Family Circle Chipotle Chicken Chili

We are big chili fans in our house. Growing up my mom never really made chili and I didn't really eat it frequently until I started scoring cookbooks and cooking any recipe I could get my hands on. In my teens I became a vegetarian for over eight years and invented a delicious vegetarian chili recipe. I stopped being a vegetarian, but I continued to make the vegetarian chili. When I moved to West Virginia and met my husband I was surprised by the level of competition that people possessed over their homemade chili recipes. Everyone has their own way of making both hot dog chili and regular chili. I never knew that there were so many ways to prepare chili until I went to my first chili fest. Now that I have lived in West Virginia over 9 years and had two kids (my husband still says I'm not a true West Virginian, I'm still working on it :); I have tried a large number of chili recipes. One of my favorite ways to make chili when I am short on time is to utilize my crockpot. The February issue of Family Circle Magazine had a recipe for Chipotle Chicken Chili which promised 17 grams of protein and lots of flavor from the chipotles.

This recipe has 12 ingredients. It takes 15 minutes of prep and 8 hours of cooking time and makes 8 servings. I had no problems finding any of the ingredients at my local grocery store and made no ingredient modifications. Make sure to cut off any excess chicken fat or the chili will become too fatty. I always cook my recipes on low in the crockpot, I prefer the flavor, so as usual I cooked this recipe on low for eight hours. I made my own chicken stock the night before, the flavor is significantly better and since I don't add salt to my stock it allows me to control the amount of sodium in my family's food. I followed the remainder of the recipe as written.

With only five grams of fat and 17 grams of protein, this chili is low in fat and high in nutrients The taste of the chipotles really shines through and gives the chili a great flavor. The beans and corn add a nice texture and give great color to the chili. This recipe makes a large amount of servings and would be great to take to a potluck or party. Overall, a very easy crockpot meal which is full of protein and great for a busy weeknight.


For the recipe go to Chipotle Chicken Chili. (registration required).

All You Corn and Cheddar Waffles

Breakfast is the one meal that I consistently struggle with my family over. My husband seems to only want to eat cereal and my boys will go for the worst possible choices in the cupboard and fridge. I might possibly be the worst of us all, I tend to grab coffee and not eat or drink anything else until the middle of the afternoon. Since my children are getting older and learning from both my good and bad habits I have been trying to make a greater effort to eat breakfast every morning. I was intrigued when a recent issue of All You magazine had a recipe for Corn and Cheddar Waffles, which looked perfect for my normally non-breakfast eating family.

This recipe has 10 ingredients and takes approximately 10 minutes to prepare and 7 minutes per waffle to cook. I was easily able to find all the ingredients at my local grocery store and I already had the majority in my pantry. I chose to use fresh corn, I prefer the taste to frozen when it's in season. I followed the remainder of the recipe as written.

I actually ended up using this recipe initially as a side dish for a meal and then used the leftovers for breakfast the next day. The taste was delicious and the only topping I used was butter. My youngest son loved these waffles and ate the majority of the servings. I liked that they were savory and worked well as both a bread side and a breakfast food. A great easy, recipe to change up your breakfast routine.


For the recipe go to All You Corn and Cheddar Waffles.

Better Homes and Gardens Spicy Chicken-Corn Chowder

In college I ate a lot of canned soup. I was working, going to school and trying to save as much money as possible. One of the best ways I found to cut costs was to stock up on canned soup when it was on sale. I pretty much ate canned chowder for a month straight at one point. After I completed my graduate degree I really didn't care to eat canned soup ever again. However, after having kids and deciding a couple of years back to start cooking from scratch, I began to make chowder and soup recipes once again. The problem I have encountered with many recipes is that they lack flavor or take a long to prepare. Better Homes and Gardens magazine had a recipe for Spicy Chicken-Corn Chowder in their July issue, which looked quick and easy and included my husband's favorite food, bacon.

This recipe has 13 ingredients and takes approximately 40 minutes to prepare and cook. The ingredients are all basic and I was easily able to find them all at my local grocery store. I followed the recipe as written with no modifications. I did use thick-cut bacon, since my husband and two boys prefer it. The serving suggestion of topping the soup with jalapeno slices I did not follow since my boys would be unlikely to eat the soup topped with them..

My husband was surprised by how well this soup turned out with so little time on the stove. As I expected, my two boys ate the chicken and the bacon and picked around the rest of the soup. I really enjoyed this soup. I appreciated how easy it was to put together, while still tasting comforting and delicious. This recipe is a great way to use fresh corn and make a decent chowder in a short amount of time.

For the recipe go to Better Homes and Gardens Spicy Chicken-Corn Chowder.