Chicken Taco Chili Recipe

The more I have explored cooking, the more I have come to realize that I LOVE using my crock pot. Crock pots are like the Genie lamps of the culinary world. Throw in some ingredients, make a wish, rub the pot a few times, and presto! You have a wonderfully delicious meal that required hardly any effort from you. Your wish is the crock pot's command. The Genie pot does all the work for you and gives you the meal you wish for. Crock pot meals are easy to make, require little clean up, and little preparation time. Not only that, but crock pot meals are often very cost effective. What makes it even better, is you can prepare the meals ahead of time, freeze them, and then just throw them in the crock pot when necessary. If you don't want to take up room in the freezer, you can prepare the meal that morning while the kids are asleep or in preparation of a busy afternoon ahead.

I recently tried a crock pot recipe that I found on Pinterest. I confess that I am an avid Pinner, so I am trying to put my Pinning addiction to use. One of the recipes that I found looked particularly delicious, Chicken Taco Chili. My husband and I love Mexican food, so I decided to give this one a try. The end result was a magical meal created by my kitchen Genie. It was tasteful, spicy, and completely gratifying. I found the original recipe on the blog, Photo A Day. I edited the recipe a bit to meet our personal tastes and needs. Try this recipe. You will love it!

Servings: this recipe makes enough for about 4 people, depending on how much they eat

Ingredients:

• 1/4 of an onion, chopped
• 8oz. canned black beans
• 8oz. canned kidney beans
• 8oz. can of tomato sauce
• 5oz. canned whole sweet corn kernels 
• 14.5oz. canned diced tomatoes with chilies
• 1/2 a packet of taco seasoning (any brand you choose)
• 1/2 tbsp. of cumin
• 1/2 tbsp. of chili powder
• 2 boneless and skinless small chicken breasts 
• chopped fresh cilantro (I only used about 1 tbsp. because I don't like using a lot)
• I also added black pepper, salt, paprika, and some extra chili powder and cumin. Season to taste.

Mix all of the ingredients in the crock pot, minus the chicken. Do not drain the beans, corn, or tomatoes. After you have mixed everything together, season to taste. Add the chicken breasts. Cook everything on low for 5 hours. You may need to adjust the time and power depending on how much you make and the size of your crock pot. My crock pot is relatively large, so it doesn't take as long for things to cook, especially since I make only half of the original recipe. Before you serve the chili, shred the chicken with a fork and stir it in with the rest of the ingredients. Your dinner is done! I like to serve my chili with corn bread, but you can serve it with whatever you like.

Since most of the ingredients come in 16 oz. cans, I only use half of the can at a time. The rest I throw in a gallon sized bag and stick in the freezer. That way I have the ingredients for another meal of Chicken Taco Chili ready for next time. When I prepare the Chicken Taco Chili for one meal, I prepare everything I need for next time and freeze it. I end up with two meals in the amount of time it takes to prepare one. It's delicious, cost effective, and time effective. Cheers to my culinary Genie!