Chicken Enchilada Chili

It is officially chili weather.

It's been raining an awful lot here, and since I'm in California, and part of living in California means complaining every time it dips below 60, I've been making a lot of hearty comfort food.

I'm very happy that we've never lost power, so my slow cookers could continue to bubble away unattended while I watched the gutter outside overflow onto the sidewalk and lawn.

I may have even taken some video.

This is a fun twist on traditional chili, and I finished off the last little plastic container this morning. Like many soups, stews, and chilis, the leftovers are even better than the original!

The Ingredients.
serves 6

1 1/2 pounds chicken (boneless & skinless, OR fish out the bones and skin after about 4 hours)
1 1/2 cups prepared enchilada sauce (read labels carefully if avoiding gluten)
2 chopped celery stalks
2 (14.5 oz) cans tomatoes with seasoning (your choice: I had garlic and olive oil on hand)
2 (15 oz) cans pinto or kidney beans, undrained (or 1 cup dried pinto beans, soaked overnight)
1 onion, diced (or 1 tablespoon dried, minced onion flakes)
1-2 teaspoons chili powder
1 teaspoon cumin

The Directions.

Pour enchilada sauce and canned tomatoes into the bottom of a 6 quart slow cooker. Add beans, celery, onion and spices. Stir to combine. Place chicken on top.

Cover and cook on low for 7-8 hours, or until flavors have combined. If you are using dried beans, you may need to cook longer to fully soften the beans. Since I was using the chicken quarters I got on sale, I fished out the chicken after about 4 hours, and removed the bones. I then stirred the chicken back into the pot.

Serve with shredded cheddar cheese and a dollop of sour cream, if desired.

The Verdict.

Oh I LOVED this chili. And I loved it even more that Adam and the kids loved it, and that the baby doesn't seem to mind when I eat beans. I made an afternoon snack of nachos with some of the leftovers yesterday. Divine.

There is definitely a bit of heat in the sauce. I used a mild enchilada sauce, but it still has a kick. If your family doesn't like much heat, start with 1 teaspoon of chili powder. You can always add more later to taste.

Gluten Free Progressive Dinner
and a Make it Fast, Cook it Slow give-away!

This month's Gluten Free Dinner theme is "Winter Warmers," and here's a listing of all the participants:

Creamy Potato Leek Soup
Roasted Cauliflower Soup with GF Croutons
Fire Roasted Tomato Basil Soup with Prosciutto
Mexican Seafood Soup
Vegan Un-Chicken Roasted Vegetable Soup
Wassail (this is my recipe! and Shirley is giving away a signed copy of my Make it Fast, Cook it Slow cookbook. Click over and leave a comment under her post for entry by January 27th)

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Sweet Mustard Roast (beef or pork) Slow Cooker Recipe

I made this roast over a month ago, but I'm just now posting it. AGH!

I used a frozen beef roast for the meat, but when I shared the recipe over the phone with a friend, she made it a few days later and loved how it turned out. We really liked the beef version, so this is a double-decker recipe.

or something like that which makes better sense.

I think the baby might be sucking out all my brain cells.

The Ingredients.
serves 4


3 pounds beef or pork roast (mine was still frozen when I put it in)
1/3 cup molasses (this looks so much like melted ear wax to me) (that was kind of gross.) (sorry.)
1/3 cup dijon mustard
1 teaspoon garlic powder
2 tablespoons white vinegar (apple cider vinegar would work well, too)

The Directions.

Use a 4 quart slow cooker. If you have a larger model, that's fine, but you won't need to cook it as long---I'd check after 5 hours on low.

Dump meat into cooker. Top with molasses, dijon, and vinegar. Toss in the garlic powder. Using tongs, flip the meat over a few times to coat it nicely with the sauce. Cover and cook on low for 6-8 hours or on high for about 4.
The meat will be more tender if you cook it on low for a longish time.

The Verdict.

I served this meat the night we got our Christmas tree. I have video of the kids eating the meat and making yummy noises while we were trying to untangle the lights. It was a fun night, and the meal was successful. I served mashed potatoes and green beans for sides, and they were a nice compliment.

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Slow Cooker Shredded Chicken

Happy Monday! Thank you so much for your wonderful comments and emails about the new baby. We're all doing really well, and can definitely feel your warm wishes and love floating through cyberspace.

You all are fantastically amazing. Thank you.

The above picture doesn't look like much----it's just a bowl full of shredded chicken. I felt like sharing, though, because sometimes I get questions on how to utilize the slow cooker for meal planning and for stocking the freezer, and thought this might be helpful.

While in the midst of my crazy nesting phase these past few weeks, my father-in-law reported that our local grocery store had a sale on chicken quarters for $0.57 a pound. That's a fantastic price for around here, and I popped on down to pick up a bunch of packages.

Although I did process quite a bit of chicken (de-skinned, and broke into meal-sized portions for future slow-cooked meals!) for the freezer, I also cooked quite a bit so we'd have already-cooked chicken ready to go for lunches, snacks, and dinners.

This is what I did:

The chicken quarters were bone-in thigh and leg pieces, and they did have skin. While the chicken was still fresh, I skinned a bunch and threw it into the largest slow cooker I have, which is 6.5 quarts. I was able to get 8 quarters in the pot. I also filled a 5 quart with 6 additional quarters.

And then I covered with lids and turned them on low for 7 hours. I did not add water, broth, or any seasoning. You certainly can if you'd like, but I was interested in shredded, naked chicken.

When the time elapsed, I took the lid off and let the chicken cool quite a bit before I handled it. There was plenty of juice left in the pot---enough to make a soup base if you were so inclined, or for homemade chicken broth (put the bones back in the pot for the broth!)

I then dug through to separate the bones and the chicken. You can use the chicken in a meal right away that calls for already-cooked chicken, or you can freeze for later use.

coming up soon: sweet mustard roast


more staple ideas:

homemade chicken broth
homemade refried beans
making your own "canned" beans
cooking a whole chicken
rotisserie chicken
homemade cream of mushroom soup
meal planning with the slow cooker

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We've got a new baby!

Our newest little one arrived safe and sound on the 6th. We're all home, and doing quite well.

Labor and delivery was easy, although it felt as if I had been in labor for weeks and weeks. I think she may have been taking the term "slow cooking" a bit too seriously. :-)

I've promised Adam not to share personal details with the Internet, so that's pretty much all the information I'm going to let out----thank you for your understanding, love, and support.

back on Monday with a new recipe!

(I think.)

xoxo steph

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