What can I say? It's been forever...AGAIN. I have a really nummy recipe for you though...

Hi all! No I am not dead...I have not fallen off the earth...I have just been busy letting my life get in the way of keeping up on my blog.

 Those of you that know me know the winters here in Oregon kill me. The cold, the gray, the short days...ugh! The one silver lining is that not wanting to go out in the dreaded cold does inspire me to cook. I love looking up new recipes, tweaking them, failing at some, succeeding at others. Tonight, Sunday dinner was a success. I thought I should share. I thought it was good, but those of you know who the real critic is in my house...yes...my adorable husband Paul. He gave it a resounding two thumbs up. YAY me!

 I got this recipe off of Pinterest. How many of you are Pinterest users? I've been a Pinterest member for quite a while but I just could not understand the attraction. One day, after hearing all the hoopla and seeing all the Facebook posts about it I decided I was going to sit down and figure out what I was missing out on. Oh good Lord...I am hooked! The things I find on here are things I likely wouldn't have imagined googling or they are things I didn't even realize I might take an interest in. If you haven't tried Pinterest, then give it a shot. There is oodles of good information all in one spot.

 The recipe I tried tonight was for White bean chicken chili. You can find the original recipe pinned on my "Yummy dinner things" board. The following is my rendition (this is done almost completely in a crock pot.)

 4 - 15 oz cans low sodium organic white beans drained and rinsed 2 bone in chicken breasts (3 to 4 lbs.)
3 cups low sodium organic chicken stalk
1 3/4 white onions finely chopped
6 cloves minced garlic
1 jalapeño
1 Serrano chile
1 1/2 tablespoon cumin
1 lime juiced
1 1/2 tsp. chili powder
2 cans smoked green chilies
1 small can salsa verde
Ground sea salt
Ground black pepper
Olive oil

 Directions:

• Preheat oven to 350 Lightly coat both chicken breasts with olive oil and salt and pepperto taste. Bake in a glass pan for 35 to 40 minutes depending on how hot your oven runs. Remove from the oven, transfer the chicken to a plate and let cool completely. Take the drippings from the cooked chicken and pour it into a large skillet. Once cooled, remove the skin and shred the chicken. 
• Empty 2 cans of the beans and 2 1/2 c. Of the chicken stalk into a crock pot and turn heat to high. 
• Finely chop the white onion and empty into the skillet with the chicken drippings and a 1/2 c. Of the chicken stalk.
• Chop jalapeño into thin rings (don't remove the seeds)
• Mince Serrano chili with seeds
• Add the garlic, jalapeño, and Serrano to the onions and coat all with 1/2 tbsp. of the cumin. Sauté on medium heat for a good 15 minutes stirring often.
• Dump the onion mixture into the crockpot with the beans and broth.
• Add the two cans of smoked green chilies and the chili powder
• Add the shredded chicken. Turn on low heat and cook for two hours.
• Take the last 2 cans of beans (rinsed and drained) and empty them, along with one cup of the broth from the crock pot and the salsa verde into a food processor and purée.
• Empty the contents into the slow cooker, stir and cook on low for another 2 hours.

• Optional garnishes: cubed avocado, cotijo cheese, sour cream and cilantro.

We chose cilantro and a dollop of light sour cream.

This is a healthy, savory alternative to the tomato based heavy chili con carne.

Enjoy! As always, I would love your feedback.
Until next time...be well.

Xo
Jenny Lou