My favorite... chicken chili

Ok so talk about a favorite.. I make this when I entertain all the time (ask our friends)... If you are a friend of this house you have more then likely had this meal. It feeds about 6-8 people for about $20! Oh and did I mention it is SUPER easy.. just looks like a ton of ingredients..well it is but as long as you can open a can, measure a palm full and chop some peppers.. you can make this dish..

So to start out.. here are your ingredients::: (in this pic it shows two of everything.. I made two batches for my hungry crew but this recipe serves anywhere from 6-8 depending on your hunger levels)

2 lbs of uncooked chicken breast (or one whole rotissaire chicken .. meat pulled and shredded)
1 can of fire roasted tomatoes w garlic
1 can enchilada sauce (however hot you can handle)
1 can corn (or frozen)
1 can black beans
1 can kidney beans
1 can chopped green chili's
1 packet of taco seasoning (the packets are easier then homemade because they contain corn starch which is a thickening agent)
1 green pepper
1 onion
1 quart of chicken stock
cilantro (fresh makes it SO much betteR)
cayenne pepper
paprika
garlic powder
bay leaf
cumin
chili powder
red pepper flakes
salt
pepper

toppings and extras ::
frito scoops
tortilla scoops
sour cream
mexican cheese
peppers of any kind
cooked white rice (I have tried mexican but because you will pour the chili over the rice.. white rice is better)
and really anything else you can think of.. maybe some green onions for the top?


Alright so gather all of your ingredients together and start working your can opener... best to do it all in one swoop and work those forearms!  Sorry forgot to mention it is a workout too.. ps for all you automatic can opener people.. curse you.. oh and buy me one please :)

I was making two batches remember.. you only really need one pot!

Grab you trusty crock pot.. and start dumping in the tomatoes, chilis and enchilada sauce

next drain and rinse beans and corn.. so important so you don't have nearly as much sodium or preservatives!

add in your taco seasoning

Ok so with your green  peppers and onion.. you can either a) hand dice them.. I prefer this method because I like to see and taste my green peppers and onions or you can b) use your handy dicer.. I used this method because I was having a rather picky crowd .. two men who do NOT like to see their peppers or really veggies and if they do they will pick every single one out.. this way I am hiding them!!!! so dice away and add

All the pretty colors should start to show:::

Now comes the chicken. If you have just gone ahead an gotten a rotissaire chicken (this I prefer as well but I had this chicken in the freezer and it needed to be used and in all honesty it probably tastes the same because it cooks down so much) take all the meat off of the bone and shred it with a fork into "stringy" chicken and add at this step. For those of use who are using raw chicken breast.. just add them.. once they cook (about 5-6 hrs in the crockpot.. or even just a little bit before serving) go ahead and pull just the breasts out onto a plate and shred them then add them back.. a good point to do this is before serving while the rice is cooking.

This was shredded about 6 hrs into cooking...

alright in goes all the spices.. I am going to hit you again with the palmfuls. The more you make this dish the more you will know how many spices you can handle and how much of each.. the more chili powder and cayenne obviously the more heat. Add 2 palmfuls of each cilantro (if using fresh just dice up a few good handfuls), paprika, chili powder. add a pinch of red pepper and cayenne (these two pack a serious punch so less is more.. you can always add more for heat but you cannot take away once it is in there.. so be careful!) add one palm of garlic powder and a few shakes of cumin. just a little pepper should be fine.. you can add salt later in the cooking process when you taste before serving! add a bay leaf (I totally forgot my bay in this batch.. it gives it a little earthy taste.. I know you are probably thinking I don't want my chili to taste earthy.. but it really makes it better.. really.. trust me!)

ok so all added spices are not photographed.. I figured you got the idea of what a palmful looked like..

Add about 3/4 a quart of chicken stock... sorta add a little at a time because if you add too much it ends up more like soup.. too little and you will have burnt chili... so you want enough to have a good bit in there but not enough that it looks like straight water

turn that crockpot on low and walk away. You can prepare this the night before and just let set it in the crock pot (***edit IN THE FRIDGE... raw chicken sitting out over night :(.. yea way to go becky not clarifying) and turn it on (after removing it from the fridge) in the morning on your way out the door.. by the time you come home from work your ENTIRE house will smell SO good.... like seriously I am with Rachael Ray on this one.. they need to invent a way to capture smells so they can be broadcast across the internet or television.

here I added a little too much stock.. so I thicken it a little with some corn starch later in the cooking process 

To serve this. (yes i was so excited to eat I forgot to get a picture of the cooked version in the pot..) I make some fresh white rice and just put a nice scoop of rice in a bowl then pour the chili on top.. your guests can chose their toppings (we make a little bar of toppings on a lazy susan and it is so fun). We love to use scoops to scoop the chili all up instead of a spoon. Or you have the choice of just crushing your chips into the chili or no chips.. it is all your guests choices! Don't you love it? I love catering to my family and my guests needs!

