I just sent this one to someone on here yesterday, so I thought I would copy/paste it. One thing about this recipe is that it uses canned beans. I prefer to use dried kidney beans to eliminate some of the sodium and low sodium v8. But often times, I forget to start early so I can't soak the beans and everyone complains when they are crunchy!
I have a family of seven and this feeds them, no problems.
1 - 2 pounds of hamburger, depending on how meaty you like it
2 cans dark red kidney beans, drained and rinsed well
2 cans medium chili beans with sauce...not the hormel chili, although I think I did use that once
2 cans butter beans, drained and rinsed well (but be careful as they break easily, I add them last to avoid breaking them, they're my girls' and mine favorite)
1 large can/jug v8 - I did it with tomato juice last week and the v8 gives it more flavor
1 large onion, diced, but leaving the pieces big enough for the kids who don't like it to pick out
1 - 2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
1 1/2 c frozen corn (optional, my kids don't mind when it's in there, so when I have it, I add it for another veggie)
Brown the burger with onion. Toss in crock pot or large cooking pot. Add rinsed kidney beans and chili beans. Add v8 juice to desired consistency. Add rinsed butter beans and cheese. Heat thoroughly. Although, the longer you let this one set, the more flavor the beans absorb, so I like to leave it in for about four hours in the crock pot. My best friend adds canned mushrooms and olives to hers, but I am the only one who likes it like that, so I will sometimes pull some aside for myself and add those. You can control the heat with your chili beans, I've used half medium, half hot and that was good, too. My kids hate tomatoes so this is a way to get the tomato flavor in without them finding chunks.
I'd look into the magazine Quick Cooking. It's meals that are quick and easy (cause I have a sign in my kitchen that says Dinner is ready when the smoke alarm goes off!). I try to stay away from prepackaged stuff, TRY. I love to use my crockpot... A roast, sear it on the stove in some oil (I prefer olive) with some onion, toss it all into a crockpot, add a can of coke, and let it go for the day. Or look in the gravy section of the store where they sell the packaged gravies. There are some simple recipes there, too. Today I am throwing together roast meat, potatoes, carrots, onions, stew mix, and water before we go out snowshoeing and sledding later. If I can think of other recipes, I'll let you know.