Chicken Chili

Happy Fall!! What a gorgeous day in Dahlonega. I think so often how lucky we are to live in such a wonderful place!! The views of the mountains in the fall are to die for! Not to mention the delicious produce we can cook with :)!!

AND my absolute favorite.... the pumpkin patch!! Speaking of... any takers to go with me?! Nat managed to have a legit excuse to bail on me this year- I thought for sure the invitation to go to the pumpkin patch with yours truly would convince him to stay home from Iraq!! Rats :)

Today, my plan was to take on the job of finishing/sealing the table Nat and I bought, but with the chance of rain tonight, it looks like that project will have to wait! (Maybe a whole 'nother year until HE comes back to do it!!) Just kidding :)

So, since my table project got put on hold, I started the Sunday off right with a Chicken Chili recipe in the crock pot.

To start the recipe, I cut up 3 boneless skinless chicken breasts into 1/2- 1 inch chunks and browned them in 1 T olive oil. I accidentally took the "browning" a little too seriously, and "blackened" a few of the pieces when I wasn't paying attention!! :) oops...







While the chicken was browning, I diced 6 oz of mushrooms (which I am in the process of trying to convince myself that I like), 1 celery heart, and 1 medium onion.


When the meat was done browning, I put it into the crock pot, along with the celery, mushrooms, and onions, and added 1 can of kidney beans, 1 and 1/2 cups of fresh salsa, and 3 tomatoes that I diced in the food processor. **Another option is to substitute chick peas for the kidney beans, but for some reason, the texture of chick peas just makes me shiver!!


I stirred it all up, turned the crock pot on LOW heat, and set the timer for 7 hours. Update to follow when it is ready!! :) However, let me tell you, it is smelling so good already, I am having an inner battle not to go over there and scald my tongue tasting it!! Happy Sunday!!