Our buddy Steven's beautiful chicken chili creation... I was already devouring mine when I realized I forgot a plated picture 

Enjoy down to the last bite! I am telling you this meal is SO good! And a great way to use left over chicken or clear some pantry shelves. Feel free to use different kinds of beans too. Whatever you have on hand...

Now to get some reader input.. What is your favorite go to meal for guests? Comment below!

Another naptime masterpiece- taco casserole

So BBQ chicken last night left alot of leftovers (I always cook extra meat because it is simple to remake into a new meal.. might as well do the "hard" cooking once)... So I made one of my absolute favorites!


TACO CASSEROLE!

ingredients:

taco seasoning (I will show you my homemade recipe but you can use the packet kind too)
2 cans of enchilada sauce (however hot your family likes)
1 can of diced tomatoes (my fav are the fire roasted but my pantry was out)
1 can of corn drained and rinsed
1 can of black beans drained and rinsed
1 whole chicken (or about 1 lb and a half chicken breast) cooked and shredded
4 large tortillas
a full cup of crushed tortilla chips, crushed taco shells or corn chips
1 pkg of mexican cheese
1 cup cooked rice


Go ahead and cook your rice.. you can use plain white rice or even use some spanish rice

While the rice is cooking warm your chicken (or cook it) in a skillet with a touch of olive oil

give the chicken a minute to warm and add your can of diced tomatoes

add one of the cans of enchilada sauce

add about a tbsp of your homemade (or one whole packet) of taco seasoning---- taco seasoning tutorial at the end..

let this cook through and the flavors marry
drain and rinse your corn and black beans

add to a saucepan and cover with water and let them simmer

crush your chips into bite sized pieces.. I like to use a ziplock baggies to keep the mess contained.. these are just plain taco shells I got for free a while ago and was trying to find a use for them.. I had to use about half of the pkg to get enough to cover the casserole

form your assembly line..

add each layer.. spray pan, add 2 of the large tortillas on the bottom of the casserole dish, add half of the cooked rice, add about half of the meat mixture, half of the corn/blackbeans, add 1/3 of cheese and then cover with crushed chips (or just use two more tortillas)

Repeat the layers (without the crushed chips at the top.. instead use the remaining two tortillas)

pour the last can of enchilada sauce over the tortilla layer

top with cheese

cover with foil and place on a cookie sheet to protect your oven from spillage

bake at 350 for about 45 minutes.. the final 5-10 minutes take foil off to melt/brown cheese

my favorite is to serve this with sour cream and fresh lettuce for some crunch! ohhh and maybe some of those left over chips to scoop

Enjoy :)))

My taco seasoning (this is just my adapted version.. please feel free to simply use this as a base for your own and you can just go ahead and make large amounts of this and keep it in a container for future use.. I do.. it stays good for about a month

2 tbsp chili powder

1/2 tsp garlic powder

1/2 tsp onion powder

1/2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes (this will add more heat if you increase amount)

1/2 tsp dried oregano

1 tsp paprika (this will increase "mexican" taste sorta)

1 tbsp ground cumin

2 tsp sea salt (this you can decrease a little because you have LOTS of salt in your beans and salt even with rinsing)

2 tsp black pepper

mix together :)

Just a tid bit of extra info.. if you want to expand this recipe to make more.. 3 tsp = 1 tbsp.. I had to look that one up!

Mashed Potatoes.. a perfect side!

So I used to be the wife that just threw some water butter and salt in a pot and stirred in some flaky potato stuff and there was mashed potatoes... My husband very nicely told me that he didn't like them, after about two years of me making them!!!! So I was on the hunt for a good mashed potato recipe.. not really necessarily a recipe but more a concoction that we both agreed on. See I was used to "whipped" potatoes and he was used to chunky potatoes.... he was used to go old full of butter etc.. I was used to some milk salt and pepper made by my wonderful father..

