Growing up, my mom was very verbal about things she did and did not like.  In turn, that made my sister and I very vocal about the things that we didn’t like either (usually, it was things that she didn’t like, because well, if she wasn’t making them, we didn’t get the chance to try them). Even with that, chili was something that she made often; however, I always refused to eat it.  Part of that was because my parents made it with venison and I refused to eat that.  Luckily, once I went to college, I started trying new things.  It took awhile, but I do love chili now. One of the reasons that I love getting in the kitchen with our Mini Chef is that she’s able to touch, taste, and explore the foods that we are cooking with everyday.

This 3 bean chicken chili is a favorite in our house.  For me, I love that it’s so quick and easy.  Throw everything in the crockpot and go about your business.  I love that Skibbles can truly help with almost every aspect of making this meal with just a little help. Most of all, I love that Andrew actually eats it.  We’ve mentioned before that he’s one of the world’s pickiest adults and before making this he refused to eat any type of soup or stew.  I’ve gotten him to love this meal and hoping it’s the  start of loving more and more soups.

Whenever we make our 3 bean chicken chili, we put it in the crockpot before bed and then turn it on.  When we wake up in the morning it’s already done.  I love doing it this way because not only is dinner for the day already done, but it allows the flavors to marinate together even longer, making it that much better.

We always serve chili with plain Greek yogurt and cheese on top and have sides of cubed avocado and homemade buttered bread to go alongside it. It’s such a great meal.

5 from 2 votes

Print

3 Bean Chicken Chili

Author: Larisha Campbell

Ingredients

• 2 large chicken breasts about 1lb total
• 1 28 oz can crushed or diced tomatoes
• 1 can black beans
• 1 can cannellini beans
• 1 can kidney beans
• 1 cup green peppers diced
• 1 red onion diced
• 5 cloves garlic minced
• 2 tbsp chili powder
• 2 tsp ground cumin
• 1 tsp paprika
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp dried oregano
• 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
• 1/2 tbsp cacao powder
• salt and pepper to taste
• Optional toppings: plain greek yogurt or sour cream, shredded cheese, avocado, crackers, bread

Instructions

1. Put all ingredients into a crockpot (YES, Everything).
2. Cook on low for 8 hours or on high for 4 hours.
3. Once down, pull out the cooked chicken breasts, and using two forks, shred the chicken.
4. Put back in crockpot and stir together well.
5. Serve with optional toppings.
6. Store leftovers in fridge or freeze.

I am hosting Mini Chef Mondays along with 11 fabulous bloggers!

Be sure to check out each of their Mini Chef posts as well. We would love it if you would share your Mini Chef posts with us each week, too! Follow along socially and join in on the fun by using our hashtag #MiniChefMondays to share creations your mini chef created in the kitchen. Additionally, if you have a kid-friendly recipe that kids can easily recreate link up! Don’t have a blog? Share the URL of your instagram photo in our linky below.

1. Homemade Maple Yogurt Recipe // Courtney’s Sweets
2. Jello Play Doh // Momma Lew
3. Best Baked Oatmeal Recipe with Apples and Pears // Baby Loving Mama
4. 3 Bean Chicken Chili // We’re Parents
5. Spicy Shredded Beef Quesadillas // Frugal Novice
6. Easy Salmon Recipe That Kids Will Actually Eat // Eating Richly
7. Homemade Chicken Nuggets // Giggles, Gobbles and Gulps
8. Kid Safety Tips for Kids // Step Stool Chef
9. Avocado Stuffed Potatoes // Vegging at the Shore
10. Gingerbread Cookies and Cream Bars // Mom’s Messy Miracles
11. Applesauce Muffins // O’Boy! Organic
12. Chocolate Covered Pretzel Snowflakes // Can’t Google Everything

This is a sponsored post. Affiliate Links contained in this post.

