my chili recipe and my mom's cornbread recipe

I've never made homemade chili before, probably because I've never been the biggest fan of chili, canned or homemade.  I tried it tonight and came up with my own recipe after reading tons of others and I threw in some ingredients of my own.  It was the best chili I have ever had.  Keep in mind though, it is tailored to me.  If you like spicy, runny, chunky, no meat, more meat, etc. you might doctor it up a bit to your liking.  We had it with my mom's corn bread recipe and basically dinner rocked tonight.  I want to try some canned green chilies in it next time.  Save the salting for last, after the other flavors have blended and simmered.  I over salted just a bit in the beginning.  You can also use a chili seasoning mix instead of the cumin and chili powder, but I don't know how much of one so taste as you go folks!  That's the benefit of being the chef! :)  If anyone tries this in their crockpot let me know, I think I want to try that sometime.

Shay’s Chili

2 or 3 TBS oil

1 large onion, chopped

1 pound ground beef

30 oz canned chili beans

1 can ginger ale or lemon lime soda, beer would work too if you don't mind that

10 oz can enchilada sauce (whatever kind you like)

2 tsp chili powder

2 tsp cumin

3 TBS minced garlic

2 tsp basil

1 can diced tomatoes or 2 tomatoes diced

salt, to taste

optional toppings: sour cream, cheese, cilantro, crackers

In a large pot, heat onion in oil until it browns a little.  Add hamburger and cook until no longer pink, breaking up the cooked burger into little pieces.  Drain the grease.  Add in all other ingredients except the salt and simmer for 15 to 20 minutes or longer.  The longer it simmers the better it tastes.  Stir it every few minutes.  At the end, season with salt to your liking.  

My Mom's Corn Bread

1/2 cup butter, softened (I even softened mine for 15 seconds in the microwave, I know, shame shame!  still
     turned out scrumptious!)

1 cup sugar

2 eggs

1 cup cornmeal

1 1/2 cups flour (I tried 1/2 hard white whole wheat flour and 1/2 all purpose flour for the first time tonight        and couldn't even tell a difference)

1/2 t salt

2 tsp baking powder

1 1/2 cups milk

Put it all in a bowl together, don't worry about sifting flour or creaming sugar/butter or any of that junk. You have better things to do, trust me! Throw it in a bowl, whisk it until just barely combined (I love my mom's way of cooking!).  It will taste delicious I promise!  Grease muffin tins, a bread pan, or a 9x13 pan.  You can do it any size or shape you want.  Pour batter in your pan of choice.  Bake at 350.  For the 9x13 it's 20 to 25 minutes.  Adjust the cooking time based on what size of pan you're using.  It should be mostly yellow with a little bit of brown starting to form.  Serve warm with butter and honey.