It’s Crocktober!

With the chilly weather striking and the rain returning to our fair state (we missed you for those three weeks, rain…), October is the perfect time for warm, easy comfort food. Nothing to me spells comfort food quite like using the slow cooker. It makes the house smell good all day without requiring a lot of cooking effort on my part. Between the mini-chef’s dance classes and her brother’s soccer practice and games, the Crock Pot is our saving grace on Tuesdays.

Up until last year, we had been using a slow cooker that had celebrated more birthdays than I had (37 as of LAST October, for anyone who’s counting). It was so old, I couldn’t even find a picture that was remotely CLOSE anywhere online or off; I do believe, however, that it went perfectly with my “harvest gold” fridge in my first apartment, if that helps at all. So, for our anniversary, we bought a fancy, shiny, NEW Crock Pot. It is oval, so it has more room than the old one, and a really cool touch screen that works totally amazingly (as long as you remember to push the “Start” button. Yep…forgot that one once.)

So anyhoo, with the season of rain, chill, and fires in the grate upon us, it is time once again to haul out the slow cooker recipes and start Crock Potting again! I LOVE chili in October, so we’re starting with a recipe I really enjoyed, Mexican Chicken Chili. I adapted this from a Taste of Home recipe, and my family loves it, even miss “cooks anything, eats nothing.”

Mexican Chicken Chili

• 1 pound boneless skinless chicken breasts, cubed
• 2  14-1/2-ounce cans diced tomatoes, undrained
• 2 cups frozen corn
• 1 15-ounce can black beans, rinsed and drained
• 1 14 1/2-ounce can reduced-sodium chicken broth
• 1 4-ounce can chopped green chilies (we go mild, but you can go wild if you want to)
• 1 1/2 tablespoons chili powder
• 1 tablespoon ground cumin
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• Dash of garlic salt
• Olives, if you like them…
• lime wedges
• sour cream
• shredded cheddar cheese

In a small skillet, brown chicken in a little bit of oil (I like to use olive oil in a pump spritzer – not PAM. The propellants are hard on your pan). Transfer to a 5-qt. slow cooker. Stir in the remaining ingredients, up to olives. Cover and cook on low for 5-6 hours or until chicken is no longer pink. Top with sour cream, cheddar cheese, and squeeze lime wedges over the soup.