I don’t know what the weather’s like where you live but here in Washington… FALL HAS ARRIVED.  Or as my husband and I like to say: “winter is here” (GOT reference #got #imobsessed #whydowehavetowaituntil2018).  With Fall comes ALL the baking and hearty warm comfort dishes that go perfectly with a night snuggled up in front of the fire!   There is also one other very important thing that comes with Fall… FOOTBALL!

WHO IS READY FOR FOOTBALL SEASON???

Thanks Tom! I’m ready too!!  Growing up in my house, watching the Patriots on Sunday was basically more religious than going to church.  Each and every week I’d be surrounded by friends and family for a “Pats Party” and with those parties came some DELICIOUS food– it really goes hand-in-hand huh?? All week, my Mom and Dad would plan out what we were going to eat on Sunday during the Pats game, it was a ritual.  A ritual that continues- last year when my Mom visited me here in the Fall she asked me weeks ahead of her visit “but what are we going to eat during the game??”.  She’s coming next month and you can bet she already asked me again 😉

The trouble with watching football on the West coast is the games start so dang early!! I used to have all morning to shop, prep, cook and now I have until about 9:30am before I want to park it in front of the TV for the rest of the day.

Solution to my problem: CROCKPOT BABY! Has there seriously ever been a better invention than something you can just put raw food into, in no particular order and have a delicious meal ready in 4-8 hours?? I think NOT!  My Shredded Chicken Chili is the perfect meal to have this Sunday while you’re watching your team play! (I hope your team is the Pats..) And it tastes EVEN better in the days following… I’ve actually been making it on Sunday as football food and then having it every day for lunch the rest of the week.. brilliant!

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Shredded Chicken Chili

yield: 8-10 servings – prep time: 15 minutes – bake time: 5-8 hours in slow cooker

INGREDIENTS

1 onion, diced

2 green peppers, diced (note: I buy green peppers because they are the cheapest! lol! you can buy any pepper you prefer!)

1/2 large sweet potato, diced

1 can of beans (with liquid- any beans will work!)

1 28 oz (the big one!) can of diced tomatos

1 cup vegetable broth

3-4 chicken breasts

1/4 block of cream cheese

Homemade Taco Seasoning (use this on anything!):

1 tbsp garlic powder

1/2 tsp red pepper flakes

1/2 tsp dried parsley

1/2 tbsp dried oregano

1 tsp paprika

1 1/2 tbsp ground cumin

1 tbsp chili powder

+Salt & Pepper to taste

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Step One: Dice up your onion, peppers and sweet potato and throw them in the crockpot

 

TIP: cutting an onion SUUUCCKKSS and I’ve tried a lot of tricks you read about online to prevent you from wanting to pluck your eyes out… putting a match in between my teeth, chewing gum, you name it..

Here is what I’ll suggest: cut your onion last of all your veggies- you don’t realize how the juice stays on the knife and cutting board and can hurt you even after you’re done cutting it! Cold is best- the colder your onion, the less it will make you cry.  God Speed….

Step Two: Empty the can of beans (with liquid) and diced tomatos into the pot, salt and pepper generously, give it a stir

Step Three: Add in the taco seasoning and stir again

Step Four: Add the 1 cup of vegetable broth (which by the way can be chicken or beef broth too.. or even water, though the broth adds more flavor!)

Step Five: Nestle your chicken breasts under the chili so they are completely covered.

Note: I tried this recipe with both breasts and thighs (that sounds funny..) and preferred how the chili tasted using the chicken breasts.  I am a big fan of chicken thighs because I love dark meat BUT for some reason they felt and tasted really greasy in the chili and didn’t add the flavor i was looking for.

Step Six: Put on the lid and turn on your crockpot!! On the high setting, mine took about 5 hours before I felt it was almost done.  At just under 4 hours the sweet potatoes were still a little hard so that is how I was able to tell.  The longer all these flavors sit together the better!!

Step Seven: About 30 minutes before you want to serve your chili, take the chicken out and shred it using two forks- then put back into the crockpot

Finally, add the 1/4 block of cream cheese in little pieces like so:

Stir and allow the cream cheese to melt.  This adds an amazing creaminess and also thickens it up more than plain liquid cream would- trust me on this!! Keep cooking another 30 minutes.

Step Eight: Salt and pepper your chili to taste and…ENJOY!! I really love to add avocado and shredded cheese on top of mine.  My husband crumbles up tortilla chips and mixes those in which adds a salty crunch.  YOU DO YOU!

GO PATS!