bernadette

i make a pretty darn good vegetarian chili that meat lovers love!

i fool them (the meat lovers) with <b>a box of frozen crumbled boca burger&trade; meat</b> (any brand crumbled soy based faux ground round will work)

the faux meat has the texture of regular cow ground round, but you never ever have a big pot of greasiness like you do with cow; even if you drain the cow fat, you always have some degree of grease. never w/this soy based stuff. & kids, soy is soooo GOOD for you!!!

other ingredients:
- one can pinto beans
- one can black beans
- one can kidney beans
- one can green beans
(tip on the beans: get out your strainer & rinse the beans under cool water until there is no more cloudy residue)
- a third to a half bag of frozen corn
- 3 or 4 cans of mexican tomatoes (has jalapenos ect yknow)
- a big jug of spicy V8 juice (64 oz?)
- about a half a jar of <b>cummin</b> (this really is what chili flavor is all about if you ask me)
- dump a bunch of chili powder
- ample amount of salt & pepper (your discretion)
- dump dried diced onions (you decide how many for yourself)
- a can or 2 of diced green chilis (optional)
- 5 or 6 <b>bay leaves</b> (i swear the bay leaves are important! of course, you pick them out when you scoop up a bowl full of chili. although i do like to chew on them sometimes myself.)
- a bit of parsley (dried stuff is fine)
- dump garlic powder (again amount to your preference)
- throw in some diced red bell peppers if ya feel inclined
- (optional for extra fire) chopped up jalapenos or habenero or just toss in a jar of jalapenos

bring to a boil & then simmer until you're ready to chow down on it.
top with grated cheese or sour cream.
serve with tortilla chips or crackers.


and course if you mustmustmust have the cow, then by all means substitute the cow for the soy stuff. i would even suggest boiling a nice piece of beef to shred instead of or in addition to ground round.

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