Giant pot of chili

This is a great base-recipe - it makes a ton and is much cheaper than buying individual cans of chili. It also freezes really well (except the rice - freeze before adding the rice and the rice and water and cook it when you actually eat it). This is a great recipe to play with, too - add corn, hot peppers, other beans . . . whatever you like in your chili.

2 Tablespoons of oil
1 onion, chopped
1 "pound" fake ground meat (2 boca packets) -or- 1 cup TVP and 1 cup water
1 small green bell pepper, chopped
16 ounce can kidney beans, rinsed and drained
14.5 ounce can diced tomatoes, undrained
16 ounce can tomato sauce
1 packet taco seasoning (*see below)
(optional) 1 cup uncooked rice and 2 cups water

1. Heat the oil in a big pot and cook the onion until it is translucent.
2. Add the rest of the ingredients, stir well
3. Bring to a boil, then cover and simmer. If you added the rice or are using TVP, simmer for at least 30 minutes. Without rice or TVP, you could just heat it and eat it, but it tends to taste better if you simmer it for at least an hour.

* if you think you'll use taco seasoning a lot (we certainly do), consider buying it in bulk. I personally get the seasoning from Penzey's - their spices are generally much better than what you can get in the grocery store *and* much cheaper. 3 Tablespoons is about 1 packet of taco seasoning.