Homemade Chili

This past week the whole fam-bam has been under the weather. Guess it's just that time of year. Besides the usual sloth-like activities of laying on the couch, watching movies and complaining about how sick we all feel, I decided it would be nice for some home cooked soup. Instead of the usual chicken noodle, I decided to cook up some vegetarian chili. We are big chili lovers in this house, minus Olin-- he pretty much hates food.. all food. Seriously, most picky tiny human ever. He doesn't even like the good stuff like cake or ice cream or, and here's the kicker, bacon!? I mean really kid?.... Anyway, chili. 

Ingredients (I really never measure anything so just play around with the measurements. It's pretty hard to mess this up):

2 tbsp butter
half an onion
1 clove garlic
1/2 bag frozen green beans
1 whole bag frozen sw vegetable mix (or something with some corn, peppers, beans etc. in it)
1 can kidney beans
1 can black beans
2 cans diced tomatos
1 can tomato paste
either 3 tbsp better than bouillon + 2 cups of water OR 2 cups vegetable broth (I was out of broth so I used the bouillon)

Spices (to taste):
salt
pepper
onion powder
garlic powder
coriander
chili powder
paprika
cumin

Directions:
Saute diced onion in butter on medium heat in large pot for about 10 minutes. Toss in diced garlic and saute for about a minute. Add water + bouillon (or broth) then all canned stuff and frozen vegetables. Increase heat to high. Start seasoning with various spices until suitable to your taste. When it starts boiling, reduce heat to medium low, cover and let simmer for 35 minutes. Check the thickness and taste. I always add more spices at this point because some of the flavor cooks down. If you want, cook for another 15-20 minutes for a thicker chili.

Optional: Add chese. Because, in my opinion, everything is better with a little cheese.

Pictorial process: