Crock Pottin' It Again!

We hosted a Super Bowl party this past January for Stephen's Small Group and their significant others.  While we originally thought we were going to have 20 people present (mostly boys) we really only had about 15.  Due to the thought of having a bunch of hungry men in our apartment around and during dinner time, I was really serious about having enough food for everyone.  I immediately turned to my beloved Crock Pot for help (I also borrowed some from my mom and my friend Amy so we had 4 pots crockin' for this event)!  I decided that I would make the White Chicken Chili that I shared a month ago and a regular Chili recipe that I also found in my "Fix it and Forget it" cookbook.  Both turned out wonderful!  I even had someone ask me for the recipes of both, as they thought they were superb (again, I did nothing but open up a bunch of cans and dice up some veggies, so no tootin' of my own horn here)!  I figured that while we were still technically in winter and you may need something easy to fix to warm your insides before the warmth of spring comes for good, that I would provide you with the regular chili recipe.

 Colleen's Favorite Chili:

Ingredients:

*2 medium onions, coarsely chopped *1-1 1/2 lbs. ground beef, browned and drained *2 garlic cloves, minced fine or 1/2 tsp garlic powder *3/4 cup finely diced green peppers *2 14 1/2 oz cans diced tomatoes, or 1 quart home-canned tomatoes *30-32 oz. beans - kidney or pinto OR mixture of two (I did a mixture) *8 oz can tomato sauce *1/4 tsp. beaumonde spice (I didn't know what this was so I didn't include it in mine) *1 tsp. ground cumin *1/2 tsp pepper *1 tsp seasoned salt *1 Tbsp, or more, chili powder *1 tsp dried basil

Prep:

*Combine all ingredients in slow cooker.

*Cover.  Cook on Low 8-12 hours, or High 5-6 (I did high for about 5.5 hours)

Thanks Colleen!  Your favorite has now become a Corsi household favorite as well!

Crock Pot Lovers of the World - UNITE!

I always had a hidden love for my Crock Pot.  The desire to use it often was always right below the surface, and yet I never did for 2 reasons.  1) I was always only cooking for myself, and a Crock Pot doesn't make a single serving meal and b) My old Crock Pot wasn't digit - it had a dial so I could choose between Warm, Low or High and when I turned it on, I couldn't gauge or manage how long it cooked.  This proved to be a problem when my schedule was so inconsistent and I would get home later than I thought causing my pot roast to be dry, the potatoes to be mushy and for everything to smell WAY better than it tasted.

When Stephen and I registered I did not think it was frivolous to register for a new Crock Pot, this time for one that was digital so that I could control the cooking...and I'm SO HAPPY I DID!

There she is, in all her glory!  Let me tell you, she has been may saving cooking grace these past couple of weeks as I have started grad school!  My class schedule is, unfortunately, all night classes.  I go to class 3 days a week from 5-8...ugh!  What was a girl to do regarding dinner (one of my professors won't let us bring food into the class)?!  Because I use public transportation I must leave the apartment at 3:45pm to go wait for the bus in order to make it to class in sound time.  NO ONE wants to eat dinner at 3:30, and besides that what about Stephen?!  So I've been grocery shopping with this guy by my side:

This book has enabled Stephen and I to still eat a healthy, homemade and cheaper meal those three nights out of the week.  I've made a handful of recipes out of here, but last night's was Stephen's (and mine) favorite recipe...White Chicken Chili...YUM (sorry Shave!)!!!  Because I recognize that not everyone has this cookbook, I am going to provide this recipe for you and I encourage, I INSIST that you make this for your loved ones this wintry season - it is so tasty!  If you make it and find that you have a recipe for it and it's better than this one, I'd love to have it - I LOVE WHITE CHICKEN CHILI!!!

Here's what you need:

*3 15-oz cans Great Northern beans, drained *8 oz cooked and shredded chicken breasts (see my note regarding this below) *1 cup chopped onions *1 1/2 cups chopped yellow, red, or green bell peppers *2 jalapeno chili peppers stemmed, seeded and chopped (I did not use these, but I am considering using a can of chopped green chilies next time) *2 garlic cloves minced (2 tsp of minced garlic) *2 tsp ground cumin *1/2 tsp salt *1/2 tsp dried oregano *3 1/2 cups chicken broth (I would add more - when I made it, it wasn't soupy enough for us) *I added a chicken bouillon cube - you be the judge for yourself *sour cream *shredded cheddar cheese *tortilla chips

Here's what you do:

1. Combine all ingredients except sour cream, cheddar cheese and chips in the slow cooker.

2. Cover.  Cook on Low 8-10 hours, or High 4-5 hours (I cooked mine on high for 4.5 hours)

3. Ladle into bowls and top individual servings with sour ream, cheddar cheese, and chips

***Note regarding cooking and shredding your chicken:

I had always thought that shredding chicken was so intimidating - NOPE!  Here's what I did:  I used 2 large chicken breasts for this and had plenty.  I took the raw chicken and cut it into fat strips (cooks quicker) and cooked it on my stove top using a little bit of EVOO; salting and peppering it while cooking.  I cooked it, flipped it and made sure that it was cooked through.  Once it was finished, I took the individual strips and put them on my cutting board and went to town on it using 2 forks.  Because it was just finished and still warm, it was tender and I was able to get great shreds out of it.  I was so impressed with myself ;)

Make it, taste it, love it and tell me about it!  (I'm not tootin' my own horn, this isn't my recipe - it's Esther Martin from Ephrata, Pa - Esther, you've done it again!)

p.s. I feel like I will be frequenting this blog...it's called Crock Pot 365...Yes sir!