Easy Chili Stoup

I love fall. The changing of leaves, sweaters, jeans and chilly weather. Around our house it's also Chili weather. I got this recipe from Cooking Light but I changed it around a bit, making it more convenient by adding can diced tomatoes instead of chopping fresh ones. I also added sausage and a couple of other ingredients. I make this every chance I get when the weather changes as it is one of my husbands favorite dishes.

Easy Chili Stoup

1lb hot or mild Italian sausage (you can also use ground turkey)

1 onion, chopped

1/2 cup of chopped green pepper

1/2 cup of chopped red pepper

2 cups of chopped zucchini

1 tablespoon of chili powder

1 teaspoon of Old Bay seasoning

1/2 teaspoon of black pepper

2 15oz cans of diced tomatoes with chilies or garlic

1 15.5 oz can of black beans (drained and rinsed)

1 15.5 oz can of red kidney beans (drained and rinsed)

1 can of tomato soup, like Progresso, low sodium

12 oz of spicy tomato juice

1/2 bag of frozen corn

1 jalapeño, diced

mushrooms (optional)

For topping:

shredded cheddar cheese (optional)

sour cream (optional)

This can be cooked in a large pot or a crock pot.

For Crock Pot:

1. Remove the casing of the sausage, cook in a skillet lightly browning, chopping the sausage

2. Add the all the ingredients to the crock pot and cook on high of 5 hours.

3. When done, serve in bowl and top with sour cream or cheddar cheese or both.

For large pot/dutch oven:

1. Remove casings of the sausage and cook in a skillet, shredding, lightly browning.

2. In the Pot, add one tablespoon of olive oil and add the onion, cooking 1 to 2 minutes until translucent.

3. Add the green peppers and zucchini cook another 5 minutes or until tender.

4. Add to the pot the sausage, chili powder, Old Bay seasonings, black pepper, and the rest of the ingredients. Bring to a bowl. Cover and turn heat to low, simmering for 20 minutes.

What is your favorite cold weather dish? Preferably one your kids will eat......