Five Alarm Chili

Yesterday, my family ate leftovers and string beans with ham (blech) from my inlaws. I worked crazy hours so cooking did not happen. For lunch, I thawed a container of my infamous five alarm chili. It was meant to be mild, but I used Indian Chili Powder instead of McCormick. Oops.

I adapt my batches of chili from three recipes. I've listed them below.
Wegmans Slow-Cooked Pineapple Chili
1 lb ground beef (I omit);
8 ounces diced peppers;
8 ounces diced onions;
1.5 cups matchstick or grated carrots;
8 ounces sliced mushrooms;
28 ounces crushed tomatoes with herbs;
31 ounces dark kidney beans, drained;
8 ounces crushed pineapple, drained;
2 tablespoons chili powder;

1. Brown ground beef and remove drippings. (Or skip! Really, this recipe does not need the meat.)

2. Combine everything in a slow cooker and set to high for four hours or low for eight.

Now I present the another classic chili recipe. This came from my vegan cooking course with Eileen Breslin and my husband adores the dumplings.

Chili with cornbread dumplings
2 cans kidney beans;
2 cups corn;
2 cans stewed tomatoes;
2 tablespoons chili powder.
Combine and simmer.

Then, for the dumplings:
1.5 cups cornmeal;
1 teaspoon salt;
1.5 cups flour;
3.5 teaspoons baking powder;
2 tablespoons sugar;
1.5 cups (soy) milk;
1/3 cup oil

Mix dry ingredients. Then add wet. After chili has cooked at least 30 minutes, turn up heat and spoon batter in like dumplings (plop). Do not cover entire surface. Cover chili, reduce heat, and cook another 15 minutes.

But for plain old chili, I make Betty Crocker's recipe vegetarian, mix up the beans with some black beans and I simply add carrots and pineapple. Then I add dumplings if so inclined.

Betty Crocker's Chili Con Carne
1 pound ground beef (I substitute black beans. My family like different colors in their food);
1 cup chopped onion;
2 cloves crushed garlic;
1 tablespoon chili powder;
1/2 teaspoon salt;
1 teaspoon ground cumin;
1 teaspoon dried oregano;
1 teaspoon cocoa;
1/2 teaspoon red pepper sauce;
16 ounces diced tomatoes, undrained;
15.5 ounces kidney beans, undrained

1. Cook ground beef, onion and garlic in 3-quart saucepan, stirring occasionally, until meat is brown. Drain.
2. Stir in remaining ingredients except beans. Heat to boiling. Reduce heat.
3. Cover and simmer one hour, stirring occasionally.
4. Stir in beans. Heat to boiling, reduce heat. Simmer, uncovered, at least twenty minutes, stirring occasionally.