Slow-cooked beef chili

Slow cooker	3 ½ to 4-quart capacity
Bacon strips	6
Beef, boneless, cubed	2 pounds
Kidney beans, drained	30 ounces
Tomatoes, cut up	28 ounces
Tomato sauce	8 ounces
Onion, finely chopped	1 cup
Carrot, diced	½ cup
Green bell pepper, finely chopped	½ cup
Celery, finely chopped	½ cup
Parsley, chopped	2 tablespoons
Garlic cloves, minced	2
Bay leaf	1
Chili powder	2 tablespoons
Salt	1 teaspoon
Black pepper, freshly ground	¼ teaspoon

1. Fry bacon until crisp; remove with a slotted spoon, and drain on paper towels.
2. Brown half of the beef in the pan with the bacon drippings, about 5 minutes; place in slow cooker.
3. Repeat with remaining meat.
4. Stir bacon and remaining ingredients.
5. Cover, and cook on LOW for 9 to 11 hours, or until beef is tender.

Top with cheddar cheese, sour cream, chopped onions, sliced avocado, diced tomatoes, Fritos brand corn chips, or whatever else makes you salivate; serve!

At times your dish must include what you have conveniently on hand, instead of a requested ingredient. This is the case with today's batch of chili. Didn't have bacon in the freezer (as James is not fond of it), so I browned the beef with hemp seed oil. After all the beef is browned, deglaze the pan with a red wine and water mixture, scrapping up any browned bits stuck to the pan, and pour into the crockpot. For the chili powder, I used ground guajillo chili.