Family Dinners: Slow Cooker White Bean Chicken Chili

by Maryann Tomovich Jacobsen, MS, RD on March 11, 2010

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A few years ago a friend of mine made white bean chicken chili for a book club get together.  It was delicious so I asked for the recipe.  Even though I loved the dish, I never made it because the recipe was time consuming (soak beans overnight, cook chicken separately, etc.)

So after searching online for the slow cooker version, I found this one on The Cook Book Critic (only 10 minutes to prepare).  The picture above doesn’t do this one justice.  This is a really tasty dish that I’ve already made again.  We topped it with guacamole and cheddar cheese.  But one word of caution: you might want to watch how much cayenne pepper you add because it can be a little spicy.  Next time I will only use 1/2 tsp. 

I also find these chicken and bean slow cooker recipes perfect for older babies and toddlers.  My 11-month old son loves this dish.  All I have to do is make sure the chicken is shredded and the beans are cut in half.  The I put the food on his highchair tray and he goes to town with his little hands.   My 3-year old, on the other hand, barely touched it, but she loved the guacamole and cheese. 

I’ve added a new “print this recipe” feature below to make printing recipes easier.

Have a great weekend!

Cook Time: 4 to 5 hours on HIGH; 9 to 10 hours on LOW
Servings: 4 to 6

3 cans (15 oz. each) white beans (cannellini, Great Northern, etc.)
1 medium onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced or pressed
1 can (4 oz.) diced green chilies 
2 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp dried oregano leaves
1 tsp ground cayenne pepper
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1/2 tsp salt
1 to 1.25 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts
2 1/2 cups chicken broth

Rinse and drain the beans. Place them in a slow cooker. Add the onions, garlic, chilies, spices, and salt, and stir to combine. Place the chicken breasts over the top, and pour in the chicken broth. Cover and cook on LOW for 9 to 10 hours, or HIGH for 4 to 5 hours.

When ready to serve, remove the chicken and shred the meat into bite-sized pieces, using a couple of forks; set aside.  The original recipe provides an option of blending the beans but this seemed to ruin the easiness of this dish.

You can serve this with tortillas, tortilla chips, salsa, sour cream, guacamole, chopped fresh cilantro or shredded jack or cheddar cheese.

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Is Your Kid a “Good” or “Bad” Snacker?

by Maryann Tomovich Jacobsen, MS, RD on March 9, 2010

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There’s been a lot of news recently about the growing snack habits of kids – and most of it is negative. A recent study published in Health Affairs found that snacking in U.S. children has not only increased from 1989 to 2006, but accounts for more than 27% of total calories (up to 3 snacks per day).

Now this wouldn’t be so bad if kids were snacking on a variety of food. Instead, snacks mainly consist of salty snacks, candy, desserts and sweetened beverages.

So recent news stories have added snacking to the long list of childhood obesity culprits. But I would hate to see parents make unnecessary changes because all types of snacking have been lumped into one negative stereotype.

So let’s look into what type of snacking is good for kids (and not so good). [click to continue…]

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Ready for Another Baby? Your Pre-Conception To-Do List

March 4, 2010
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This is a featured guest post by Elizabeth Ward, MS., RD, author of Expect the Best: Your Guide to Healthy Eating Before, During, and After Pregnancy.Elizabeth regularly writes for publications such as Men’s Fitness and WebMD, and blogs about about family nutrition and weight control issues for USAToday.com. Check out her pregnancy blog, Expect the [...]

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Eating Disorder Prevention (Part 1): 3 Things Every Parent Must Know

March 1, 2010
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As parents we are inundated with information about getting our kids to eat healthier. We understand there’s a childhood obesity epidemic and many of us have probably struggled with our own eating and weight to some degree.
But what we don’t hear much about is an extremely serious health issue that affects kids and adults across [...]

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Family Meal Planning Series (Part 5): 12 Tips for Getting Dinner on the Table Fast

February 25, 2010
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I’m wrapping up the family meal planning series with some expert tips. These are food and nutrition experts who spend a lot of (productive) time in the kitchen. The goal of this series was to help you overcome the “time” barrier to getting rewarding meals on the table, so I hope it succeeded.
It’s all about [...]

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Kids Vegetables: Kale Chips

February 23, 2010
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Over the past couple of months I’ve heard about Kale Chips from various people.  And because I am a roasted-veggie convert (see Broccoli Parmesan and Pamesan Crusted Asparagus) I thought I’d give them a try.
I got this one from All Recipes but it’s very simple.  Just rinse the kale and break off into little pieces, toss in [...]

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10 Ways to Soothe Children Without Using Food

February 21, 2010
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This is a featured guest post written by Kathleen Cuneo, Ph.D, psychologist, parent coach, and mom. Her mission is to empower parents to find their own parenting voice and develop strong connections with their children. Her free report, “30 Things You Can Do To Raise Self-Confident, Compassionate Children,” is available at www.drcuneo.com. Dr. Cuneo is also [...]

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Family Dinners: Butternut Squash & Chickpea Soup

February 18, 2010
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Kathy from Healthy Slow Cooking submitted this recipe for Butternut Squash & Chickpea soup. Check out her site, it is full of healthy, vegetarian slow cooker meals.
She says this soup is perfect for picky eaters because it’s served pureed. I know my 3-year old runs from chunks of anything so we’ll give it a try. [...]

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Family Meal Planning Series (Part 4): How to Spend Less Time Grocery Shopping

February 15, 2010
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In part 3 of this series we talked about planning a weeks’ worth of healthy meals to save time. But I think the most challenging part of the whole meal planning process is translating that plan into a readable grocery list — getting all the food you need and storing that food in an organized fashion.
I have [...]

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The Let’s Move Campaign — and What I Want Michelle Obama to Know

February 12, 2010
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You’ve probably heard that the first lady is taking on childhood obesity. On Tuesday she announced the development of a task force that will engage both private and public sectors to solve the childhood obesity problem in a generation.
The areas of focus include: helping parents make healthier food choices, making schools a healthier environment, increasing physical [...]

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