This was really good. I was hesitant about the sugar, but I made this per the directions other than omitting the flour and substituting 1 tsp/each of onion powder and garlic powder in lieu of the 1 Tbs of each minced. Some of the reviews of this recipe kinda butt-digg over the flour ingredient. If you've ever made chili from a seasoning "kit", it usually includes "MASA", which is only added as a THICKENER. Flour is the wheat-equivalent of MASA which is made from corn. Long story short, if you don't need to thicken your chili, don't use the flour. I made venison chili with this using 4 lbs ground Bambi, 2 cans mild Rotel, 1 can Ranch-Style beans-undrained, 1/2 can water & 4 Tbsp of this seasoning. Let it simmer uncovered for 'bout 30 minutes, then covered for 'bout an hour. Serve with cornbread, over rice/chips/crackers, or with guacamole. I'm from Louisiana and I live in Texas, so take it for what it's worth when I say my chili turned out good.

Reviewed On: Dec. 31, 2009

I'm giving this 3 stars instead of 1 only because of the nutritional value of this soup. I am so sorry, but this was terrible. I followed the directions exactly except I didn't have thyme, so I used rosemary and I also used home-made vegetable stock. Maybe that's what my error was, I don't know, but we couldn't eat it. I did notice that the soup seemed a little more edible before I put in the lime juice.

Reviewed On: Sep. 17, 2009