White Chicken Chili

We have been making this White Chicken Chili recipe for years, Andy and I love it. Our kids are picky so they don't eat it, but that just means more leftovers for us! 

I wanted to try it out in my Instant Pot, so I'll include the regular stove top recipe as well as pressure cooker directions. 

 

(This pic shows it a little more soupy than chili-like...I added an extra cup of water in the IP, don't! After I boiled it down a little it was the perfect chunky/creamy consistency. So just follow the original recipe amounts for stove top or pressure cooker!)

White Chicken Chili

Ingredients:

• 1 pound boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1/2-inch cubes1 medium onion, chopped (or 1/4 cup dehydrated)
  1 taspoon minced garlic
  2 cans (15-1/2 ounces each) great northern beans, rinsed and drained
  2 cups chicken broth
  1 can (4 ounces) chopped green chilies
  1 teaspoon salt
  1 teaspoon ground cumin
  1 teaspoon dried oregano
  1/2 teaspoon pepper
  1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
  1 cup (8 ounces) sour cream

Directions:

In a large saucepan, saute the chicken, onion and garlic powder in oil until chicken is no longer pink. Add the beans, broth, chilies and seasonings. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer, uncovered, for 30 minutes.Remove from the heat; stir in sour cream.
If desired, top with tortilla chips, cheese and jalapenos or serve with corn bread which is our preferred side.

Pressure cooker version:

Place full (frozen) chicken breast and all ingredients except sour cream in the pot. Cook for 13 minutes on manual setting, I did a quick release of pressure. 

Remove the chicken and shred or rough chop then return to pot, stir in sour cream. 

Enjoy!

Mini Pepper Nachos!

Last night I decided to create a menu for the rest of January.

I like the idea of menus but creating one proved to be harder than I thought. Especially once I decided to start asking everyone what their favorite meals were!

I finally decided to split the month up between Chicken, Beef, Vegetarian and Other.

Our first meal from this menu was the following scrumptious hit!😋

Mini sweet peppers cut in half and the seeds taken out. Lay them out in your pan. I put foil on one pan before spreading the peppers on it to keep everything from sticking. The stoneware pan did great without anything underneath.

The toppings I used were taco seasoned beef (not shown), Olives, Corn, Green onions, cheese and lime juice. Sprinkle the meat on every pepper. Spread a thin layer of cheese over the meat and then add the other ingredients. Squeeze the fresh lime juice over the top. I used half a lime for each pan. I will use more next time. Put more cheese on again! I love cheese!💗

Put it in the oven at 400 degrees for 5-10 minutes. Make sure the cheese is melted.

We all enjoyed this meal very much! I put fresh tomatoes and Avacado on mine with Sour cream. This is a great alternative to chips. We will definitely be making this again.

Instant Pot (Pressure Cooker) Mac and Cheese - Kid approved!

So I got an Instant Pot for Christmas (just one brand of many pressure cookers out there), and have been loving it!

Last night for dinner I made Mac and Cheese in it, and including the time it took to pressurize to having the food on the table was about 15 minutes total. For made from scratch Mac & Cheese. Amazing!

Here's the "recipe" I combined from others and used.

Mac & Cheese (Pressure Cooker)

Ingredients:

4 cups elbow macaroni noodles
4 cups chicken broth
1 cup milk (I used almond milk)
1 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper

4 cups shredded cheese
      I used 1 cup Pepper Jack
                1 cup Cheddar
                2 cups Mozzarella

Directions:

Mix all but cheese in your pressure cooker, cook for 8 minutes on manual then do a quick release to release the pressure. (If there is excess liquid you may want to drain a little of it, otherwise it adds to the creamy-ness of the mac and cheese.)

Add the cheese and stir until melted.

The only thing that I noticed, and this was probably because of the cheese combo I used (fridge special :) ) is that my batch was really stringy, that didn't stop us from enjoying - and devouring - this though. Def making again!

Nutrition Facts: 390 cal per serving, makes 8 servings

Creamy Tomato Soup

This is my all time fave tomato soup recipe. So good. So creamy.
I've heard that not all care for the texture, but we LOVE it!

Creamy Tomato Soup (Crockpot, 6 hours)

Ingredients:

2 (14 oz) cans diced tomatoes, with the juice
1 cup finely diced carrots
1 cup finely diced onions (I use dehydrated onions, I find them less repulsive)
1 cup finely diced celery (I also skip this, because I don't usually have celery on hand)
2 T tomato paste
4 cups chicken broth
1 tsp dried oregano
1 T dry basil
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup flour
1 cup Parmesan cheese
1 1/2 cups half and half (I've also just used milk)
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper

Directions:

Add diced tomatoes, carrots, onion, celery, tomato paste, chicken broth, oregano, and basil to your slow cooker. Cover and cook on low 5-6 hours until flavors blend and vegetables are soft.

About 30 minutes before the serving, prepare a roux.
In a skillet melt the butter over med-low heat and add the flour. Whisk together constantly for about 10 minutes or until the roux is a nice golden brown color.
Slowly add 1 cup of the soup from the crock pot  to the roux, it will make a thick paste, slowly add 3 more cups of warm soup to the mix and stir until smooth.
Add the roux mixture to the crock pot.
Stir in the Parmesan cheese, half and half and salt and pepper. Stir well, let cook on low for another 30 minutes.
Pour soup into a blender (do this in batches), puree until smooth.

Serve with artisan bread, or fresh rolls. So yum!

Baked Chicken Toquitos

This is a favorite at our house! Everyone will eat them, they freeze and reheat well, and anything with cream cheese has to be good, right?!

Baked Chicken Taquitos

Ingredients:

2 1/2 cups cooked shredded chicken
5 oz cream cheese, softened
2 T lime juice
1/2 cup green salsa (or red, really whatever you have on hand)
1/4 tsp minced onion
1 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp cumin
1/4 cup cilantro, chopped (I usually use dried cilantro and that works well)
2 T green onions, chopped (again, dried works just as well)
1 1/2 cups shredded Monterrey Jack cheese (I've used Pepper Jack and Mozzarella)
20 corn tortillas

Direction:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Line a baking sheet with foil and spray with cooking spray.
In a large bowl mix the cream cheese, salsa, lime juice, chili and garlic powder and cumin.
Add the cilantro, green onion, and cheese. Add the shredded chicken last, mix well.

Heat the corn tortillas in the microwave between damp paper towels for 30 second at a time so they're easy to roll and won't crack (as much).

Spread about 2-3 TBS of the mixture in each tortilla, roll it up and place it seam side down on the greased foil.

Make sure the tortillas aren't touching or they will stick together while baking.
After they are all rolled and placed on the pan spray them with cooking spray.

Bake for 15-20 minutes or until edges are golden brown, some tortillas may crack during baking time and that's okay - they will still be delish! Serve with salsa, sour cream, rice, beans, etc.

Nutrition Facts: 100 cal per serving, 20 servings per recipe.