This is hands down my oldest recipe. It started off when I was 18 years old and a friend cooked her family’s chili for me. The ingredients were so basic, no bacon, green bell pepper instead of the poblanos, no crushed tomatoes. But it was sooo good. When I really got into cooking, I made some changes. First I added the bacon…that won me a church chili cook off (low key brag there). Then my husband doesn’t like green bell peppers. So, I tried red bell peppers, that was pretty good. But, when I switched to the poblanos, game changer. Then, I wanted it thicker, that is where the crushed tomatoes came in. I had to reduce the diced tomatoes from 4 cans to two, but it totally worked. This is a winter staple in my house. Now, I don’t make it spicy enough for my husband. He prefers the spice level to take off a layer of your tongue, make you cry for your mama and then I don’t want to talk about the inner core of the earth digestive experience from there. So, I ordered him pure capsicum oil to add to his. Doesn’t change the flavor but brings the heat. When it came in, he added 8 drops to his bowl. I’m pretty sure his inner child was curled up in the fetal position screaming “why”??? He has now settled on 4 drops…to much for me…that’s all him!!