Crock Pot Cream Cheese Chicken Chili

Crock Pot Cream Cheese Chicken Chili

This soup has become one of my favorites. I was intrigued when I first saw that it was a chicken chili that also had cream cheese in it. The combination just sounds creamy and delicious. This soup did not disappoint. It is perfect to eat on cold days. 

I love that the soup is hearty and has a wonderful flavor with the seasonings. This is great the second day for leftovers as well. 

I found the recipe over 3 years ago. The original recipe can be found here. I noticed it didn't call for any liquids, so I adapted it to make it go further and make it more like a soup.

I've made it plenty of times in the crock pot, and I've also made it on the stove. Whatever you have the time for, it works well both ways.

Crock Pot Cream Cheese Chicken Chili

1 Can Black Beans, rinsed
1 Can White Beans (any kind), rinsed
1 Can Ro*Tel Tomatoes
1 Can Corn, undrained
1 Package Ranch Dressing Mix
1 teaspoon Cumin
2 teaspoons Chili Powder
1 teaspoon Onion Powder
1 8oz Package Cream Cheese
2 Chicken Breasts
1 Carton Chicken Broth

Directions:
Place the frozen chicken breasts in the crock pot. Drain and rinse the beans. Add them to the crock pot. Top with corn, rotel tomatoes, and seasonings. Top with Cream Cheese. Pour in the Chicken Broth and cook on low for 6-8 hours. Cook less if using raw chicken instead of frozen. Shred the chicken once it is cooked, and add back into the soup. Stir to combine the cream cheese and chicken. Serve with Chips, Cheese, and Sour Cream.

Tips: I use frozen, non gmo corn, in my recipe. I clean out one of the bean cans and then add the corn in there and fill it with water, then add it to the recipe.
I don't like big tomato chunks, so before I add anything to the pot, I put in the cream cheese and rotel tomatoes, and use a potato masher to smash the 2 ingredients smaller.
When doing this on the stove, bring the ingredients to a boil and then reduce heat and simmer until the chicken is ready to be shredded.
My children don't like the beans, so sometimes we will blend the soup so it is smooth. If the kids think the soup is spicy, the sour cream will help with that.

Enjoy!

Baked Tuna Cheese Sandwiches

Baked Tuna Cheese Sandwiches

I found this recipe about a year ago from one of my Mom's friends growing up. This has quickly become one of our family's favorite dinners. My kids are not tuna people, at all. I was surprised how much they enjoyed it the first time we ate it. I think it is because it isn't just straight tuna, so it isn't overwhelming. If you really aren't a Tuna person, you can substitute with shredded chicken. 

Baked Tuna Cheese Sandwiches

(We double this)

6 Hamburger Buns

1 Cup Shredded Cheddar Cheese

1 Large Can Tuna, drained

3 Hard Boiled Eggs, peeled and chopped

1/3-1/2 Cup Mayonnaise

Worcestershire Sauce

Onion Salt (or chopped onions)

Salt and Pepper

Relish (optional)

Chopped Celery (optional)

Combine the drained tuna, chopped hard boiled eggs, shredded cheese, mayo (I start with 1/3c. and increase if mixture is too dry), a splash of Worcestershire sauce, salt, pepper, and onion salt to taste. I don't add the celery or relish in the kid's mixture. I add it in for Kevin after I am done making the rest of the sandwiches. Spread on buns and top with a little extra cheese, if desired. Cover pan with foil and bake at 250 degrees for 30 minutes. You can wrap the sandwiches individually, but they turn out the same covered and cooked together. Serve with fresh fruit or vegetables. 

This is what the mixture looks like. Add an extra can of tuna if you need it to go further.

Spoon on the buns to make it even. I like to add more tuna mixture to mine, less to the ones the kids eat.

When it comes out of the oven the bun will be toasted and the cheese will be melted and warm. They are super delicious! I hope you enjoy them.

Black Bean Burgers

Black Bean Burgers

Our family has been adding meat free recipes into our diet for several years now. Not only does it help with the budget, but it is healthier. Plus, 2 of my kids have Alport Syndrome, so their kidneys have a harder time filtering out animal proteins. This recipe has become a win win for everyone in the family. 

In the past, I have had no desire for "healthy" food that is just a substitute to the delicious version. I love flavor, so I'd rather have the real deal! Now I have come to realize, you can have both! I was very nervous to try these burgers. I am a recovering Picky Eater, so I wasn't sure what to expect. My family, including me, ate all of it, and enjoyed them! 

The texture of the burger is not spot on as a hamburger would be. It is softer, but full of flavor. I cook mine longer so the outside is crispy, which helps get it closer to the ideal texture. We have been so impressed with these, that we have added them to our regular rotation, and I use them as a substitute to ground beef. If you need to ease into the idea of a black bean burger, do a 1/2 hamburger, 1/2 black bean substitute. I don't think you will be disappointed with the flavor enhancement! We have been eating these for several years now, and this is coming from a husband who loves a good burger. 

To start, I like to use the food processor for the whole process. Sure you could chop the onion and mash the beans with a fork, but I like to do what is easiest. 

Process the onion, jalapeno, cilantro, garlic, egg, mayo, lime juice, and seasonings. Once pureed fine, add in the rinsed beans and panko bread crumbs.

This you will want to mix well, but it will be lumpy. It will look almost like Refried Beans.

Heat a pan on medium heat. Once the pan is hot, add a little oil (and butter) if desired. This is when it gets messy. The mixture is still thin, so you will do your best to shape the burgers in your hands, but it will stick to your hands. Don't hate me. I suppose you could plop a scoop on the pan and try to smooth it flat. You can also add more panko bread crumbs to thicken it up so it sticks less.

