You did good, OP.  You will likely go on to explore many different types of chili, if you are interested in trying new foods.  Honestly there aren't a whole lot of moms out there who didn't do what your mom did--cook what she knows and what is easy cuz being a mom is exhausting.  

I make cowboy chili, which takes longer than yours and is far more trouble.  It also has many complex layered flavors, uses many different kind of peppers, and uses chunked beef instead of ground beef.  It uses whole or diced tomatoes and not sauce. It's chunky and thick.  (original recipe from AR15.com member Hank, amended by me)

But when I started out, my chili was a lot like yours, and it was good, too.  When I need to make quick chili, it's still a little more complex than your recipe, but it's not too far off.  And it's still good.  

I predict you will end up loving something more involved, as well, as your tastes and cooking interest evolve.

That said, the illustration here of "anything done differently than what I do is FAIL" will always be what you get on this forum, even if there were a thousand different "official" labels for chili.

"Northern Chili"
"Midwest Chili"
Northern Midwest Chili"
Southern Chili
Southeastern Chili
Southwestern Chili
Hatch Chili
SanFrancisco Chili
New England Chili
Ohio Chili (which doesn't even count as Midwest Chili to me)
Great Lakes Chili
Cowboy Chili
Rocky Mountain Chili


The list could go on.

Cuz everybody from every region thinks theirs is "real" chili...

and it IS.

Because the link to having actual chili peppers has been lost to most people.

They're all different.

Last night, for the first time, I tried brown sugar as a topping for chili.  (Was at a party, saw a guy dump a spoon of brown sugar on his chili and went, "wtf"

He explained it to me, I tried it, and it was good.  I won't do it regularly, cuz I like nice hot chili and the sweet takes away from that, but like good wine, eventually you get bored and want to try new things.

Keep going.  Try something new each time.  Use some advice here--ask for recipes.

Glad you love chili.  It's awesome.

I hug trees while eating my Tolerance Chili, watching LOTR and listening to Enya.  I will live in New Free Minas Chilith.

Begone, Chili Nazi.  

Do you think it would work with canned chilis?  

We can't get NM chilis fresh over here.  

I love Hatch chilis.

Oooooo!  Thank you.     Now that you mention dried, I wonder if I could even find those at some of the Mexican food markets.

*runs off to find dried chilis*

You could sub in chunked venison I'm sure.  I haven't tried that with this recipe because we haven't had venison in a long time but I used to make venison chili all the time.  I don't know if I would try "softer" game meat.  It needs to hold up to the spices and cooking time.

I don't have time to type it out at the moment but I will come back and give the recipe here.
 

Okay here we go.

I may have made mistakes. First time I've typed this out, and it's REALLY ROUGH.  Not in finished recipe form.  

Ask questions if you're confused.

The only thing I absolutely would not add to this chili is any kind of macaroni product.  This simmers for a long time.  Macaroni would be mush and would ruin this.

Hank’s Chili *notes*]

This recipe, at its origin, comes from AR15.com member Hank.  I’ve changed it quite a bit, but without that recipe, I would never have learned to cook chili like this, so in my world, this is “Hank’s Chili.”
It’s put together from a hodgepodge of his bits and pieces of information as I dug it out of him in a thread long ago, far away. I’ve been making it for seven years at least—maybe more like ten--and everybody who has it loves it—(even some native Texans) I don’t have a problem with beans but I don’t put them in this chili.  You could if you wanted.—add them about ¾ of the way through.  BUT NO MACARONI.   It doesn't work with this.

You will see the hodgepodged-ness in my notes vs his ingredients and vice versa.  However, I’ve made some significant changes over the years.   It is still evolving. I’m now experimenting with different kinds of chili powders (Ancho, chipotle, etc). None of those changes are here.
 
Anybody who wants Hank’s original recipe, please ask. I will be glad to post it here, intact, as I transcribed it.



Hank’s Chili, ala changes de Kitties


Ingredients:

*3-4 lb chuck roast  cut into ½-1” cubes (just cut up the meat into reasonable human-size bites)..(Hank’s called for 6 lbs English chuck. He lives in a larger city. I never have that available here at a price I’m willing to pay.)

*2- Negra Modello (dark Mexican beer—This was Hank’s choice. I’ve substituted all kinds of beer since then, and he’s right.  This is the best.)  ALSO--YOU HAVE SIX BEERS.  Hank's instructions included  drinking at least one or two of the other four while you cook this chili.  

*8 big green jalapenos (at least), seeds removed, chopped.  (adjust if your peppers are small.)  This is more than he used.  I like more heat.  I add these RAW because I want that bite, and because sautéing these is too damn painful.

*4 Anaheim peppers, chopped  (I add these raw)

*2-3 green bell peppers, chopped (I use two, cuz I like the ripe peppers better—adjust to taste.)  I chop these and sauté them a bit.

*2 red bell peppers, chopped—I’ve done these raw and I’ve done them sautéed a bit. Different flavors.  Both good.  I like sauteed a little better.

*4 Poblano peppers, chopped—(I add these raw)

(If you like hotter peppers, I would ADD, not substitute, the hotter peppers in this chili. You want the layered flavors, not just heat, so ADD different peppers.  Hank’s recipe had NO peppers hotter than jalapenos.)

*2 large yellow onions (I chop these and damn near caramelize them.)

