WHAT A THRIFTY COUPLE MEAL IS LIKE! TODAY – COWBOY CHILI!

I often get the question about our menu and what we cook and eat in our home! There is soooo much, that instead, I will share bits and pieces as we go along here!

The first “Thrifty Meal” I want to share is Cowboy Chili!

I want to start off by saying that we are a Crockpot family – in fact we have 6 of them! All different sizes.  We make many things in them from the main course, side items and desserts! Why do I love Crockpots – it’s just because they make easy meals!

There is nothing like sitting down to dinner and having a hot, slow-cooked with love dinner that tastes awesome! But, it takes VERY LITTLE TIME! I am a busy mom of 4 and ThriftyAl is working all day – this is huge! I love getting up in the morning and throwing all of the ingredients in quickly and turn it on! Another HUGE plus is that we have a weakness for going out to eat or calling food in if we get too busy (we ALWAYS use coupons of course ;)) Well, when the food is done – there is no excuse! We don’t have many pre-packaged convience quick dinners – so this solves the problem!

Another thing that I love, is that it also becomes my way for “cleaning out the fridge” from things that need to be used up! Today – we had leftover steaks! This is where one of our family favorites comes in!

Here is a receipe from our own kitchen!

You will need:

• Leftover steak, roast, beef chunks – cut into chunks.
• 3 cans of beans (whether, black, pinto, red etc – we use a variety!)
• 1 can of tomatoes – or fresh – 2 cups!
• 1 med Onion – chopped
• 2 – Tbs. Garlic – minced
• A few dashes of Salt, pepper, chili powder, oregano and parsley (to taste)

Just throw all of these ingredients into the crock pot and slow cook on low for 6-8 hours! If you do have a little bit of time before, brown and saute the leftover meat pieces in a pan on the stove, in it’s own juices, until it is browned and lightly crispy.  Throw the onions in the pan and saute them too and then dump in the crockpot with the other ingredients. I also keep the juices from the beans and tomatoes straight from the can! If you need to use leftover peppers, throw them in too!

Serve with cornbread that you can make in a crock pot too! Or just from your own receipe box!

Here is the crockpot option:

Just use your usual receipe (we use the one off the back of the Quaker Corn Meal or Bob’s Corn Flour) and put the batter in the crockpot (after spraying the crockpot with cooking spray) and cook on high for 3-4 hours until a toothpick comes out clean! Scoop out and enjoy!

This is a yummy meal! From our Thrifty Kitchen to yours!

Now is a great time to find a good deal on a Crockpot! There are many sales – Go HERE to get a great deal on one from Amazon for $35.99 (down from $79.99). It is 55% off PLUS it comes with a BONUS Little Dipper Crockpot!

There are many options for Crockpots – you can go HERE to browse!

These are the Crockpot Cookbooks we have in our shelves and that we highly recommend!

• Better Homes and Gardens – Biggest Book of Slowcooker Recipes – on sale for only $13.67 at Amazon – go HERE to see the details.

• Sandra Lee Semi-Homemade Slow Cooker recipes – on sale for only $13.57 at Amazon – go HERE to see the details. We love this one especially because many of the items we get super cheap go along with her recipes!

These are just our 2 favorites – but there are many, see more options HERE!