The directions call for cooking it 5-7 minutes on each side. I usually cook mine longer so it is getting crispy and cooked through to the middle. If you want to make a Ground Beef Substitute, you just dump the whole mixture in, and flip when it crisps on the bottom. Then when both sides are crispy, crop it with the spatula to crumble it, and cook longer. Sprinkle with salt and pepper.

I have found oil to be essential to cooking it. Not only for it not sticking, but the mixture seems to need it to get the burger just right. It makes it crispier. 

Black Bean Burgers

Adapted from cooking a la mode

(doubled, this freezes well when you need to add extra "meat" into a meal)

2- 15 oz Cans of Black Beans, rinsed and drained

2 Eggs

2 Cups Panko Bread Crumbs

2 teaspoons Chili Powder

3/4 teaspoon Cumin

1/4 Cup Chopped Cilantro

4 Cloves Garlic, minced

1/2 small red onion, diced fine

2 Tablespoons Lime Juice

2 Tablespoons Mayo

1 Jalapeno, diced fine

1 teaspoon Salt

Pepper and Salt for seasoning

Oil for coating the pan

Hamburger Buns and Burger Toppings

Heat a skillet on low heat while you prep your burgers. 

Drain and rinse your beans. 

In a food processor, add eggs, chili powder, cumin, cilantro, garlic, red onion, jalapeno (de-seeded), lime juice, mayo, and salt. There is no need to chop the cilantro, onion, or jalapeno prior to going in. Process till smooth, scraping sides in between, if needed. Add rinsed beans and panko bread crumbs and process till combined. 

Turn up the heat on your pan to medium. Once hot, add oil to the pan. Shape the burgers in your hand and put on the pan to fry. If the burgers are too dry, add more lime juice. If they are too wet, you can add more panko bread crumbs, but they still turn out fine. 

Cook about 7-10 minutes on each side until both sides are crispy and the middle is cooked through. Season both sides with salt and pepper. If making ground beef, use the end of the spatula to break up the burgers to resemble crumbles. 

Serve with your favorite Burger toppings. These freeze well and work great as a stand alone "meat" or as a filler to stretch the meat already in your meal. 

Why My Family Stopped Eating Margarine

I remember years and years ago, all the way back when Abby was about 18 months old. We were back in the Doctor's office, again. This time she had green urine. I remember the Nurse joking that Abby was just trying to be festive. It was St. Patrick's Day that day. In reality, I was frightened. No one could explain what was wrong with my daughter. This day was the day that started years of problems outside of her usual Kidney Reflux we had dealt with the previous 6 months. This time her culture came back negative. The Doctors always shrugged their shoulders and went on to their next patient.

Fast forward years with constant urine checks, medicine, blood draws, tests, and appointments. I was a pro at handling 5 kids in the Doctor's office, but we still didn't have answers.

My husband was outside one day, talking with a neighbor and the talk of kidneys came up. Our neighbor's relative was having medical problems and went to a local Doctor and it really turned things around for him. I was hopeful that this was it, and the price was an added bonus. I excitedly made the phone call and set up an appointment.

The day of the appointment came, and I had no idea what to expect. Were we FINALLY going to find out what has plagued Abby for so long? Were we going to figure out how to fix it??! I drove slowly as these thoughts turned over and over in my head. When we got there, we walked down a dark hall to get to the office waiting room. I filled out all the paper work and anxiously waited our turn.

We finally got called back into the Doctor's personal office. He explained that he was going to do a Live Blood Analysis on Abby. A live blood test shows the blood cells magnified. Their shape, coloring, movement, transparency, ect can show whether they are healthy or not. Naturally Abby was terrified and cried, but it was a simple finger prick and then he showed us on the monitor and explained what he saw.

In one picture he showed that he could see something kidney related going on. He didn't know what exactly. In another picture he showed that she might have an autoimmune disease. A little piece at a time, I realized that today was not the day for answers. Just more questions. (Always more questions). One of the things he showed us, is the picture below. The Margarine in her blood!

You can see the blood cells on the slide, and in the middle is this blob that has to be larger than 10 cells combined. This was the one thing that shook me as a mother. This was directly from me. She doesn't go to the store and choose what we eat. I choose those things. I had no idea. Nothing. I was clueless up to this point. I had no idea that what I was feeding my kids was adding this, on top of everything we were dealing with. 

I remember driving home with feelings of disappointment, that again, we had no answers. Would they ever come? Two years earlier, Abby started peeing out the lining of her bladder. We were getting tissue in the urine samples we were sending to the Doctor's. I shed a few tears on the drive, but one thing was solid in my mind. Margarine was out! 

At the time I wasn't sure how it would work. We were tight on money. I wasn't sure if we could really afford butter. Just being honest here. There is no going back after seeing that, what you are feeding your child is going to their blood, and staying in there. My husband agreed with me and was horrified as well. I remember telling him that the health problems were out of our control, but this was one thing that we were responsible for. Despite being ignorant about it, or thinking that what you eat just digests out, we were still responsible. 

We started changing the way we ate. I spent extra time in the stores, reading labels and pricing out what we could afford. My goal is to have my food as close to nature as possible. I don't want my food designed in a lab. I try to make things homemade as much as possible. I try to find food without preservatives and additives. I still have a long way to go, but I do it one baby step at a time. 

For those wondering about Abby and her medical problems, we eventually got one answer, Alport Syndrome. She still has more going on that we haven't figured out with her bladder. Quinn and Abby were diagnosed with Autosomal Recessive Alport Syndrome 4 years ago.