White Chicken Chili

OOPS - I was eating leftovers of this and it occurred to me that I missed 2 very important ingredients! 
2tsp cumin
1tsp oregano

I love any kind of chili and I don't make white chili very often, but it always turns out good! 

2 chicken breasts
5 scallions, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
1 can diced green chilis
6c chicken stock
2 can cannelinni beans, drained and rinsed

I salted and peppered the chicken and browned, in olive oil, on both sides in a heavy bottom pot.  When they were browned, I took them out and sauteed the scallions and garlic for a few minutes.  Once they had softened, I added the green chilis and stock, stirring up the brown bits on the bottom.  Then I added the chicken and simmered for about 15 minutes.  My breasts were still a little frozen in the middle when I browned them, so completely thawed chicken would probably only take 10 minutes.  Once the chicken was cooked through, I took them out and added the beans.  While the beans were simmering, I shredded the chicken.  Then I took out about 2c of beans and veggies and pureed them with my immersion blender.  I added the pureed beans and chicken back in and we ate!  Yummy!

Curried Rice and Lentils

This is still simmering, so I'm not sure how it will taste.  It smells pretty good, though!  Here are my ingredients:

1/2c brown rice
1/2c lentils
1bay leaf
1T red curry paste
1 carrot, chopped
3 scallions, chopped and separated
1 3/4c broth

I mixed everything together in a sauce pan (except the scallion greens) and brought it to a boil.  Cover and simmer for 45 minutes.  I'm going to stir in the scallion greens before serving.  I'll let you know what I think!

Verdict:  It was good!

Snack Shopping Tip

I like for my kids to eat whole grains instead of overly processed foods, but it's hard to find good tasting snacks that are whole grain.  I discovered Earth's Best snacks and they are super delicious!  The "Letter of the Day" cookies, I enjoy myself.  They also make Graham sticks, which are basically just graham crackers.  They are both made from whole grain, are organic, and low in sodium.  They are kind of expensive, though.  Being the excellent online shopper that I am, I found them on Amazon.com.  You can buy a case of them for $15.88 each, which isn't horrible, but still not super cheap.  BUT, if you sign up for their "Subscribe and Save" program, you save 15% and get FREE SHIPPING!  You say how often you want them delivered (every 1, 2, 3, or 6 months) and they just let you know they're charging you and mail them off!  So, the case now becomes $13.50, which is a little over $2.00 a box!  Not too bad!!!!

Wild Rice and Lentil Soup

This was yesterday's lunch and for some today's as well.  My 2yr old son is hit or miss with lentils, but he scarfed this down!  The ingredients are:

1 chopped onion
3 stalks chopped celery
handful chopped baby carrots
1 chopped garlic clove
2 sprigs rosemary, chopped
handful thyme sprigs
1c long grain and wild rice mix
1c lentils
1qt veggie stock

I sauteed the veggies in olive oil for just a couple minutes.  Then I added the garlic, rosemary, and rice mix.  I sauteed it for a couple minutes so the rice would brown a bit.  Then I added the stock and the sprigs of thyme.  The leaves will fall off the thyme, so you can just throw the whole thing in and pull out the stalks when its done.  You could do this with the rosemary too, but you will end up biting into a big leaf and as good as rosemary is, it's not very tasty when you bite into a whole leaf!  I brought everything to a boil and simmered for 10 minutes.  Then I added the lentils and simmered for another 40 minutes.  I dug out the thyme stalks and it was time to eat!

Tuscan Garbanzo Bean soup

I bought beans last night and saw a recipe on the can, that I thought looked good, so I made my own version!  The ingredients are:

1 chopped onion
2 celery stalks, chopped
Handful baby carrots, chopped
1 clove garlic, chopped
2 sprigs rosemary, chopped
salt and pepper
1 can diced tomatoes
1 can garbanzo beans, rinsed and drained
1qt vegetable stock
1c elbow macaroni
1/4c grated parmesan

I sauteed the onion, celery, and carrots for about 5 minutes.  I salted and peppered them to help them along a little.  When they were about soft, I added the garlic and rosemary and sauteed for 1 minute more.  Then I added the tomatoes, beans, and stock.  I brought this to a boil and simmered for 10 minutes.  I then took out 2 ladles full (mostly veggies and beans, not broth) and added to my immersion blender container.  I added the macaroni to the remaining soup and boiled for 8 minutes.  I added the parmesan cheese to the blender mixture and blended until smooth.  When the macaroni was done, I added the blended mixture in.  It was a creamy delicious soup!  It probably could have used more salt for my taste, but the kids didn't notice and they don't need it anyway!