Smoky Bacon Chili

I have officially made the best chili ever. I'm not kidding. This stuff was amazing. I adapted the recipe from my new favorite blog: paleomg.com. You should check it out. The writer is HILARIOUS and has so many good recipes. Back to the chili.....why is it so good? Well, it has bacon in it. We all know that bacon makes everything better. It also has a nice smoky flavor to it. I've never had chili that has had a smoky flavor, and now I will never make my chili without it. Adam loved this so much that he asked if we could run back to the store to buy more meat (I had all the veggies on hand) to make more. I laughed and promised him I would make some this weekend so we can freeze it and he can warm it up anytime he liked. He loved it, too :)
You will not regret making this. The only thing I would do, is double the recipe. You can't possibly make too much of this.

Ingredients:

• 1 lb ground beef
• 6 slices of bacon, cubed
• 1 yellow onion, diced
• 1 red bell pepper, diced
• 1 green bell pepper, diced
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 (14oz) can of fire roasted tomatoes
• 1 (8oz) can of organic tomato sauce
• 1 TBSP garlic powder
• 1/2 tsp chili powder
• 2 TBSP smoked paprika
• 2 tsp cumin
• 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
• 2 sweet potatoes*

Preparation:

                 Here is a quote from the original recipe: "This really ain't that hard people. Check this out. I served my chili over sweet potatoes because I think I'm cool like that. So do it." - Couldn't have said it better myself.

1. Get a large pot and add cubed bacon to it. Let it cook until crispy
2. While bacon is cooking, chop up all the veggies
3. When the bacon has cooked, add the veggies and let cook for about 6 minutes. Add ground beef and spices
4. Mix well and let meat brown
5. Once brown, add the can of fire roasted tomatoes and tomato sauce. Mix well.
6. Cook on low, stirring occasionally for about 10 minutes, or until ready to serve.
7. While the chili is heating through, throw the sweet potatoes in the microwave and cook as directed
8. Cut the sweet potato in half, place in bowl, and pour chili on top.
9. Eat your heart out

*If I am cooking sweet potatoes to eat whole (not cutting up for fries, or something else) I will buy the kind from Publix that are wrapped in Siran Wrap. There are directions attached to the sweet potato on how to cook it - its only like 7 minutes. If you want to buy the regular sweet potatoes, you will need to cook them in the oven at 400 degrees for about 30 minutes. Make sure you poke some holes in the S.P. and this should be step 1.