TEX-MEX CHILI BEANS

Steps:

• 1. Soak them beans in a big pot of water overnight. Next morning, pour the water off the beans into a colander. In the pot you're gonna cook them beans in, add the olive oil and sauté the onions and garlic. Add the tomatoes, the beans and all the rest of the ingredients. (Is this easy, or what?) Cover in water and cook at medium heat for about an hour or so. The beans should be soft and the juice should have cooked down a bit. If the beans are still a bit hard,and it seems to need more water, say, after 40 minutes or so, add a cup or two and let that cook down some. And, honey, you got yourself some tasty chili beans!
• 2. NOTE: When I make my Tex-Mex Chili, I start with this bean recipe. Then,in a fry pan, I brown 1 or 2 lbs. of ground round, add a teaspoon of all the spices I used in my beans, pour off any excess grease and set aside a minute. THEN: get a saucepan, pour some of that juice (1 cup or so) from the beans into a separate pot/let it boil up/ add a tablespoon of flour (or a little more if it's not thick)/whisk it til it's like a thick gravy/pour the gravy into the meat mixture/ then add the meat mix all into the beans/stir it up/let cook for another 15 minutes or so...and you got yourself some great Tex-Mex Chili! Stick it in a big bowl/top with guacamole, a spoon of picante sauce,sour cream blob, fresh chopped cilantro, and a couple of corn chips and grated cheddar cheese...and you'll be the kitchen queen, for sure!