Slow Cooker Barbecue Chili

Ok, so let me start by saying that in my 5 years of marriage I have NEVER made chili. Chili was the meal that I sat at the table as a child refusing to eat (sorry mom.) Then as a teen, I tolerated it, but hated it. Greg told me when we were first married that he wasn't crazy about chili either, so I was so glad that meant I never had to make it, or eat it again!

Then, my pregnancy hormones happened. For whatever reason, I have wanted chili the past couple weeks! I had a hard task ahead of me though. My husband will NOT eat chunks of tomatoes, so I had to find a recipe of a meal that he doesn't really like that didn't have a staple ingredient of most chilis! Anyway I'm babbling. I wanted a barbecue, sweet flavored chili so after googling, I happened to find one on manapprovedrecipes.com. I changed the recipe a little bit, and here it is:

Ingredients
1-1 1/2 pounds ground beef
1 (15 ounce) jar tomato sauce
1/2 cup chopped onions (Greg loves onions, so I put way more than this in, but it's up to you!)
3 minced garlic cloves
1 (15 ounce) can beans (I used great white northern, but there are many other choices!)
1/4 cup chili powder (OR homemade chili powder. The substitution would be: 2 tsp paprika, 4 tsp ground cumin, 2 tsp oregano, 4 tsp garlic powder, and your choice of how much cayenne pepper you want)
1/2 cup water
2 tsp cumin (in addition to what's listed above if you make your own chili powder)
1/4 cup brown sugar (NOT packed)
1 cup of your favorite BBQ sauce

Brown beef in skillet. Drain fat. Transfer to slow cooker.

Add remaining ingredients, stir well to combine, and cover. I put way less cayenne pepper than what it called for because neither one of us like spicy foods and it had a good kick too it. It was a little too much for Hunter, but if you like spicy and aren't feeding a toddler, throw a lot in! I added about 1.5 tsp to mine and it gave it a good start to being spicy. Cook on LOW for 8 hours or HIGH for 4, stirring periodically. Make sure you do stir it at least once an hour because it's really thick so it will burn to the pot if you don't.

Serve with shredded cheddar, sour cream, Ritz crackers, or whatever chili garnish you prefer. Now excuse me while I go eat chili leftovers...