Dave's Turkey Burger Chili

So this adventure comes from a failure that I experienced, but didn't write about.  My friend Shelly let me try some turkey burger chili that her husband Dave had made, and I really liked it.  I asked Shelly to get the recipe for me, and it seemed fool proof - ground turkey, beans, tomato sauce and chili powder, who can screw that up right?  Turns out that I can. And I did.  I ended up with way too much meat in relation to the all the other ingredients, the chili was way too thick (I like thick chili, but this was ridiculous), and it wasn't spicy enough.  It wasn't supposed to be super spicy, but even my mom said it wasn't spicy enough, and she's the one who can't handle spicy food.
The chili was good, but I knew I could do much, much better, I just needed to figure out how to do it so that it wasn't too meaty or too thick, and was more spicy, but not too spicy.  Easy right?
When I started thinking about trying again, I thought about what I like when I eat chili, and I like sweet and heat.  I like a little sweetness in chili, and I like heat, but not overpowering heat.  That's what I wanted to add to Dave's chili, a little bit of sweetness, and something that would add heat (not slap you in the face heat, but heat that you can feel on your tongue after you swallow - after burn).  
I started with the tomato sauce in the slow cooker, added some chopped onions and a little bit of minced garlic, and then added some brown sugar for the sweetness.  I cooked the ground turkey, added that, and then added kidney and black beans.  For the heat, I added a small can of diced green chilies - they were mild, just enough heat that you could tell they were there.  Then I just let it all party in the slow cooker for a few hours.
Much as I hate to say it, I failed at this chili again.  I did manage to avoid the mistakes from the first time - I used about half as much meat, the moisture from the slow cooker kept it from being too thick, and I used more chili powder along with the green chilies, which, I think, made the heat level just about perfect.  What was my new mistake, you ask?  Too much sugar - the chili was too sweet.  I actually liked it, and so did my dad, but nobody else did, so I have to chalk this one up as a failure.  Nobody else finished theirs, and I'm pretty sure Andy only took a couple of bites and then made something else to eat for herself. It's ok though - I'm not giving up.  I will not let this disservice to Dave's chili stand!  I'll try again, next time with a lot less sugar.  There's a balance between the heat and the sweet, I just have to find it.  Stay tuned 'til next time!