Fall Meal Idea: White Chicken Chili and Homemade Cornbread!

Fall is my second favorite season (spring is first because I am neither sweating nor freezing!) because I love to bake and I love to cook. What can be more inviting then dinner slow cooking all day, smelling your house with awesomeness? On our plates tonight is a slow cooker recipe for white chicken chili and then I have homemade corn bread baking in the oven. Yes, homemade…not open-a-box Jiffy! Both of these recipes are ridiculously easy, and incredibly delicious!
I apologize for the lack of pictures. I was going to do a step-by-step recipe post but my son confiscated my camera to make You Tube videos

First, the recipe for the white chicken chili. This is a very flavorful dish, using minimal ingredients, and feeding a lot of mouths.

1 lb skinless chicken thighs

1 onion, chopped (or you can use a handful of dried minced onion)

1 can chicken broth

2 TBSP bottle minced garlic

1 tsp cumin

1 tsp oregano

1 tsp salt

2 TBSP lemon juice

a dash of hot sauce

2 cans great northern beans,drained

1 can white shoe peg corn, drained (also available frozen in a 9 oz pkg, so you need to thaw it)

Combine all in a crock pot except beans and corn. Cook on low 6-8 hours (typically ready in about 6.5 hours). Remove chicken and shred. Return chicken to crock pot and add in the beans and corn and cook for an additional 30 minutes.

So now that you have all of that in your crock pot (mine is in a 5 qt crock pot right now and there is plenty of room. You don’t want the crock pot too big or it will scorch), its time to whip up your corn bread! I am a corn bread snob. I’ve made several homemade recipes and I can distinctly recall making one that tasted like ear wax. It was so bitter. Yes, I’ve tasted ear wax, I have 4 kids. Don’t ask how.

Corn Bread:

2/3 cup butter, softened

1 cup sugar

3 eggs

1 2/3 cups milk

2 1/3 cups flour

1 cup cornmeal

4 1/2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp salt

Cream the butter and sugar together in a bowl. Combine the eggs and milk in a separate bowl, and then combine the flour, cornmeal, baking powder and salt in another bowl. Add to creamed mixture alternately w/ the egg mixture.

Pour into a greased 9×13 pan. Bake at 400 degrees for 22-27 mins or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean.