Reddit reviews Carroll Shelby's Original Texas Chili Kit, 4-Ounce Boxes (Pack of 12)

World's greatest bachelor food: Carroll Shelby's chili mix. You can't go wrong.

I find cooking for just myself the hardest part of not living at my parent's anymore. I grew up in a family of 6, then took culinary classes where I was making food for 40 people or more. Making food for just me is hard, especially as I get bored eating the leftovers over and over again before they go bad.

These are my favorite 20 minute and under meals, that if there are leftovers I like enough that I don't get bored of them before they go bad.

Quesadilla with salsa, or burritos (heat up burrito beans, add cheese and salsa when they're on the stove).

Grilled cheese, BLT, or PB&J.

Green salad, with whatever veggies I happened to pick up with the lettuce (cherry tomatoes, green onion, button mushrooms, mini sweet peppers, cucumber, carrot, radish, etc) add croutons, cheese, and dressing when I serve it. When I make it just for me it can last 4 or so days. At my dad's house, with my brother there, it's gone in one meal.

Spaghetti. I just get a jar of sauce and whichever noodles strike my fancy. Then I brown some spicy Italian sausage, and saute some bell pepper and onion. Mix it all together.

Spicy sausage + sauteed veggies + rice. It has no name, it's just quick and easy and scratched my "nothing sweet and nothing loaded with carbs" itch when I got home from a 5-hour baking class at 8 at night.

French toast or pancakes, or fried eggs and toast. I'm a big believer in breakfast for dinner, but I'll make savory french toast too if I've got bread like one with bits of roasted garlic in it. I make pancakes from Bisquick and add sprinkles (the small round non-pareil ones) when they're cooking and don't bother using syrup because I never liked overly sweet pancakes or french toast.

Saturday Night Dinner. This is a family dish that my grandmother made for my dad's family every Saturday night. My dad is the oldest of 7, and there's 18 of us cousins. There are at least 25 variations of this (probably more now that some of the cousins kids are old enough to cook. My siblings and I have eaten it at least once a month our entire lives, always have the ingredients on hand at home, and take it to potlucks with rave reviews for how simple it is. Anyway...Cook some sausage in a large skillet. Add cans of pork and beans. Add seasonings. Add 1 to 2 sliced apples. Simmer with lid on until apples are soft. My version uses spicy sausage (but not Italian) cooked in crumbles, sauteed onion, a small amount of molasses and mustard, and I skip the apples (never liked them). My dad cooks up spicy sausage in patties then quarters them, uses onion and jalapeño, mustard, ketchup, Worcestershire sauce, and a handful of brown sugar. One of my uncles uses maple breakfast sausage, tosses in some bacon too, maple syrup, and cubes the apples. As you can see, you can vary it as much as you want.


If I've got more time, I like this chili kit. I use a pound of ground beef and a pound of interesting sausage (I used chorizo once, for instance). Sautee onions and bell peppers. Use 2 cans of pinto beans, chose the fire roasted tomatos, and add in a can of the diced green chilis. Only takes about 10 minutes of prep, but it does need to stick around on the stove a while. Easy, but a little time consuming.

Also on the longer edge of things, but oh so good, what my family called soy sauce chicken. Bone in, skin on chicken thighs. Put into a baking dish. Douse in soy sauce (maybe a quarter inch deep in the pan). Turn chickens over so the sauce gets on the skin, then over again. Cook at 350 in the oven, turning them over or basting them occasionally until done. Usually about an hour or 90 minutes, and I turn them every 20 minutes. Serve with snow peans that have been sauteed with a hot sesame oil and rice. Again, not a lot of work, but more time consuming.

It's really easy. I'm bad at formatting so I'll just write it down here.

First, you need to get some chili powder stuffs. I figured out how to make it and it's not that hard. You need about 3-4 tablespoons of paprika and about 1-2 tablespoons cumin. another 1-2 tablespoons oregano. Then add garlic powder and salt/pepper and whatever else to taste. Or you can just buy this stuff. I don't use the salt or the flour that it comes with. Just the chili powder and the cayenne pepper.

What you're going to do is sauté half to a whole onion with garlic. How you cut the onion is up to you. I like to dice it. Once the onion starts getting nice and smelly you add your meat. I use 1-2 pounds ground beef. If you want to get real fancy you can add cubed round steak. Or any steak for that matter. Tonight I'm mixing 1 pound ground beef with 1 pound round steak. Once the meat is browned you add your tomatoes. I use about 1 large can of diced and one small can of whole peeled tomatoes. Then a can of black beans, kidney beans, whatever beans you want. But make sure to drain them first. Now time for the chili powder. That's what's nice about the brown box thing. It's way easier. If you're doing your own powder it's hard to measure out how much you're going to need. Next you're going to add a beer. I like to use Guiness since it's a stout. But any beer will do. Even bud light. (ew, gross). Then about 1-3 shots of bourbon. Now all you have to do is keep the heat low and stir for a few hours. That's about it.

I'm not sure mine is a traditional chili. But if you do it right it's damn tasty. Oh, get some green onions and some cheddar cheese to top the chili with. Also, corn bread. mmmmm corn bread.

If you make it, let me know how you like it. If you have any questions let me know.

Keep your chin up. You'll get through this. It'll all be over and you'll look back and laugh.

I'll just leave this here: http://www.amazon.com/Carroll-Shelbys-Original-Texas-4-Ounce/dp/B000H23Z1C

That, plus beef, plus fire-roasted tomatoes, plus beer = awesomeness.

I've done the from-scratch stuff a bunch of times, even fire-roasting the veggies myself, and putting in grilled steak, pulled pork, etc. This Shelby's mix, plus beef, tomatoes, and beer, is still the best I've had anywhere.

Bonus: Top it with fritos, cheese, onions, and Cholula sauce for instant win.

http://www.amazon.com/Carroll-Shelbys-Original-Texas-4-Ounce/dp/B000H23Z1C