Green Chicken Chili

Yummy Yummmmmmy....

• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 2 teaspoons chili powder
• 1 1/2 teaspoons cumin
• 1 teaspoon oregano
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 (15-ounce) cans white kidney or navy beans, drained and rinsed
• 3 to 4 cups diced cooked chicken
• 1 cup frozen corn kernels

• 1 (7-ounce) can diced green chilies
• 2 cups chicken broth, plus more for thinning, if desired
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 tablespoons butter, softened
• 1 1/2 tablespoons flour
• Pepper
• Grated Cheddar or Monterey Jack (optional)

 

Instructions

1. Warm the oil in a large, heavy saucepan over medium heat. Add the onion and sauté, stirring often, for 7 minutes. Stir in the chili powder, cumin, oregano, and garlic and sauté for another minute. Stir in the white beans, chicken, corn, green chilies, chicken broth, and salt. Bring the mixture to a gentle simmer and allow it to continue simmering, partially covered, for 10 minutes.
2. In a small bowl, blend the butter and flour. Add the mixture to the chili and stir until it thickens, about a minute. Add more salt and pepper to taste. If you like, add more broth to thin the chili or 3 to 4 tablespoons of half-and-half or light cream to thicken it. Serve the chili hot, topped with cheese, if desired. Serves 6.

* I Add an extra can of broth so it's not too thick *

Soft Gingersnap Cookies

Everytime I make these for someone for the first time, and before they try them, I usually get the same reaction... "I don't like gingersnap cookies, because they are too hard." And then I tell them to wait until they try these! They are soooo yummy!

3/4 cup shortening
1 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup molasses
1 egg
2 1/4 cup flour
2 tsp soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp ginger
1 tsp cloves

Mix all together, then mix in 1 TBSP. Make into 1 inch balls, then roll into white sugar. Bake at 350 degrees for about 12 minutes. Makes 24 cookies.

Homemade Baby Wipes

I have heard that these are amazingly good diaper wipes, and SO inexpensive!
~Alicia

Ingredients:

• 1 half-roll of white Viva or Bounty paper towels * see note below
• 2-3 cups water
• 1 tablespoon baby oil
• 1 tablespoon baby shampoo or baby bath

Directions:

1. Combine the water with the oil and shampoo in a medium to large bowl. Stir gently.
2. Place the half-roll of paper towels in the bowl. Once the water soaks up about halfway, turn the roll over and let it sit for a few minutes until the roll is completely saturated.
3. Tear off the individual sheets and place them in an airtight container. Another option for storage is to leave the roll intact, and simply place the entire roll in an airtight container, removing the sheets as needed.

*To get a half-roll, cut a roll of paper towels in half so that you end up with two rolls about the size of bath tissue. A large serrated knife works well for this.

Refried Beans

I'm pretty sure this recipe came from my Aunt Etie. Either way, these are the best refried beans I've ever had! And it makes quite a bit. So I put them in containers and freeze them!

• 1 onion, peeled & halved
• 3 cups dry pinto beans, rinsed
• 1/2 fresh jalapeno pepper, seeded & chopped
• 2 TBSP minced garlic
• 1 TBSP salt
• 1 3/4 tsp fresh ground black pepper
• 1/8 tsp ground cumin, optional
• 9 cups water

Directions:

1. Place the onion, rinsed beans, jalapeno, garlic, salt, pepper, and cumin into a slow cooker. Pour in the water and stir to combine. Cook on high for 8 hours.
2. Once the beans have cooked, strain them and reserve the liquid. Mash the beans with a potato masher, adding the reserved liquid as needed to attain desired consistency.  (my sister in law likes these NOT mashed, just like pinto beans. So in that case, I would chop the onion)

And that's it!! SOOO yummy, and so easy!

BBQ Chicken Salad

Okay, so this isn't my recipe, but I'm sure my mom won't mind! She came up with this after we had one similar at Chevys, and it's DELICIOUS, and more importantly, EASY!

• Cooked chicken cut up in cubes
• can of rinsed black beans
• frozen corn- thawed
• romaine lettuce (you can really use any kind, but the crunch is real nice!)
• flavored tortilla strips
• onions
• tomatoes
• BBQ sauce

Mix the chicken with the BBQ sauce until well covered.

Dressing: mix together ranch dressing and salsa. I used more ranch than salsa... but just mix until you have the taste/consistency you want. For two people with left overs, I used about 1/2 cup ranch and 1/3 cup salsa.

That's it! It's sooo yummy, and my favorite thing about this, is you can make it hours ahead of time and stick it in the fridge cause you eat it cold anyway!