 oz.) petite-cut tomatoes, undrained
  • 3 T. chili powder
  • 1 T. ground cumin
  • 2 t. oregano, dried
  • 1 t. cayenne pepper
  • 1 c. black coffee (or water), if needed
  • Salt, to taste
  • Garnish, (optional)
    8 oz. shredded cheddar cheese
    ¾ c. chopped red onion
    2 fresh jalapeno peppers, sliced


Directions:

In a large skillet, brown pork sausage over medium heat until no longer pink. Remove from heat and drain excess fat from pan. Transfer browned sausage to slow cooker crock. (Tip: Crumble the bulk sausage with your fingers prior to browning. This gives you better control over the size of each piece and is easier than breaking up the chunks of sausage with a wooden spoon while cooking. Another alternative is to use a potato masher, if you have one.)

Return skillet to burner over medium-high heat. Deglaze pan with chicken or vegetable broth, scraping up browned bits from bottom of pan with a wooden spoon.

Add olive oil, garlic, and onion to pan and cook, stirring frequently, about 3-4 minutes or until softened. Add celery and carrot and continue cooking another 2-3 minutes. Remove from heat and pour skillet contents into slow cooker.

Add white beans, red beans, tomato puree, tomato paste, petite-cut tomatoes, chili powder, cumin, oregano, and cayenne pepper to slow cooker. Stir to combine all ingredients thoroughly. If desired, add water or black coffee to thin mixture before cooking.

Cook on high for 4 hours, or low for 8 hours. When finished, stir and add salt to taste. Adjust other seasonings, as desired.

Spoon into bowls and top with shredded cheese, chopped onions and/or sliced jalapeno peppers. Serve immediately.

Freeze or refrigerate leftovers within 2 hours.  This makes a lot, so you’re sure to have leftovers!

 

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This Crock Pot is only $8.99!

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Affiliate links have been used in this post.
Crock Pot on sale!Are you wanting to get a crock pot, or maybe you’re thinking you’d like an extra one to use for the upcoming holidays? Either way, I wanted to let you guys know about this awesome low-priced deal on a 2 quart Crock Pot that has great reviews!  I have two crock pots already, and I am trying to decide if I need a third, or who on my Christmas shopping list might need one, or what bridal showers I might have coming up.  (Heck–get a couple and stash them for when you need a gift!)  At $8.99 right now, this is a terrific deal.  It’s an Add-on item, so you’ll either want to get a couple of these, or add it to a few other items you’ve been wanting.  Amazon has, like, everything we need, so I’m sure you won’t have any trouble figuring out what to do.  🙂  

Chunky Homemade Guacamole

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Chunky Homemade Guacamole

Chunky Homemade Guacamole

Ingredients:

2 ripe Avocados

1 ripe fresh tomato, seeded and diced

1 large clove fresh garlic, finely minced

1 fresh lime, juiced

1 tablespoon (+ extra for garnish) fresh cilantro leaves, stems removed and finely chopped

Salt and pepper, to taste

Directions:

Peel, core, and dice avocado. Place in bowl.

Add diced tomato, garlic, lime juice and fresh cilantro to bowl and combine with a fork. Season with salt, pepper and additional lime juice, if desired.

Serve with favorite Mexican entrees or on its own with crunchy tortilla chips.

This recipe is included in October’s Vegetarian Family Favorites Menu Plan.  Click here to learn more!

all_ingredients

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Apple-Rosemary Pork Single-Pan Dinner

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Apple-Rosemary Pork One-Pan Dinner

If you’re looking for a beautiful dinner full of color and flavor, that’s also super easy to make, you’ll love this!  Perfect for a quiet evening at home, and easy to double or triple if company’s coming.

Apple-Rosemary Pork One-Pan Dinner

Serves 4

Ingredients:

4 boneless pork chops

8 gold small potatoes; halved

1/2 bundle of asparagus; ends chopped off

2 apples, sliced

2 sprigs of rosemary

4 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon pepper

1 tablespoon olive oil

1.  Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

2.  On a greased, rimmed cookie sheet, arrange pork chops. Brush with Worcestershire sauce.

3.  Around the pork, place apple slices, potatoes, and asparagus.  Drizzle with olive oil, and then sprinkle with salt and pepper. Top with fresh rosemary off the sprig.

4.  Bake at 375 for about an hour, or until potatoes are tender and pork is cooked. Enjoy!

This recipe is included in our October Family Favorites Menu Plan!  Click here to learn more.

 

Apple-Rosemary Pork One-Pan Dinner

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Slow Cooker Italian Meatballs

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Slow Cooker Italian Meatballs

If you want to come home to your house smelling heavenly, with enough food for dinner AND a freezer meal, you’ll love this!  With a little bit of prep time, which can even be done the night before, this is an easy recipe that can be used in a variety of ways.  Cook up a pot of spaghetti to enjoy with your meatballs.

Turn ’em into meatball subs.  Enjoy them alone.  Whichever way, you’ll love it.  And you can take advantage of whatever ground meat is on sale at the store, because any combination of ground beef, turkey, pork, chicken, sausage, venison, etc. will do.

Slow Cooker Italian Meatballs
Makes about 36 medium size meatballs

 

Ingredients:

2 lbs. of meat (ground beef, Italian sausage, turkey—any combination will work)
1 1/4 cups Italian seasoned bread crumbs
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp. dried crushed basil

1 medium yellow onion, chopped
1 egg, beaten
1 Jar of Spaghetti sauce or you can use your favorite homemade spaghetti sauce recipe

Directions:
1.  In a slow cooker, mix the spaghetti sauce, along with about 1 teaspoon crushed basil.

in-process-2

in-process-3
2.  In a bowl, mix the ground meat, bread crumbs, parsley, garlic, onion, and egg. Shape the mixture into 1-2 inch size meatballs.

in-process-4
3.  Once you have shaped your meatballs you can put these directly into your sauce in the slow cooker, or you can bake them for 15 minutes at 350 degrees to cook them some and that cuts down on the grease in the sauce.
4.  Cook on Low for 6 to 8 hours.  Enjoy! ☺

slow-cooker-italian-meatballs-fb-graphic
This makes a pretty big batch, so you can easily take about half the batch and pop ’em in the freezer.  Later on when you’ve got a night where you need a quick and easy dinner, you can just pour some more sauce into the slow cooker and toss in the frozen meatballs and have another easy dinner. (cook for 4-5 hours on low)  Win!  

If you like this recipe – you’ll LOVE our Family Favorites Menu Plans!  Click here to learn more.

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