So after a billion times of trying I have figured out my tips...Ps there is a serious warning along with this recipe. I am NOT a good measurererererer (yea got carried away with the "er"'s)... I usually add to taste.. if you want it creamer add more cream cheese or milk, if you want it less add more sour cream if you want more salt pepper etc.. add more... So these are just my jest on this batch.. take mine and build yours please :)

Ingredients ::::

5 lb bag of russet potatoes, or yukon.. any others tend to get too watery or just not quite right
4 oz cream cheese (I usually use the less fat kind but this is all I had) softened
1 ish stick of butter... softened
salt
pepper
garlic powder
light sour cream (about 1/2 cup or so)
milk if needed


So go ahead and prepare your potatoes... wash wash and wash some more.. I feel though that you are going to peel them anyway so I tend to rinse and scrub a bit then after I peel rinse again...

Go ahead and put cold water in your pot... Now here is a tip and I will explain it. ALWAYS start your potatoes in cold water.. this allows them to cook through evenly, if you put potatoes in hot water the outside of the piece of potato will cook first and start to fall apart. I use this technique with baking potatoes too.. start baking in a cold oven!

Ok so here is the thing.. as a one man show here (aka cook, photographer, writer, maid, mom ahh the list goes on) shooting myself peeling potatoes etc is super hard! SO you can use your imagination! So peel away... I would love an assistant in the kitchen. Peeling potatoes is probably my least favorite job ever.. right next to peeling carrots! Jaxon wanted to help but a 22 month old with a peeler?? Um NO

Now another quick tip.. see this black nasty looking spot.. yea you don't want those.. so keep on peeling till they are gone.. if not, cut that area away completely!

See this little brown spots.. yea that is some unpeeled "skin".. I kinda like that.. adds some nutrients (aka dirt... dirt ever hurt anyone.. I grew up eating dirt and probably cat hair and dog hair right mom? I turned out just fine) but you do rinse and rinse again so leave some skin!

So cut all your potatoes in similar size pieces, the smaller the faster they cook, the bigger the longer just make sure they are all relatively similar in size so they cook the same amount.. Also I peel and dice as I go. usually two potatoes at a time, if you leave them out of the water too long they discolor and oxidize so keep them suckers in water after peeling!

Put on the stove on medium high at a boil for about thirty minutes for good chunky potato sizes! Keep an eye out on them thought checking with your fork!

(see that fry pan.. yeah heaven.. FRIED OKRA! ahhh kept my in the kitchen to watch the potatoes)

Ok so the fork test.... The way this work is scoop out a piece of potato.... put a fork in it.. if there is any resistance let them cook a little longer.. if it slides right in then you are good.. now if it goes through and the whole thing falls apart. well you have done it now! still make the potatoes but you might need to add some real cheese as a bonding agent!

Drain your potatoes and let them sit for a second to drain the water away..

Now this is an interesting part. As I was researching and experimenting...I found that if you put the potatoes back on the hot eye as you are mixing in the ingredients the "water" left in the potatoes will steam up and evaporate so you don't get stuck with watery potatoes.. guess what it works! So place them suckers in the pot and that pot on there and add your butter and cream cheese and mash with your masher.. if you don't have a masher.. um you can use a sturdy wisk but really you need a masher!

mash a little then add your sour cream, salt, pepper and garlic powder... Now I am usually a stickler for fresh ingredients but nothing would gross me out more then biting down on a hunk of garlic in my potatoes.. so the powder is perfect in there!

Mix all of this together .. Make sure you taste it.. add whatever else you want to taste. Butter always is better but add sparingly and taste as you add. I always make a ton for a reason.. tasting is SO important when it comes to mashed potatoes.. and always remember.. you can always add but never take away so careful with your ingredients!

Now you can at this point add some pieces of butter on top.. place it in a 350 degree oven for a few minutes and let it all merry together but.. I had an awaiting family and friends :)

Serve some with yummy steak, okra, green beans and a side of the cutest little picky eater ever.. All this yumminess and he would much rather eat crackers and fruit!

Enjoy! 

Oh and an extra tid bit for those who plan their meals like me. 5 lbs of potatoes makes enough mashed potatoes for an ARMY.... SO go ahead and make an entire batch and then go ahead and look into making some shepherds pie with the left over mashed potatoes and green beans :)