Food for Thought is a weekly collaboration between Thick Fit Mom and Flexible Fork encouraging thoughtful eating and easy, balanced meals for you and your family.
“The next recipe for the blog is Lightning Fast White Chicken Chili” “ I don’t like White Chili” “It’s basically just chicken soup with beans” “Oh. Ok then, I’ll eat it!” As I rolled my eyes at my daughter’s quick reversal I thought about the fact that simply describing it differently could change her mind. Then I told the story to one of my customers and she said her daughter doesn't like marinara sauce, so she doesn't eat pizza. One of her favorite foods, though, is "cheese sticks", which is cheese pizza cut in to strips instead of pizza shaped slices. Go figure.
But then I started thinking, what else I could change by simply describing it to myself or someone else differently. Like instead of dieting to lose weight I started using healthy eating and exercise habits to improve my health. Instead of I'm going without to save money, I'm changing my spending priorities so that I can afford the experiences I want to share with my child.
Instead of I never have time to get my housework done, thank goodness I have a job to go to.
Perception is everything.
How many things do we avoid or complain about simply because it doesn’t sound like something we’d like to eat or do? I know I do it and I’m resolved to try and keep my mind more open because I don’t want to regret it later.
Just like Em would have regretted missing out on this chicken chili that she absolutely loves. In fact, my whole family loves it and it has been requested that I make this once a week. When you see how easy it is, you might want to do the same, it would be a great thing to take for lunch when the weather is a little chilly.
Lightning Fast White Chicken Chili
1½ tbsp olive oil
8 tsps Chili Powder
3 tbsps Cumin
1 teaspoon Salt
½ tsp red or cayenne pepper
3 cups diced onions (around 3 medium sized onions)
2 tsp oregano
2 ½ cups lower sodium chicken broth
2 ½ cups regular chicken broth
3 lbs frozen boneless, skinless chicken breast (the 2.5 lb bag I picked up from Aldi worked just fine)
3 tbsp minced garlic (if using minced garlic from a jar, make sure it is packed in water)
3 cans (1.8 cups ea.) White Northern Beans, rinsed (rinsing removes much of the sodium from the canned beans and helps with texture, don’t skip the rinse)
8 oz can diced green chilis (chopped)
1 cup 2% shredded cheddar cheese
½ cup light sour cream
Instructions
1. Place frozen chicken breast in pressure cooker with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Start “preheating” your pressure cooker. I find that when I add frozen food to my pressure cooker, it takes much longer to heat up and get started cooking, probably because the extreme cold is down there on top of the heating elements and it’s got to work a little harder, so give it a head start while you’re chopping onions, etc.
2. Add all remaining ingredients to pressure cooker for 28 minutes. Don't forget to rinse the beans, this gets rid of A LOT if the sodium. You'll know they're ready when you don't see any more of what looks like soap bubbles (pictured below). The pressure cooker is going to look very full. If you're like me, you might even start to feel nervous. the measurements are perfect though, it came to right below my fill line.
3. Release pressure (or allow it to naturally release) and shred chicken in the chili.
4. Serve by topping with a dollop of sour cream and a sprinkle of cheddar cheese.
Alternatively, if you don't have pressure cooker (you should get one, watch for deals and snag one soon!) you can follow these instructions in your slow cooker, but you'll need thawed or fresh chicken and you'll need all day as opposed to 28 minutes. It's worth it for the amazing flavors in this recipe though!
Enjoy!