Super Thick 'n' Hearty Chili

Source: My friend Katie's cooking blog, with some tweaks by me

Ingredients:
1 lb ground beef
1/2 onion, chopped
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
2 cloves garlic, finely minced (or pressed in your handy dandy garlic press!)
1 can tomato sauce
1 can stewed tomatoes
1 can water (I used the stewed tomatoes can)
1/2 cup salsa
2 Tablespoons chili seasoning mix (Katie suggested this recipe which I used with a few tweaks shown below)
2 cans beans of your choice, rinsed and drained (I used light kidney and pinto)

Chili Seasoning Mix:
(Mix together and store the extra in an airtight container)
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 Tablespoon chili powder
1/2 - 3/4 Tablespoon onion powder
1/2 - 3/4 Tablespoon garlic powder
2 teaspoons white sugar
2 teaspoons ground cumin
2 teaspoons dried parsley
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon dried basil
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

Directions:
In a large saucepan over medium heat, combine the ground beef, onion and garlic and sauté for 10 minutes, or until meat is browned and onion is tender. Drain grease, if desired.

Add the ground black pepper, tomato sauce, tomatoes, salsa, water, chili seasoning mix and beans.

Mix well, reduce heat to low and simmer for at least an hour.  Serve with cheese and sour cream, if desired.

Notes:
This is super yummy and really hit the spot on a cool, dreary Sunday afternoon.  We had ours with sweet cornbread muffins.  Delightful.  P.S. Gregg came up with the name ... he said that's what it would be called if it came in a can on the store shelves.  And it was very thick, so if you want, you can add a little water to thin it out.