Crockpot version of Obama's Chili

This is my variation on Stephanie's Crockpot version of the Obama family's chili. It's quite mild, which I like, because I can get my toddlers to eat it. It's very tasty as it is but if you want a traditional chili with a real kick you'll have to add a lot more hot stuff!

Here's a picture of the Crockpot loaded up ready to go...look at those colors (before cooking)!:



Ingredients

1 can kidney beans
2 lbs lean ground meat
1 green bell pepper, chopped
1 large onion, chopped
5-6 medium tomatoes, chopped (include seeds and all)
4 chopped cloves of garlic
1 1/2 tsp cumin
1 1/2 tsp oregano
1 1/2 tsp basil
1 1/2 tsp turmeric
2 - 3 tsp chili powder
1 1/2 tsp salt
3 T red wine vinegar
Cooked white rice, if desired

Directions

You'll need a 5-6 qt Crockpot for the chili.

I increased all of the spices from Stephanie's recipe, because I doubled the amount of ground meat (we like more meat than beans). As I mentioned before, if you like your chili hot and spicy, you'll need to add a lot more spices.

First, brown the meat on the stove top, and drain well. Stephanie says that if you use very lean meat like ground chicken you can just crumble it in raw.

Chop up the tomatoes, garlic, onion, and bell pepper. Add to the crockpot. Open the can of beans, and pour them in undrained. Add the meat. Stir in all of the spices and the red wine vinegar. Cover the crockpot and cook on low for 7-9 hours, or on high for 4-5. I cooked our chili on high for 3 hours and then on low for 3 more hours.

UPDATE: lately I've been adding 1/4 C cornstarch dissolved in 1/4 C water to the chili at the end of the cooking time. Be sure to stir well if you do this! It thickens the chili just a little but I think it really improves it.

I served it over white rice, as the Obamas apparently do. It was very tasty! Great meal for a cold winter's night.