Sweet Potato Chili

it's  so goooood Noone will ever know it's also healthy😆

Inspired by Stephanie at 365 crockpot blog

you can make the chili in the crockpot or on the stove.

Sweet potatoes come in many sizes

the first time I made this with 2 sweet potatoes it was over loaded, I had to add extra beans, extra tomatoes, it was

a mess, a yummy mess!

I measured how much sweet potato 

now it's a regular  for lunch or dinner

toss the sweet potato, onion, bell pepper in the slowcooker

yellow or red pepper would make a prettier plate

of course I  only had orange

add tomatoes and beans 

red or black beans both work great

Luther doesn't  like red beans- I don't know why he just doesn't

today we are using black beans

add seasonings & water, stir

cook on low 6-8 hours depending on the size you chopped the sweet  potatoes and how mushy you like it.

on the stove simmer for about 1hr.

Enjoy!

Sweet Potato  Chili

Ingredients

1 lg sweet potato, peeled and in 1-inch chunks about 2 cups worth
1 yellow onion, diced
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 (15-ounce) can red kidney or black beans, drained and rinsed
1 red or yellow bell pepper, seeded and chopped
1 (14.5-ounce) can diced tomatoes
1 tablespoon chili powder
1 teaspoon smoked paprika
1/8 -1/4 tsp cayenne pepper, optional if you want heat
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup water
1 tsp cumin

Directions

Use a 5-6 quart slow cooker. Put the peeled and chopped  sweet potato in the slowcooker. Add diced onion. Follow with the bell pepper, can of tomatoes, the beans, garlic, and seasonings. Pour in water. Cover and cook on low for 6-8 hours, or until the onion is translucent and the sweet potato is fork tender.  Cook longer if you like it to mush a little giving a thicker sauce.

You can put all the ingredients in a large saucepan, simmer 45 minutes until potato is fork tender. 

I like heat I add 1 1/2 tbs. chili powder.

Serve with tortilla  chips, cheese, sour cream, & or avocado.
All depends on how healthy you feel like being😉

Creole Chicken and Tomato Rice Dinner in 20 minutes and it tastes delish

Dinner in 20 minutes, tastes delish, it's healthy Creole Chicken with Tomato Rice

When you made the creole seasoning for the Jambalya

you doubled it to have plenty for the Creole Chicken 

Get your Tomato Rice Cooking First

  

 

don't forget the bay leaves

while its simmering

 

toss your chicken in creole seasoning

sauté about five minutes to just cook it, set aside

  

now sauté the onions and garlic, lightly browning

Add the peppers and celery 

 

cook just  a few minutes you want to keep them crisp if you like the hot

add some more creole seasoning to the veggies

  

 

the rice should be done

 

 

Add the chicken back to the veggies

 

Serve with the Tomato Rice

 

 

 

Tomato Rice

 

1 14.5 oz can Stewed Tomatoes

1 1/2 cups water

1 cup rice

1 cloves garlic, crushed

1/2 tsp celery salt

2 bay leaves

 

Add all the ingredients to a saucepan, bring to a simmer.  Simmer about 15 minutes until the rice is tender.

 

 

Creole Chicken

 

1 lb chicken, diced

1/2 red bell pepper

6 stalks celery/ 1 1/2 cups

1 cup sliced onion

1 tbs creole seasoning

2 garlic cloves, crushed

2 tbs oil

 

 

Toss the creole seasoning with the diced chicken.  Add 1 tbs oil to sauté pan, saute chicken over medium high heat about 5 minutes just until cooked, set aside.

Add 1 tbs oil to sauté pan, over medium high heat add onion and garlic browning lightly, add celery and red pepper, sauté over medium heat about 4-6 minutes keeping the celery crisp.

Add the chicken back to the pan heat through.

 

Serve with Tomato Rice

 

Creole Seasoning

1 1/2 tablespoons paprika
1 1/2 tablespoon Smoked paprika
2 tablespoons salt2 tablespoons garlic powder
1 tablespoon black pepper
1 tablespoon onion powder
1 tablespoon cayenne pepper
1 tablespoon dried oregano
1 tablespoon dried thyme
 

Mix together, store in a small glass jar

 

 

 



 
 
 
 
 

 

Flip Flip Flip over Emeril's Cajun Jambalaya definitely a flip

Emeril's Cajun Jambalaya is so very yummy, it's the spot, warms you up,

always a hit when I make it!!

 

 

I made just a few very minor changes

 

in Emeril's Creole Seasoning
I use smoked paprika
omg that little bit of smokiness
with the heat is soooo good.
"BAM"  Emeril would be proud
at least that's what I like to think 

Double the creole seasoning it is also

awesome rubbed on chicken or fish then grilled!!

