Brown the ground beef in a large deep skillet over medium-high heat. Season the beef with salt and pepper and use a wooden spoon to break it up into small pieces.

When meat is no longer pink, drain all the liquid from pan.

In a 5 qt or larger crockpot add the meat and all of the additional ingredients.

Set crockpot to HIGH for 3 to 4 hours or LOW for 6 to 8.

After it's ready, taste and add additional seasonings if necessary

Discard the bay leaves and serve over rice.Freezer Meal

Brown the ground beef and drain. Place the meat and all of the ingredients inside a gallon freezer Ziploc bag and label. When ready dump contents of bag into crockpot and cook on HIGH for 3 to 4 hours or LOW for 6 to 8.