Navajo Tacos

One of my favorite ways to eat chili is with scones and taco toppings, such as lettuce, onions, olives, cheese, tomatoes, salsa, and sour cream.  Kaysen prefers Nalley's chili, but if I'm going to make it from scratch, here's the recipe I always use.  I've tweaked the original recipe a little by decreasing the amount of salt called for, blending the tomatoes, and adding a little extra meat, as described below:

Sister Blakely's Chili (from Kendra)

4 cups dry pinto beans

1 1/2 lbs. lean ground beef, browned and drained

1 onion, diced

1 green pepper, chopped, optional (I never put this in)

1 quart (about 32 oz.) tomatoes

1 can (8 oz.) tomato sauce

3 T. chili powder

2 tsp. salt

2 T. sugar

1 tsp. cumin

1 tsp. dried crushed basil

Place beans in a large pot and cover with water.  Bring to a boil; boil for 2 minutes.  Turn off heat, but leave pot sitting on heat.  Place cover on pot.  Let beans sit for 1 hour.  After 1 hour, drain water off of beans and place beans in crock pot.  Cover with water and cook on high for about 4 hours or on low for about 8-10 hours or overnight.  When beans are tender, drain and reserve liquid and place beans back in crock pot.  Brown ground beef with onion and pepper.  Drain.  Add to beans.  Place remaining ingredients (tomatoes, tomato sauce, and spices) in blender.  Blend until smooth.  Pour over beans and beef.  Stir to combine.  Place lid on crock pot and let simmer 4-8 hours.  May use reserved bean liquid to achieve desired consistency if chili gets too thick.

If you want to make scones without much work, thaw Rhodes Texas rolls, stretch them out, and fry them in hot oil.  But I always use Mom's white bread recipe.  One recipe (about 7 cups flour) makes 20 scones for us. I keep the leftover scones in the fridge, and they're usually eaten as snacks or for breakfast (with butter and cinnamon/sugar).

This recipe makes A LOT!  But, have no fear, it also freezes well!  I usually freeze the leftovers in a couple of quart-size Ziploc freezer bags.  The leftovers are great on potatoes or chili dogs!