Chili blocks preserve chili for future meals.
Chili blocks are portions of chili that have been frozen. Making chili blocks lets you keep extra chili on hand for much longer than you would be able to store it in the refrigerator. It is a convenient way to store your chili leftovers so they are ready for future meals. Chili blocks also make it easier to transport the soup to events such as cookouts and reunions.
Instructions
1. Cook your beans in a large stock pot with water. Kidney beans are standard for chili.
2. Saute your ground meat. Ground beef is probably the most common chili meat. Add spices as you saute.
3. Chop up your vegetables while the meat sautes. You can use any vegetables you like, but be sure to use green pepper and onion. You don't have to use chili peppers--you can just use chili seasoning. Add the vegetables to the meat to start them cooking or throw them in the stock pot raw. Simmer your chili a little longer if you put the vegetables in raw.
4. Add your meat to the stock pot, along with the vegetables if you've cooked them with the meat. Put in at least one can of tomato soup and fresh or canned diced tomatoes.
5. Add spices and simmer the chili for at least two hours. Stir occasionally.
6. Wait for the chili to cool to room temperature.
7. Place a plastic freezer food bag inside a tall bowl or cup and fold the edges inside out over the bowl. This will keep chili from getting in the grooves of the bag seal and making the bag seal improperly.
8. Ladle the chili into the bag. Do not overfill.
9. Unfold the bag top and seal the bag almost all the way across. Lift the bag out of the bowl and squeeze out excess air to prevent freezerburn. Seal the bag the rest of the way.
10. Repeat Steps 7 through 9 until all your chili is gone.
11. Place your bags of chili flat on top of each other in the freezer.
12. Thaw the chili by cutting the bag away with scissors and placing the chili in a pan. You also can place the bag in warm water to dethaw it.
Tags: your chili, Chili blocks, future meals, future meals Chili, meals Chili