Chili Mac

 Because sometimes you just want to cook once and eat it all week... this makes enough to feed two adults dinner for 6-7 days in a row.  

Ingredients

2 lbs ground beef or turkey 

2 medium onions, diced

2 green bell peppers, diced 

2 red bell peppers, diced 

12 cloves garlic, minced 

8oz canned green chilies 

2 15 oz cans kidney beans, drained 

2 15 oz cans white (navy) beans, drained 

2 15 oz cans diced tomatoes 

2 15 oz cans tomato sauce 

4-5 cups beef broth (optional, see below) 

4 tbsp chili powder 

4 tsp cumin 

2 tsp oregano 

1 tsp chipotle chili powder 

1 tsp cayenne powder (optional)

2 tsp salt 

1 tsp pepper 

16 oz elbow macaroni 

Shredded cheddar cheese, to taste 

Sour cream, to taste 

Diced red or green onions, to taste 

Brown the meat over med-high heat in a large Dutch oven or stock pot, then remove with a slotted spoon reserving some of the fat.  If you use turkey, you can probably save all the rendered fat; if you used beef, you'll want to drain some of it.  Keep enough to saute the red and green peppers and onions, and saute the peppers and onions for a few minutes until they start to soften.  Add the garlic and saute for a couple more minutes. 

Add the beans, tomatoes, tomato sauce, green chilies, and spices.  Stir, reduce heat to low, and simmer for at least a half hour.  Let it go longer if you want the flavors to develop more - I usually let it go for a couple hours.  

If you plan on eating it all at once, you can cook the noodles in the chili.  To do so, add the beef stock and bring to a boil, then add the noodles and simmer for about 8-10 minutes until the noodles are done.  If you are like me and plan to eat this all week, you'll want to cook the noodles separately in water, so you can store them on their own.  Otherwise you get mushy nasty noodles in your chili.  

Serve topped with cheese, sour cream, and/or onions as desired.