School starts on Wednesday of next week and I am starting a new part time position at a friend’s Insurance Agency, so I decided today would be a good day to begin preparing “heat and eat” meals.  Enter, Hearty, Healthy Chili Recipe.

In my 6 quart slow cooker I layered.

1 pound of soaked dry kidney beans (overnight)
1/4 pound ground beef PLUS 3/4 pound ground chicken or turkey
(browned in iron skillet and transferred into cooker)
Diced tomatoes & chili’s (your desired amount)
1 shredded zucchini
2 shredded carrots
1 small can organic tomato sauce
2 chopped onions
1 large jar of greenwise tomato juice
1/4 cup of chili powder

I set the cooker to 225 degrees and let it cook all day.  I will now divide it into serving sizes for our family and freeze it for those evenings when I just don’t feel like cooking.

The shredded veggies help pump up the nutritional value of this chili and the beans make it nice a hearty with just enough “meat” to satisfy my hubby’s “needs”.

When it is time to make this dish for dinner, I will pull a container out of the freezer, drop frozen chunk into a pan and slowly heat it up to enjoy with my family.  I enjoy mine with a dollop of Greek yogurt and hubby enjoys Sour Cream.  We also often add a heaping spoonful of my homemade pico de gallo.

Enjoy!

After slow cooking for hours, this chili is ready to nourish my family full of vegetables and wholesome goodness.

Shredded Carrots & Zucchini