*Chili powder (I don’t use much of this anymore, but it’s in Hank’s recipe)

*Ground Cumin—a bunch

*Garlic powder—a bunch  (There is not enough fresh garlic in the universe to spice this chili to my liking.  And the bitter bite of garlic powder works in this.)

*1 head fresh garlic chopped fairly fine  (this is my addition)

*Cayenne pepper (ground)

*Onion Powder—(I don’t love onion powder, but once again, it’s needed to punch up the flavor to the level of LOTS. Could you do it with all fresh?  Maybe. I haven’t gotten that far yet in my experiments.)

*Smoked paprika  (yes, it needs to be smoked.)

*Salt to taste <span> CAREFUL WITH THIS--add this a VERY SMALL BIT at a time..saving salt for the last addition.]</span>. (especially if you use chili powder, as a lot of it has salt, plus you’re going to lightly salt the meat—LIGHTLY DAMMIT—as you’re browning.)

*Black pepper--It's chili.  The bitterness ain't gonna show if you add it too early.
 
*1 lb mild cheddar (plus more for garnish) NOTE:  I use way less now that my husband is on a cardiac diet.  Like I use 1/4 lb. The chili is still awesome.. USE what’s in your fridge if you’ve got it. I use any kind—mild, medium, or sharp.  BUT it NEEDS TO BE CHEDDAR.

*44 oz Tomato sauce and/or diced tomatoes(I use about 1/4  sauce because I need the liquid, 3/4 diced tomatoes or whole home-canned tomatoes mashed up cuz I like stuff chunky.)

Directions....sort of...

STOCK

“Stock” is started first—
44 oz tomatoes in mostly chunky form
A 12 oz beer  (add the second one later, as needed.
3 Tbs garlic powder  (I'm liable to add two more by the time this is done.--but DON'T JUMP THE GUN. SLOW COOK AND TASTE THE DAMN CHILI.)
2 Tbs onion powder
2 tsp Cumin (I use probably double this by the end of the process)
2 tsp smoked paprika
1 tsp salt  (DO THIS 1/4 TSP AT A TIME over the process of the cooking.)

Put all this on to simmer on low.
black pepper done to taste (I grind the black pepper fresh and add it very late in the process--but whenever.)  

MEAT:

*Cut the beef into ½-1-inch cubes (this is the time consuming part) and season lightly with garlic powder, salt, and pepper—THIS STEP IS IMPORTANT.  DON’T BLOW OFF SEASONING THE MEAT WHILE YOU’RE BROWING IT.) Brown them in a skillet and Drain off the fat. (not in the original recipe, but I hate that fat floating on top of the chili and it adds nothing to the flavor, for me.  There’s plenty of fat in this.)

*Set the meat aside.

Veggies:

While this stock is going..

*Finely dice the jalapenos, Anaheims and Poblanos  (and any hotter peppers if you’re adding heat) and throw them into the stock.  

*Saute the onions—I’d do this in a bit of butter if I could.  I used to, but now I use EVOO. If you want MY flavor, sauté them til they start to turn a little brown on the edges.   When the onions are ready to take off the heat, throw the minced garlic into the onion pan and sauté it until the flavor hits you in the face (this takes about 30 seconds for me), then dump all of that into the stock pot.

*Chop the  bell peppers (as chunky as you like. I like them fairly chunky) and sauté those next.  I get them fairly done because I don’t like overwhelming bell pepper flavor and cooking mellows out the flavor.  Dump those in the pot.

NOW...

*Add the meat to the pot.

*Simmer for a couple of hours, minimum.  Adjust seasonings after each hour.  I usually end up adding about half again on most spices, but sometimes more.  When it’s right, this chili knocks you down with flavor in a very good way.  

*About an hour before meal time, shred the cheese and put it into the pot to melt into the chili.  

~~Have more grated cheese on the side for topping
~~Have Sour Cream available on the side(I use plain Greek Yogurt instead),

~~Homemade Guacamole available on side


To SERVE:
~~Garnish with more cheese  , serve over corn chips or with corn bread. (I like both kinds of cornbread, but my favorite is sweet cornbread, and it’s a great counterpoint to the spicy chili.  Haters gonna hate. )

This is thick chili—more like stew—than the “soupy” chili we often see around here.  I don’t like soupy chili.  

***DO NOT UNDERESTIMATE how much the flavor (and the heat) will develop as this chili simmers.  What you taste in the beginning is NOT what you will get in the end, after 3 hours or so.



END NOTE:  ****HANK USED BACON in his chili, because...bacon.  No matter how I do it, I can't keep that from adding too damn much fat floating in the pan, even if I fry the bacon in advance.  I hate that, but I also don't think it adds enough to offset the extra fat.  PLUS..now the bacon would add even MORE "bad for the man I love" and it's not worth it. We'll save our bacon for special breakfasts and wrapping around jalapeno poppers for special occasions.    Honestly, I don't think this chili needs bacon.

Chili.

No beans.
No tomatoes.

That's beautiful!

Please post your recipe.

The weekend is a good time to do it.

Give youself a LOT of extra time on the first go...for the chopping veggies, but mostly..for cutting up the meat. That takes a surprisingly long time, even for an experienced cook with a really big, sharp knife.

No you don't.

He hasn't posted his recipe.

But if you have your own..

I would LOVE to see it..and SERIOUSLY,...I would love to try it.

I know it takes time to type it, but I would love to see yours.   I'm interested in all the "no tomato" recipes.  All these people talk smack about it, but they are not posting their chili recipes.

If you post yours, I will try it.