Pioneer Woman Style Chicken Chili in the Crockpot & This Week's Eats 11.17.13

We do love a lot of Pioneer Woman's recipes, and her white chicken chili is no exception.  I always thought it was unnecessarily complicated with the whole fryer chicken and we started making it on the stove with chicken breasts cooked in the broth to save on cleanup and time.  We also add a can of tomatoes, as I can't reconcile chili without any tomatoes - even white chili.  Eventually, I figured it could taste just as good in the crockpot - and it does!

Pioneer Woman Style White Chicken Chili

Ingredients

• 2 chicken breasts
• 1 whole medium onion, diced
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 8 oz can chopped green chiles
• 6 cups chicken broth
• 1 whole jalapeno, seeded and diced
• 1 lb dry white beans rinsed (we sometimes use 1/2 lb to make it more like a chowder than chili)
• 1-1/2 Tablespoon ground cumin
• 1/2 teaspoon paprika
• 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
•  salt to taste
•  pepper, to taste
• 3/4 cup whole milk
• 1.5 Tablespoons masa (corn Flour) or cornmeal (we use Jiffy corn muffin mix)
• 1 14 oz can petite diced tomatoes
•  grated Monterey Jack, to taste
•  sour cream, cilantro, avocado and chopped scallions for garnish

Preparation Instructions

Put first 12 ingredients (through pepper) into the crockpot and cook on high 6-7 hours or on low for 8-10 hours.  About 2/3 of the way into the cooking process, take out the chicken breasts and shred them.  Mix the milk with masa (or cornmeal) and pour into the chili along with the tomatoes and shredded chicken.  Stir and finish the last third of the cook time.

Before serving, add some Monterey Jack cheese to the pot and stir to melt.

We like to garnish with cilantro, sour cream, extra cheese, scallions and diced avocado. Mmmmmm... 

Before I get into this week's eats, I must mention that Cookin' Canuck's Chicken Hoisin Rice Bowls from last week were a big hit!  We're definitely adding them to the regular rotation.

• Monday - Pizza
• Tuesday - Chicken and Veggies with Trader Joe's Red Curry Sauce
• Wednesday - Pesto Pasta with Sun Dried Tomatoes and Roasted Asparagus (very popular Pinterest recipe we're gonna try)
• Thursday - Chicken with Artichokes, Tomato and Mozzarella (a favorite old Emeril dish)
• Friday - Turkey and Black Bean Enchiladas (I bought a ton of ground turkey on sale recently; this Skinnytaste recipe looks like a good one to try out while freeing up some space in our freezer.)
• Saturday - Spinach and Blue Cheese Meatloaf with Salad and Scalloped Potatoes with Leeks
• Sunday - Crockpot Jalapeno Popper Chili (Another new recipe that I pinned from Everyday Reading and has been re-pinned like CRAZY.  So, I've gotta try it.)

I'm linking up with Org Junkie, Mommy Run Fast and Jill Conyers, be sure to check out all the great weekly menus!