chicken taco chili.

I made a vow to try to use my CrockPot a lot more.  Over the holidays I actually kept my vow and busted out my trusty slow cooker.  Now,  I am a fan of chili.  That being said, I am not really a fan of ground meat--especially beef.  In general I typically do not eat a lot of red meat at all.  I am making an effort to try recipes with ground turkey, pork, and chicken and you will see that in the future.  But this particular night I didn't have any ground meat.  We eat a lot of chicken in this apartment.  I love chicken but it does tend to get boring.  

Pinterest really does help with inspiration, even when you're dealing with broken pins such as this pin which inspired me to try to re-create a recipe using a picture.  This recipe yields MANY servings.  I am not kidding.  We had leftovers for a few days, for lunch and dinner.  And that was even after I froze half.  Next time I am freezing more because it froze really well and made for an excellent easy dinner during the week.  It is probably one of the easiest recipes I have ever attempted and was absolutely delicious!

ingredients

• 2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 1 zucchini, sliced and chopped
• 2 jalapenos, seeded and chopped (We like spice.)
• 2 cloves of garlic, minced
• 1 tsp fresh ground ginger
• 1 can of corn or a 10 oz package of frozen corn
• 1 regular can of tomato sauce
• 1 small can of tomato paste
• 1 28 oz can of diced tomatoes, no sodium added
• 1 regular can of black beans
• 1 regular can of kidney beans
• 1 pkg of taco seasoning OR 1/4 to half of my homemade mix
• 1 tbsp cumin
• 1 tbsp chili powder
• Some freshly ground nutmeg
• 3 tbsp sriracha sauce (Mmmm. Optional, but it's delicious.)
• Shredded cheese, reduced fat
• Sour cream, fat-free

directions

• First of all, I drain and rinse the corn and beans to try to cut out as much sodium as possible. 
• Combine everything but your chicken in your slow cooker.  Place chicken on top and cover.  Cook on low for about 10 hours or on high for six hours.  
• A half hour or so before you're ready to eat, remove the chicken and either finely chop or shred with two forks.  Return the chicken to the slow cooker and stir your chili.  
• If you feel like it you can top with a dollop of sour cream and shredded cheese. 
• Serve and enjoy!

Easy enough, right?  And now for my taco seasoning which is great on chicken, for tacos, and I am sure it is lovely with other food too.

ingredients

• 1 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 1/2 tsp ground cumin
• 1 tsp pepper
• 1/2 tsp paprika
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• 1/2 tsp onion powder
• 1/4 tsp chili powder
• 1/4 tsp oregano
• 1/8 tsp cayenne pepper
• 1/8 tsp ground ginger

exciting!

I am very excited to say that I have a newfound motivation for my blog.  It is so refreshing to feel excited to post more and to update my template in the near future.  I spent my entire lunchbreak reading up on different ways to have an amazing blog.  

Primp My Blog has amazing things going on over there that will help if you have a blog of your own that you have been slacking on or if you're just getting started in the blogging world. 

I even decided to add a board on my Pinterest account exclusively for this blog:  The Ashley Next Door Board.  Sure, there are 0 pins so far but that will change!  I also learned how to add a "Pin It" button to my posts, thanks to Julie Ann Art which is absolutely amazing, easy, and wonderful--so many thanks to her!!

Even made myself a new signature line to celebrate my excitement.  Glad my two readers will be along for the ride.

white girl butter chicken.

I love, love, love Indian food.  One cold night I decided to attempt to make one of my favourites, lightened up.  The results were actually more delicious than I had ever imagined. Take that, take-out!!

ingredients 

• 3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into bite-sized portions.
• 1 medium sized onion, chopped.
• 1 tbsp. fresh grated ginger.
• 4 cloves of garlic, minced.  (Normal people would use 2.  I love garlic.)
• 1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and chopped.
• 1 tbsp. olive oil.
• 2 tsp. garam masala.
• 1 tsp. chili powder.
• 1/2 tsp. cinnamon.
• 1 tsp. cardamom.
• 1/2 tsp. coriander.
• 1/4 tsp. ground cloves.
• 1/2 tsp. salt.
• 1/2 tsp. pepper.
• 1 6 oz. can of tomato paste.
• 1 15 oz. can diced tomatoes, no sodium added.
• 1 1/2 cups of chicken broth, low sodium.
• 3/4 cup fat free half & half cream.
• 3 tbsp butter, creamed.

directions

• Heat oil over medium heat in a large skillet until it is hot.  Add your onion, garlic, ginger, jalapeno.  Cook for about 4-5 minutes--until the onions are sweating and softening.  Stir in all of your spices (But not the salt and pepper.  Save those for later.  I usually pre-mix therest of my spices together in a small mug.  They smell DELICIOUS together and your kitchen will too.)  and cook for another minute or so.
• Bust out your food processor and add stock, tomato paste, diced tomatoes.  Add everything from the skillet and mix until you have a smooth sauce texture.
• Pour your sauce back into the skillet and add cream.  Bring to a simmer.    Add chicken, salt and pepper and keep the mixture at a simmer for about 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.     
• Add your creamed butter to your sauce and mix well. 
• Serve with naan bread or rice.  I also serve a small portion of non-fat plain yogurt.  

 what i would do differently next time

• Well, the first time I made this dish I skipped the food processor step and so my sauce was chunky.  Apparently I am the only person in the world who appreciates chewing garlic slices.  Yep, I didn't mince them.
• Less diced tomatoes.  For the post I have reduced the amount of diced tomatoes.  The second time I made it I didn't use as much chicken and used the same amount of tomatoes.  Lots of sauce, not enough chicken.  So I would try to balance it out a bit more.  Although, I made some rice and just had the sauce on it for lunch leftovers and it was divine.  
• Don't break my food processor.  So, when I made this recipe a second time I added the processor step.  And somehow burnt out the motor of my brand new food processor after ONE use.  Thankfully my mother has the receipt and we are exchanging it.
• Take a photo of the finished product before devouring it.

the return.

Hello, 2013.  Hello, blog.  Hello, two readers.

Here is my attempt at a blog comeback.  One of my resolutions for the year was to cook more.  So for this year expect recipes.  And crafts.  And rants.  And everything that is Ashley.