Slow Cooker Gourmet "Texas Panhandle Chuckwagon Chili Mix"

While I was on bedrest, my new and wonderful friend Jolyn sent me a package of 6 of the Slow Cooker Gourmet Mixes by Purely American!  What a LOVELY surprise!  Shortly after I received them, I had Gavin.  So, I'm just getting around to making them!  I will feature one of these mixes the next 6 weeks!

So, let's get on to the good stuff here....and I do mean good stuff!  First, let me start with how easy this was to make.  I even made it a little tougher on myself because I used ground beef (that I had to brown first and dirty a pan :( ) instead of the Stew Meat the box calls for.  I just used what I had in the house and the ground beef needed to get used up!  Other than that, I sliced a few mushrooms, rinsed some beans, dumped in a can of tomatoes, a packet of seasoning and water!  SIMPLE!!!  If you are salt conscious, these are definitely for you!  The spice packet is a salt-free blend, which allows you to control the level of salt you would like to add in the end.

There box gives you a Vegetarian option, in which you can use tofu (however, I don't think this needs it!  PLENTY of beans!) and it also gives serving suggestions.  It kind of makes cooking this dinner a no brainer!

The aroma in my house today while this was cooking was HEAVENLY!  Wow!  It's definitely days like this I wish we had "smell-o-puter!"  LOL!  This Chili was incredibly flavorful.  You'll see in the picture below the incredible spice mix I added, so it's no wonder it had tons of flavor.  I will say this, it was pretty darn spicy.  It was so spicy in fact I made Mac n Cheese for my daughter because I was not going to make her eat spicy Chili at the age of 3!  Even though it was spicy, it was delicious!  I served our bowls up with a nice warm corn muffin (the cheap Jiffy kind!) and it was a complete meal!  My husband and I both couldn't finish the bowls I served us because this Chili was so incredibly hearty!

If this sounds like something you would like to make for your family, you can go here to order them or find more information out about them!

So, here's how I made it!

First, I rinsed the beans from the box and laid them evenly across the bottom of my Crock Pot.

Next, I laid my mushrooms evenly across the top of the beans.

Isn't that a beautiful mixture of beans!  There are Small Red, Kidney, Pinto, Black and Pink Beans!  Wow!

I then placed the ground beef over the top of the mushrooms.  (Remember, I substituted the ground beef for the stew meat.  You can use whatever you wish....or tofu!)

Next, I dumped a can of peeled and sliced tomatoes over the top.  (The box says to crush up some whole tomatoes, but I had a baby in my arms!  No can do! )

Lastly, all you have to do it pour the spice bag over the top and add some water!

Cook on LOW for 8-9 hours or on HIGH for 4-5.

Enjoy!