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One of my favorite comfort foods is chili. Especially on cold winter days. Chili has this magical ability of warming my bones while at the same time transporting me back to my childhood. I love loading my crockpot with the ingredients and letting it cook all day. Many of you know that I’ve been eating gluten-free for almost two months now. I was excited because this is a crockpot chili recipe I made before my G-free days and I didn’t have to do anything special to adapt it to my life now. If you eat G-free, just make sure that your cans of diced tomatoes, corn and tomato sauce do not include any gluten.
Frugal Tips
- Because this is a meat-less dish, you are immediately saving money. Canned and dried beans are very frugal ingredients. The recipe I make uses four cans of beans but you could very easily substitute dried beans for them. Just make sure you soak your beans prior to putting them in the crockpot. My stockpile price for canned beans is $0.50/can or less. In fact, the beans in this recipe cost around $0.42 a can.
- Diced tomatoes and cans of tomato sauce are also very affordable ingredients. When your local grocery store has them on sale, match the sale with a coupon to get a great price. My stockpile price on canned tomatoes is around $0.40/can or less.
Healthy Tips
- This recipe immediately has less fat because there is no ground beef.
- This is a high fiber crockpot chili recipe. Who would have thought that getting enough fiber in your diet helps prevent heart disease, cancer, diabetes, Diverticular disease and more! (source ehealthmd.com)
- Always rinse & drain your canned beans. Canned beans are often packed with a salty liquid that not only increases your sodium intake, but also changes the taste of your recipe.
- This crockpot chili recipe is great because you can add even more vegetables to it than the recipe calls for. I will often go through my refrigerator and throw in green beans, celery, asparagus and fresh corn to this recipe. Anything goes with this chili.
Vegetarian Chili in a Crock Pot
Ingredients
1 can Black Beans, 19 oz (rinsed & drained)
1 can Kidney Beans, 15 oz (rinsed & drained)
1 can Garbanzo Beans, 15 oz (rinsed & drained)
1 can Pinto Beans, 15 oz (rinsed & drained)
1 can Diced Tomatoes, 28 oz
1 can Corn, whole kernel (rinsed & drained) **I’ve also used leftover fresh corn in lieu of canned
1 can Tomato Sauce or Puree **this is different from jarred pasta sauce. I like to use Muir Glen Organic Tomato Sauce.
1 Large Onion, chopped & diced
2 Green Bell Pepper, chopped & diced
1 Red Bell Pepper, chopped & diced
2 Jalapenos, chopped & diced **for less spicy chili, remove seeds from jalapenos. I usually leave the seeds and add more jalapenos 😉
6 Garlic Cloves
4 T Chili Powder
2 T Chipotle Powder
1 t Salt
Black Pepper
Directions
1) Place onion, peppers, garlic cloves in bottom of crock pot. (I do not saute them prior.)
2) Add drained & rinsed beans and corn.
3) Add diced tomatoes & tomato sauce.
4) Add spices & garlic
5) Stir.
6) Cook on high for 3 – 4 hours or cook on low for 6-8 hours. **I like to let this cook as long as possible. The longer it cooks, the more the flavors merge 🙂
Enjoy!
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Thanks for coming to Addicted to Saving! Here’s a little bit about me so you can know who’s behind all these posts!
My name is Liza and I began my money-saving journey in the Spring of 2009 as a way to stretch a limited household income. I had lost my job and my hubby was self-employed. I launched Addicted to Saving in November of 2009 and it has grown by leaps and bounds. Since then, my hubby and I have struggled with the ups and downs of two failed adoptions and are now LOVING being parents to our little man Asher who we brought home from Ethiopia in August of 2013. I feel incredibly blessed to be able to help you save money. My goal is that you will have FUN and become empowered to save more and more money each week..