Today they eat.  Tomorrow everything is “yucky”. If you are or have been the parent of a toddler, you know this phase very well.  It’s a cycle that is on constant repeat like a broken record.  Better yet, like Charlie Brown’s teacher, “wah wah wah — wah wah wah wah wah”.  This is one of the reasons why I love cooking together with our mini chef.  If she makes it, she seems much more interested in at least trying it, although sometimes even then it’s yucky to her. It’s also the reason that no matter what I’m making, nine times out of ten it’s going to have a lot of veggies and protein inside.  I’ve literally seen her go a whole day on maybe half a banana and a handful of pretzels.  This Sweet Potato Stew, though, she loves. It’s packed full of delicious stuff and it’s perfect this time of year.

Another way I get her to try new things is to read books with her that involve cooking or food.  We have found a ton of books at the library about food and cooking and since she’s in awesome reading phase, it’s been great the past few months. We recently received a copy of Mother Bruce, a book about a bear that likes to eat eggs, but his recent eggs ended up hatching!  Skibbles thought that was funny.  Now Mother Bruce has to think up recipes that don’t have the possibility of hatching.  I told Skibbles that there’s no worries with our Sweet Potato Stew hatching.

There is a lot of chopping with this recipe and I do most of that.  We’ve been slowly teaching her how to use a knife. (I actually just heard about this product to help kids cut veggies without the fear of them cutting themselves and I plan to try it out). But there’s still so much she can do with this recipe.  She clean the potatoes, peels the garlic, puts everything in the food processor and turns that out, and then she throws everything into the pot for it to start cooking. I absolutely love doing this with her.

The final product is a beautiful bowl of stew that is perfect on a chilly day or when you are sick.  Packed full of nutrients like vitamin c, calcium, and betacarotene, you will want your toddler’s eating it too.

Print

Sweet Potato Stew

Author: Larisha Campbell

Ingredients

• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 red onion
• 5 cloves garlic
• 1 green pepper
• 1 carrot
• 1 can 15oz black beans
• 1 can 15oz red kidney beans
• 3 cups diced sweet potatoes
• 5 cups bone broth or chicken broth
• 1 tsp cajun seasoning recipe follows
• salt and pepper to taste

For Cajun Seasoning (yields 4 tbsps)

• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 tsp garlic powder
• 2 1/2 tsp smoked paprika
• 1 tsp black pepper
• 1 tsp onion powder
• 1 tsp cayenne
• 2 1/2 tsp Italian Seasoning

Instructions

1. In a food processor, chop onion, garlic, green pepper, and carrot.
2. Heat a large pot on medium, add olive oil and heat.
3. Add vegetables mixture from the food processor and cook for 5 minutes, stirring often, not to let the onions or garlic burn.
4. Add beans, broth, and sweet potatoes, stirring to combine.
5. Add in cajun seasoning.
6. Cover and reduce heat to low. Cook for 45 minutes.
7. Serve immediately.

I am hosting Mini Chef Mondays along with 11 fabulous bloggers!

Be sure to check out each of their Mini Chef posts as well. We would love it if you would share your Mini Chef posts with us each week, too! Follow along socially and join in on the fun by using our hashtag #MiniChefMondays to share creations your mini chef created in the kitchen. Additionally, if you have a kid-friendly recipe that kids can easily recreate link up! Don’t have a blog? Share the URL of your instagram photo in our linky below.

1. Teddy Bear English Muffins // Courtney’s Sweets
2. Mother Bruce Teddy Bear Toast – Mini Chef Mondays// Momma Lew
3. Cream Cheese Bear Claws // Baby Loving Mama
4. Sweet Potato Stew // We’re Parents
5. Mother Bruce’s Lemonade Cake // Frugal Novice
6. How To Scramble Eggs // Eating Richly
7. Bear Claw Cookies // Giggles, Gobbles and Gulps
8. Pizza Burger Sliders // Step Stool Chef
9. Deviled Eggs with Capers // Vegging at the Shore
10. Bacon & Broccoli Mini Quiches // Mom’s Messy Miracles
11. Ham and Vegetable Quiche Cups // O’Boy! Organic
12. Teddy Bear Picnic // Can’t Google Everything