Granny's Chili, Chicken Spaghetti.....What Could Be Better!

One of my BFF's from high school, Blair, gave me some fabulous recipes that are favorites in her house. 

Lets start with Granny's Chili.  This is her husband's grandmother's recipe....you seriously couldn't get easier.  There are very few ingredients in this chili and you just throw it together and let it simmer on the stove for an hour or more.  I seriously kept looking at the recipe thinking, "There isn't much to this but if Blair says it's good it must be good."  Sure enough....it's wonderful!!!

2 lbs ground meat (I used turkey)
1 lg. onion chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 bell pepper chopped
1 can tomatoes (Rotel if you like some spice)
1 can tomato paste
1 can beef broth (I used chicken broth since I used ground turkey.)
3 T chili powder
2 T oregano
1 T cumin
1 T salt
2 cans pinto beans

Brown meet. Add onion, bell pepper and garlic, saute and drain off fat. Add all other ingredients and simmer 1 hour. (Of course, the longer you simmer, the better it tastes, but in a pinch, 1 hour works great)


Now onto the chicken spaghetti.  This was really, really good.  She told me about this spaghetti she had at her supper club but said she can't seem to duplicate it and that something was missing.  On the other hand, her friend Anne has also remade the same recipe and still really liked it.  I think we figured out that it's b/c of the types of tomatoes and sauce that we used.  You see, it calls for the big can of crushed tomatoes and tomato sauce.  Both of us used the generic cans, whereas Anne bought the name brand, and you know how some things you just can't buy the "off brand"....well, this is that case.  When I opened my can of crushed tomatoes, it was sauce.  Seriously, nothing crushed about it.  The next day it was even better.  Jon actually added a little Italian seasoning to it and shredded the chicken (he's the king of adding ingredients to things that aren't supposed to be there and it drives me insane!) and it was even yummier.

Chicken Marinera
saute together:

1 cup olive oil (you can only use 1/2 cup and it'll be fine)
2 cloves minced garlic
2 cups diced onions
1/2 cup chopped parsley (fresh)
1/4 cup sweet basil (fresh)
2 tbs oregano (dried)

Add:
1 lb 12 oz can whole tomatoes, crushed
1 lb 12 oz can tomato sauce
1 cup tomato paste
bag of raw chicken strips (I used 8 chicken breasts cut into strips. Next time I'll probably shred too.)
salt & pepper to taste
1/4 cup sugar

Simmer for 1 or more hours.