Jackie's Southwestern White Chili

One of my husband's favorite dishes is one his Mom made for him growing up.  When I was first married, my mother-in-law, Jackie, gave me two recipes.  One was for Andy's favorite cake, Chocolate Oatmeal, and the second was for her White Chili.  The first thing I loved this recipe was it is SO easy to make.  It was a good thing too because I am all about the easy cooking, especially prior to my blog years, when dinner was either from a frozen meal or out of a box.  The original recipe used shredded chicken for the meat, but I had some ground turkey in my fridge so I went with that today.  I would recommend trying it both ways cause they really become two different meals depending on which meat you use. 

Jackie's Southwestern White Chili - recipe adapted from Jackie Stewart

Ingredients:
1 lb cooked turkey breast, or 2-3 chicken breasts, cooked, shredded
1 (15 oz) can Great Northern white beans
1 (10 oz) can Rotel's
1/2 cup salsa
1/4 tsp cumin
1/2 cup shredded chedder cheese/montery jack cheese, plus extra for topping
1/4 cup sour cream
Tortilla chips, if desired

Directions: 
1.  Add all ingredients, except cheese, to a large pot.  Simmer on medium heat until heated through.  Add cheese, simmer until cheese melts. 
2.  Serve with a sprinkling of cheese on top and tortilla chips on the side.

It's a Chili day!

Sunday's have to be one of my favorite days of the week.  Largely because I laze around the house in leggings and a large comfy sweater for the majority of the day catching up on all the TV shows I missed in the past week (thank goodness for the DVR), throwing laundry in the washing machine and generally just puttering around.  It is a great wind down day for me.  It is also a perfect day to blow off the dust on my slow cooker.  I don't use it all that much but I should because I really enjoy recipes where all I have to do is throw a bunch of ingredients into a pot, crank up the heat and then not worry at all about it until it is time to eat.  What's not to like about that?

I found a recipe for chili while browsing around the web this week.  I am quite proud of myself for actually broadening my horizons, looking beyond my all time favorite recipe site, and venturing out a bit.  I found this recipe on another one of my go-to sites, http://www.yumsugar.com/.  I also love the beauty version, http://www.bellasugar.com/ and the tech version, http://www.geeksugar.com/.  I visit these sites pretty regularly.  I feel like I am hip and "with it" on all things new and trendy after browsing through each of them.

Slow Cooker Chili modified from yum sugar (who modified it from Everyday Food, just in case you want to check that recipe out as well!)

Ingredients:
1 pound ground beef

1 can (15 ounces) tomato puree

1 can diced tomatoes

1 cup dried red kidney beans, rinsed

1/2 medium onion, chopped

2 garlic cloves, minced

3 tablespoons chili powder

1 tablespoon cumin

2 cups chicken broth

Coarse salt and ground pepper

1/4 cup sour cream and shredded extra sharp cheddar cheese, for serving

Directions:

1. In a 5- to 6-quart slow cooker, combine beef (raw, there is no need to brown it first), tomato puree, beans, onion, garlic, chili powder, cumin, 2 cups broth, 2 teaspoons salt, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper.

2. Cover, and cook on high, 6 hours (or on low, 8 hours).

3. Add can of diced tomatoes, drained, the last hour of cooking so the tomatoes are not too mushy

4.  Serve chili topped with sour cream and shredded cheddar cheese.

5.  Serves 4.

I loved this chili!  Not only was it extrememly easy to make, it was fantastic as well.  We have lots of left overs which  I plan on packing up, in my new really cute lunch bag, and taking with me for a good hearty lunch to enjoy at work this week. I love it when I find a new amazing go-to dish to make.  This is definitley one I will make many many more times.