Chili Cheese Nachos

I'll start this off by saying, I don't like chili. Never have. But lately, Lonnie's been on a chili-making kick. And I don't know if it's the pregnancy or if my taste buds are changing...but this stuff is really good! Lonnie made chili yesterday and we had it on nachos today. We ate them in front of the TV, after Jack had gone to bed. The perfect way to eat nachos.


Here's Lonnie - with his latest chili recipe. Try it!!!

** This recipe makes a pretty hot chili. Steph would say about 7 out of 10 on a heat scale, I'd say about 2 or 3. If you like less spicy, omit the habenero peppers and add another poblano. Poblano peppers have a great chili pepper flavor without the heat.

1lb ground chuck
2 diced habenero peppers (seeds removed)
1 diced jalapeno pepper (seeds included)
1 diced poblano pepper
2 diced small onions
1 TBSP chili powder
1 TBSP red pepper flakes
1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp ground mustard
1 tsp onion powder
1/4 tsp curry powder
1 cup V8 hot & spicy vegetable juice
2 15oz cans of diced tomatoes (I use no salt added tomatoes)
Sea Salt to taste

Brown the ground chuck however you'd like. I boiled and strained it to remove most of the fat. I set the liquid in the fridge to let some of the fat harden so I could later skim the fat off and add some of the liquid back to the chili. Put the ground meat in the fridge as well.

Meanwhile in a large pot, combine the remaining ingredients and simmer for 2hrs, stirring occasionally. Next, add the ground beef and about 1 cup or so of the water from the boiled beef. Simmer on low for another 3hrs. I let it cook for a total of probably 5 to 5 1/2 hrs, giving all the flavors time to blend. You could cook it longer, but might need to add more liquid if you go that route. Let it sit in the fridge overnight and it's even better the next day.