 

 

When chopping vegetables measuring is always rounded up

I just can't stop halfway through a celery stalk to make 1/2 cup ;0)

 

 

toss the chicken and shrimp with the creole seasoning set aside

 

 

 

sauté the onion, pepper, celery over medium heat 3 minutes, don't brown

 

add the garlic, Worcestershire sauce, bay leaves, tomatoes,

 

if I had any cherry tomatoes left in the freezer I would toss them in

I don't

so I'm using a pantry staple diced tomatoes

cook a meat or cook a vegetable

add diced tomatoes everyone thinks your a good cook

I love diced tomatoes

 

keeping the heat at medium stir in the rice

 

then slowly stir in the broth - ok I just dump it in

simmer about 15 minutes the rice should be tender

it will still have a bit of broth

 

now you add the chicken, shrimp, and Andouille sausage

simmer until the chicken and shrimp are cooked and the rice is done

 

 

It will still have a little broth the rice soaks it right up

Serve to the hungry group patiently waiting

 

I double the recipe and believe it only serves 6. 

 Emeril's Cajun Jambalaya that serves 4  makes so little he must be feeding people

 that don't have hearty appetites,

I've served a lot of Jambalaya to a lot of people.

Freezes great, pack any leftovers into lunch size containers, then freeze!

Cajun Jambalaya
Serves 6 – freezes well
Ingredients

24 medium shrimp, peeled, deveined and chopped
8 ounces chicken, diced
2 tablespoon Creole seasoning, recipe follows
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 cup chopped onion
1/2 cup chopped green bell pepper
1/2 cup chopped celery
4 tablespoons chopped garlic
1 can 14.5 oz diced tomatoes,
6 bay leaves
2 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
2 teaspoon hot sauce
1 1/2 cup rice,  uncooked
4 cups - 1 container chicken stock
2 cups water
10 ounces Andouille sausage, diced
Salt and pepper

In a bowl combine shrimp, chicken and Creole seasoning, and work in seasoning well, set aside. 

In a large saucepan heat oil over high heat with onion, pepper and celery, 3 minutes.

Add garlic, tomatoes, bay leaves, Worcestershire and hot sauce.

Stir in rice add broth.

Reduce heat to medium and cook until rice absorbs liquid and becomes tender, stirring occasionally, about 15 minutes.

The rice will be tender and it will have a bit of broth add shrimp and chicken mixture and sausage. Cook until meat is done, about 5 minutes more. Season to taste with salt, pepper and Creole seasoning.

 

Creole Seasoning

1 1/2 tablespoons paprika
1 1/2 tablespoon Smoked paprika
2 tablespoons salt
2 tablespoons garlic powder
1 tablespoon black pepper
1 tablespoon onion powder
1 tablespoon cayenne pepper
1 tablespoon dried oregano
1 tablespoon dried thyme
 

Mix together, store in a small glass jar

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Taco Soup

I love Steph"s recipes at crockpot 365 blog spot  there is no gourmet cooking, no special skills required  just good food that satisfies everyone involved.  

2 blizzards down and another snowstorm was bearing sown on us and I wanted something new to cook that would hang in the crock ready to warm the snow crew as they needed.  I could trust if I made one of Steph's recipes it would be a hit. 

Her Taco Soup is just that delicious, easy, flexible hungry workers will sing your praises.

Normally I don't cook with mixes but decided to give her recipe a try verbatim well sort of verbatim the original recipe makes enough for a very large army I was cooking for a small group.

I don't believe in browning meat first unless it brings more flavor to the dish, have I mentioned I hate doing dishes. 

The first time I made Taco Soup I used 1/2 packet of  El Paso taco seasoning and 1/2 packet of the Hidden Valley Ranch now I just throw the whole thing in I don't need 1/2 packets hanging around.

I added the ground turkey in chunks and didn't over stir I wanted the turkey to stay chunked for texture but that is a personal preference.

Yep, another snowstorm was headed our way and tired of storm shopping I looked in the cupboard to see what I could make. 
Cupboard Version: 1 can of chicken, 2 cans of beans, 1 can of corn, 1 jar of salsa, 1 can of rotel tomatoes, 1 packet Hidden Valley Ranch dressing mix.  I had a hit everyone loved and there were no leftovers.

Today I had 1lb of chicken breast that needed to be dealt with so I diced it and popped it in, Yum!! I have leftover Rice in the fridge 2 cups worth, in it goes, oh yea dble yum!!

