Texas Style Chili with Beans

Tell me as a 51yr old love em’ with lard type cooking.. what spices should I always have and like can food ingredients? I just recently grabbed a can or two of tomato paste BECAUSE I read a few recipes on penterest and they called for tomato sauce, paste or juice or diced tomatos, fire roasted tomatos.. did not know they came in a jar or a can.. rotel would have been my thought of fire roasted. Yeah see Ive always been a meat n taters, veggie or two, a bread of some sort and maybe a sweet something. I have severe bouts with chronic crohns disease so ive never ventured out with more than salt/pepper, lemon pepper and garlic powder/salt. Maybe a couple of years ago I got some minced onion and have used it .. hmm.. idk 2x? I mean beans n taters, cornbread, mac n tomatos.. I can cook but no.. not like you did putting this cookbook together. I would just like some good starter advice.. Ive never bought like.. parsley fresh or even green onions.. ikr! I just the other day minced garlic! 🙈 My husband likes the basic stuff so he is perfectly fine BUT after 25yrs of fixing I really just got this urge/need/desire heck idk.. to learn to cook outside my comfort zone and foods. My kids are like.. idk whats up with you in the kitchen mom.. but 🙋🏼‍♀️ I do. I say.. do yall like greens? Ewe .. NO! No and so therefore I dont fix any hardly ever but I LOVE them! I have just decided that I have cooked for and fed my people their whole life and you know 25 yrs plus for him and I love all my babies and my amazing husband but it just come the day I cooked for me. Lol. I had beets in vinegar simmered down with some butter in it and homemade cornbread not jiffy.. pinto beans only not just northern (and now they like the pinto/northern mix).. and now that it is just us he will say.. but I dont like that.. and I say but I know but Im not just cooking for you.. Im cooking for us. 🥰 Im just wanting to expand my horizons.. cook mexican dishes here not just a taco or fajita but some of them good meals you know. I have recently made my own applesauce which saves us money cuz we really like it. I made homemade icing and cakes.. baking has NEVER been nice to me or on my radar of trying to do but after my latest episode and getn back on my feet Ive found myself on them in the kitchen all the time. I cant stand for long so Im up n down from my walker to my feet but yeah.. I stay exhausted, swollen and soar bcuz its very taxing on my body. Ive been using the same hand mixer for 30+ yrs and Im now needing a stand up mixer and a good barstool to sit on. 🤷‍♀️ I have to say I have found such joy and a new purpose in my kitchen. We dont have a dish washer. Well we do but shes fairly slow lol but it seems I wash n clean up to hurry up and mess it all up all over again! 😜 Im just really finding myself .. mind you Im empty nested now with 4 and ½ (almost ⅓) gbbs and Im looking for that staple thang that they will always remember their mami/nahna (2 call me mami here in ky and the other 2 call me nahna and they are in ok.) had at her house. Right now its “whatever you want baby..” if I cant fix it I will buy it and they know when they come mami/nahna is gonna have their one favorite whatever.. all 4 of them. I just would like a good cookie or a certain meal or idk.. just a staple something that they will maybe make for their own when Im gone. Or at least attempt it! lol I have alot of my memaws recipes and yeah naw.. it still aint quite her by no means but Im a work in progress.
This is what Im finding out though. Spices aint cheap. Food is so expensive and we are barely able to go to the grocery. Hence why the applesauce AND learning how to do my own buttermilk for cooking and heavy cream etc. I always try to keep potata’s, onions, bread, milk, eggs, butter, dried beans, some kinda meat and oil..idk my definte we wont go hungry food. So you can see why salt n pepper would be just fine right! Oh my gootness I feel like a mess at 51. I should know way more.. about cooking.
You may already have a video idk about Ive just found you within the last few months. Lord knows you would have been a sweet delight during the ice storm, pandemic and tornados weve gone thru BUT you are gold to me now bcuz of our income. So God bless it you are a true jewel and I appreciate you and all this hard work you do. I have utube friends and I know how hard it is to put a video together or do a voice over. I just pray. I mean I cant reach ya but I pray for it. I pray about it and I pray for ya cuz its the one thang I know keeps me going so I pray it does my people and people who are a blessing to me… amongst other’s.
So yeah if you ever see this and dont mind I would really appreciate any advice. Now I know I didnt critique my letter and just wrote it like we was face to face cuz it is 3:15 a.m… you know.. im going on the second day of no sleep because it is just part of how my body will run sometimes. I mean Im in my bed while him and our goldendoodle saw logs but my head and body just dont shut down. Last night I was swollen and in much pain and tonight Im just not quite settled and if not tomorrow the next day or night I will be slammed with sleep for a couple of hours then be back to semi normal the next day or so. It isnt always like this but it is tiresome indeed when it is because regardless.. the days must go on.
Thanks for your patience. Im sure if I were to proof read I could eliminate maybe half of this? Thank you again for your patience if youve read it to the end .. Im so not even going to. 🙈
🤷‍♀️.. have a very beautiful, blessed, amazingly joyful day! Much love, peace, health, joy and prosperity be with you and all of yours. Walk in your blessings daily and know you are a true blessing indeed. 🙋🏼‍♀️🙏🏻❤
I had to put this on pause for a minute (obviously not a new york minute 🤦🏼‍♀️.. one of my minutes) and it is now 3:51am. Lort how mercy time flies.