Paranormal Chili Beans

I have a confession to make. I am a bean freak. I love beans - well except for lima beans, but they are just WRONG, in my opinion. Anything that color should not be worn or ingested. I love pinto beans with cornbread, navy beans, green beans...you get my drift. However, the true love of bean life is my mama's recipe for chili beans.

Let me take you back to my childhood. My mom was not really well-known for her culinary skills. I mean, what she cooked was great, but her variety was lacking. As in, we had the same menu every week and if it changed, someone was sick or dying. Every Thursday night (right in line with dance class, Family Ties, and the Cosby Show) we ate chili beans. It was my favorite night of the week.

Fast forward to the present day. I too cook chili beans once a week. My husband has come to love them. Actually, that's a lie because he was raised on fatback and fried chicken and mere chili beans cannot erase true Southern culinary works of art, but he deals because it's truly my favorite meal EVER.

Last night we had them because I like to shake things up with our weekly menu. We ate chili beans and watched Paranormal State. Because obviously the two things go together so well.

For anyone that's never had the pleasure of watching Paranormal State, let me give you some background. First of all, it's on A&E - the nerd channel, and I'm calling myself a nerd, here, so don't get offended. This is the channel that shows television greatness like "Dog the Bounty Hunter". Yeah. I watch it religiously and so does Chad. It really does have some good shows, in all seriousness, like "Intervention" which makes me cry every time I watch it, but that's not the point of this post. The point is Paranormal State, this docu-drama that follows these college kids as they solve mysteries/ghosts/etc. It's kind of like Scooby Doo for adults. And there's no dog. In all honesty, I was quite disappointed by the new episode last night. The mom looked a bit nutty, even though if I was living in a home haunted by a ghost called "the lady vampire" I would probably not look my best either. Question - why don't the people who live in these places just MOVE to another home?

Recipe for Paranormal Chili Beans:

1 medium yellow onion
3 cans Bush's chili beans
3 cans Campbell's tomato soup
1 lb lean ground beef
McCormick chili powder

1. Brown the ground beef and onions together, drain
2. Mix meat, onions, beans, and tomato soup together
3. Add chili powder to taste
4. Bring chili to a boil
5. After boiling for a few seconds, turn hit to simmer
6. Simmer for 25-30 min
7. Top off with crackers & Tobasco and enjoy!

Don't let the ghosts get you!