Super Duper Chili

Ingredients

• Olive oil
• 1 lb ground turkey, beef, or chicken
• 1 med/large onion, yellow or white, cut into thin half-moon strips
• 2-4 cloves of garlic, crushed
• 2 cups coarsely chopped celery
• 16-ounce jar of Trader Joes Fire Roasted Tomato Salsa (or the like)
• chili powder (see recipe to make your own below)
• 1 container (or approx.. 1 cup) of organic mushrooms (i.e., crimini, white)
• 3,15-ounce cans of organic beans (i.e., pinto, kidney, & black), thoroughly rinsed
• 32-ounce jar of organic tomato juice (i.e., R.W Knudsen brand)
• water, as needed

Directions

1. Brown meat in large pot with some olive oil. Stir often so as not to get too much color on meat. Cook just until most of pink is gone. Don’t overcook!

2. Add onion, garlic, and 2-4 T chili powder. Sautee 1-2 minutes.

3. Add celery and salsa. Cook for 2 minutes or so.

4. Then, add mushrooms, beans, and tomato juice.

5. Bring to a med boil and simmer for about an hour.

6. Add salt & pepper to taste. Add water if too thick. Add more chili powder if not spicy enough for you.

7. Serve with cilantro, sliced avocado, shredded cheese, and corn tortilla chips on top. YUM!

Homemade chili powder
This recipe makes about 3T of chili powder. So, I usually double this recipe, use about 2/3 of it, and save the rest.

• 1 Tbsp ground cumin
• 2 tsp garlic powder
• 1 tsp cayenne pepper
• 1 tsp paprika
• 1 tsp ground oregano

Source: http://culinaryarts.about.com/od/glossary/g/Chili-Powder.htm