Leftover Taco Meat Chili

We love taco night at my house but since there's just the two of us (for now), we always have a ton of left over taco meat. Sometimes I'll make a taco salad for lunch the next day but more often then not, I end up throwing away the leftovers after they've sat in the fridge for 4 or 5 days. It's such a waste! Part of becoming a SAHM means learning to tighten the belt so to speak so I'm trying to be more conscientious of my wasteful habits and make changes.

So with that said, after our delicious turkey tacos last night, I had about a cup and a half or so of meat leftover. I mulled over what to do with it today and I found some great recipes on Pinterest for Mexican stuffed shells and various casseroles but I'm not sure if Pete would be interested in any of that... he can be a picky eater even though he swears he not. I mean, it's been 9 years and I still can't get him to even TASTE grits! But I digress. He does, however, love a good soup or chili and honestly, you can't go wrong with either of those. They're easy peasy, quick and simple... just the way I like it. Now this isn't quite a recipe but a rough guideline. I'm one of those people that just throws things in a pot until it tastes good. I think being able to just toss stuff in adds the beauty of soups and stews... they're nearly infallible and great for people learning how to cook from scratch.

Left Over Taco Meat Chili

Ingredients:

• left over cooked taco meat (what ever you have left will work, it will just be more or less meaty)
• 1 can kidney beans (16 oz - undrained)
• 1 can diced green chiles (4.5 oz- undrained)
• 1 can diced tomatoes (14.5 oz - undrained)
• 1 can tomato sauce (8 oz) (I used about 2/3 of a 15 oz can since that's what I had on hand)
• 2 tsp chili powder
• 1/2 tsp cumin
• 1/4 tsp dried oregano
• salt and pepper to taste
• cayenne pepper to taste

I'm making mine in a crock pot today which is nice... I can just set it and forget it! I start by tossing ALL of the ingredients into the crock pot and stir it up. I recommend taking a little taste now to get an idea of your flavor... you can add more of your seasonings a pinch at a time or tone things down with a little more sauce or water even. Just wing it... I promise, chili is nearly impossible to screw up. You can also add in things like corn or diced green peppers. Whatever floats your boat!
 

 Once you have it all mixed up the way you like it, set your crock pot to low and carry on with your day. Since the meat is already cooked, you're just heating the chili up at this point so you can eat it as soon as it's warm or you can just let the flavors meld for a couple of hours. Just keep an eye on it and add water if it starts to dry out or anything.

The other option is to cook it on the stove top (which was my preferred method while I was still working the daily grind and wouldn't get home until 8 o'clock at night a lot of times.) I would start with a cold stock pot and mix everything together, the same way as above. Then you just bring the pot to a boil, reduce the heat to medium and let it simmer for 15 or 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Voila... hot chili in about half an hour with full tummies soon to follow.

Once you're ready to chow down, you can serve it a number of ways: plain or with sour cream and shredded cheese, toss it with crumbled up tortilla chips for some crunch, crackers, biscuits, even cream cheese... you name it. Just do your thing and enjoy a nice and hot comforting meal!

-Kim