Love this recipe it is so flexible and easy!!!
If you don't use seasoning mixes you can use salsa instead of diced tomatoes for flavor, or all rotel tomatoes, add 1 tsp cumin, 1 tablespoon chili powder, we like to add jalapenos but then we like heat.
Use black or red beans or 1 of each.  I like black beans.
The original recipe would have used 1/2 lb of meat but I wanted heartier so I added 1 lb. 
2 cups of rice was a great addition and made more servings

And did I mention easy to assemble no chopping involved just the ability to open cans.

Taco Soup
servings 4-6
preparation 10 minutes

Ingredients:
2(15-ounce) cans of black beans, drained and rinsed

1 (15-ounce) cans of corn plus juice, do not drain you want the extra fluid

1 large can (15-ounces) of diced tomatoes or salsa

1 (10-ounce) can tomatoes and chiles (Rotel)

1/2 packet taco seasoning if using McCormick El Paso is weaker in flavor use the whole packet

1 packet ranch dressing mix (make sure there isn't hidden gluten, I went with Hidden Valley)

 

1 pound uncooked ground turkey or hamburger, diced chicken (optional.)

or 1 can chicken.  You can use 1/2 lb of meat but I wanted a heartier dish.

Preparation:
Use the largest slow cooker you have in the house --- this is a BIG recipe, you need a 6-quart or above.

Use lean meat so no pre browning needed, chunk it in the crockpot, add tomatoes, corn including juice, beans are rinsed and drained before adding, add seasoning packets, lightly mix if using raw meat to keep it chunky.

 

If your in a hurry and don't want to wait 4 hrs. to eat put the crockpot in the microwave for 10 minutes on high for 2 hours then I left it on low and it was ready when the snow crew needed a warm-up.

 

Or cover and cook on low for 8-10 hours or on high for 4-5. This soup is like stew the longer it cooks the better the flavor.

 Stir well, and serve with a handful of shredded cheese, sour cream, tortilla chips and avocado or guacamole.

 

Cheese Quesadillas are a great to serve on the side. 
Being gluten free I always have a stack of soft corn tortillas in the fridge I treat them like bread for sandwiches.  Over medium heat lightly oil grill pan, add tortilla sprinkle with Monterey jack cheese lay another on top.  Lightly brown, then flip brown and serve cut in 4 wedges. 

 

 

Rene’s Hot Italian Sausage Soup

This is a favorite Soup of Rene’s it’s hardy, filling but not heavy.   Rene showed me how he makes this soup inspired by the original recipe in  Taste of Home magazine

Now Rene’s Hot Italian Sausage Soup is a potluck, blizzard, after blizzard, keep the hungry work crew working soup!!

Measuring is not my strength if I have a whole pepper I’m not stopping at ¾ of a cup.  What the heck am I going to do with 1/4 of a pepper?   The whole pepper goes in. Same with the onion and frozen veggies.  If I have a few partial bags of frozen veggies - in they go this is a very flexible recipe. 

This time I added frozen cherry tomatoes from the summer harvest when there were more tomatoes than you could eat in a day.

For less fat and cholesterol I use Hot Italian Chicken Sausage.

 

 Hot Italian Sausage Soup freezes great but no matter how quadruple of a recipe I make it disappears.   I keep 2 lbs of hot sausage in the freezer because it is so quick & easy to make.

 

Rene’s Hot Italian Sausage Soup

4 Servings Prep/Total Time: 25 min.

Ingredients

• 1 pound bulk hot Italian sausage
• 1 can (14-1/2 ounces) Italian stewed tomatoes
• 1 cup spaghetti sauce
• 1 ½ cup frozen vegetables - carrots, peas green beans, corn, lima bean mix( not broccoli cauliflower mix)
• 1 yellow or orange bell pepper, red works but the sauce is red so a colored pepper keeps the stew pretty for company. should measure at least ¾ of a cup
• 1 small onion will be more than 1/4 cup chopped onion
• 1/4 cup white wine or chicken broth
• 1 teaspoon brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon minced parsley, fresh if you have it
• 1/2 teaspoon Italian seasoning
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 1/8 teaspoon pepper
• 2 cloves garlic, crushed
• 1 tsp to 1 tablespoon Red pepper flakes all depends on how much heat you like ;0)

Directions

• Remove sausage from casing if you couldn't get it bulk.
• In a large skillet, cook sausage over medium heat until no longer pink. (Quick tip for getting sausage out of the casing)
• Add peppers, onion, garlic stir just enough to get the flavors blended
• Add tomato, spaghetti sauce,  wine, brown sugar, frozen vegetables and spices
• Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 10 minutes or until vegetables are tender.

 

Serve with Biscuits,  Ricotta Dumplings, good ole bread and butter works also