Harris Teeter Meal Deal - all you need for a hearty chili and bargain prices thrown in as well!

Harris Teeter has a great Meal Deal going on this week (valid until Tuesday evening). You get $10 instant savings if you buy ground beef (or turkey) and eight additional ingredients to make chili. Included on the shopping lists are items such as sour cream, shredded cheese and canned tomatoes. If you are like me and you have been trimming your pantry by cooking soup for several weeks now, a change to a weekend of chili is just happening at the perfect time. I could not wait to cook chili and this Meal Deal promised bargain prices, which made chili actually affordable.

copyright Durhamonthecheap - the Meal Deal from Harris Teeter with $10 instant savings!

 So off I was on Saturday to get my shopping done. Despite the Meal Deal, I still stuck to a budget and I knew that I had plenty of chili ingredients at home, so I limited myself to the Meal Deal and allowed myself a little bit something for dessert. After picking up some Ground Beef (you have to buy the lean 93% variety) for about $6, I bought the sour cream, shredded cheese (8oz package), iced tea and chili seasoning. I then bought the whole wheat crackers and opted for some kidney beans and crushed tomatoes. After indulging on some Blue Bunny ice cream (BOGO special and they did have pistachio almond flavor in stock), my total came to less than $10. Not a bad total considering that I splurged on the ice cream, which cost me an additional $3.50.

At home on Sunday, I started the chili. As stated I still had plenty of ingredients at home, so I browned the beef in my rather vintage looking West Bend two piece crock pot (I love this piece, which I picked up at Goodwill years ago for about $5.00). I then added a small can of green chiles, two cans of tomatoes with jalapenos, one can black beans, one can black beans with jalapenos and two cans of diced tomatoes. My crock pot was filled to the brim and it started smelling really, really good. About 4 hours later, everything was heated through and chili was on the menu. Adding some cheese, sour cream and crumbled crackers made for a nice dish and the chili was finally spicy enough to please everyone. Adding the jalapenos in the tomatoes and beans made all the difference and despite having a relatively small amount of beef, this chili was tasty and filling.

copyright Durhamonthecheap - bowl of chili at a bargain price!