Confessions of a Food Junkie

My mom is an amazing cook.  I learned about 95% of what I know about cooking from her, and it has become our shared hobby.  She's even published her own cookbook.  Her chili has been a family favorite since my childhood.  When I struck out on my own, she made me a little cookbook of her basic recipes and thankfully this little nugget was one of them.  We had this tonight for dinner, and everyone left the table full and happy.

Mom tends to make enough food to feed the county, so I have scaled this down to feed my family of little eaters.  Once the kids get bigger, I imagine I'll be using her full recipe.  But until then, this works for us.

1 (20 oz) can kidney beans
2 (28 oz) cans tomato sauce
1 lb lean hamburger (frozen)
1 onion, chopped
2 cans mushrooms
3 Tbsp chili powder
salt
pepper
1 Tbsp onion powder
1/4 tsp sugar
Note:  do not use any garlic as it will taste too much like spaghetti sauce

In a large pot, bring the hamburger and about 2 an inch of water to a boil.  Keep scraping the hamburger off the frozen bulk as it cooks.  When the hamburger is all broken up, reduce the heat to medium-high.  Do not drain the water off of the hamburger!  Add the onion.  Cook until onions are soft.  Add the tomato sauce, kidney beans (plus their liquid), mushrooms and spices.  Turn burner to low and simmer for at least 2 hours.