Slow Cooker Sundays: Cheesy Sausage & White Bean Chili

Happy Sunday, Sunday, Sunday!  This football season, we have purposely and sincerely dedicated Sundays to slooooow cookin.  This week my crockpot was graced to the brim with Cheesy Sausage and White Bean Chili (adapted from Sandra Lee’s Cheesy Chorizo Chili Recipe).

Isn’t it pretty???

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Despite how beautiful the final product might appear, the process of slow cooking usually results in some sort of mess in the kitchen.  Well, actually it’s all cooking.  Me merely stepping a foot into the kitchen should serve as fair warning of impending disasters.  One dish usually results in a few sauce splatters on the wall, some chopped onions on the floor, no less than 7 dirtied utensils, a burner or two accidentally left on, and every inch of counter littered with various cooking debris.  So, I’m not exactly organized in the kitchen… What can I say?  I like to become one with my food Smile

The key to any successful slow cooked meal is a few glasses of wine to pass the time.  You might suggest that I use all that waiting time to clean the mess I’ve created in the kitchen.  To that I say, “I cook, you clean.  So quit your yapping and get to scrubbing.”

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To assemble this chili, you’ll first want to brown your sausage in a skillet.  Any turkey or chicken sausage will do—I prefer a spicy variety like Harris Teeter Hot Chicken Sausage or Jennie O’ Hot Turkey Sausage.

Next gather up your ingredients:

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Don’t mind the Limited bag in the background… I partook in a bit of retail therapy this weekend.  I scored a few sale items and am feeling MUCH better, thank you.

Toss all your canned goods, spices, and cooked sausage into the crockpot and mix to combine.  Then, let the chili cook for 6 hours on low.  When it’s time to chow, I like to top my chili with a dollop of Trader Joes fat free Greek yogurt, some sliced green onions, and a few corn tortilla chips:

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This chili is a beautiful rust orange color, pretty darn thick, and extremely tasty.  Even though this chili doesn’t have the standard tomato sauce chili base, it hit all the right notes on the seasoning scale.  Jarrod and I both gave this chili two thumbs up… We had some for lunch… and then some for dinner… and between the two of us devoured the entire batch in a period of six and half hours.  Don’t judge.

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Total cheesy comfort in a bowl.

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Cheesy Sausage & White Bean Chili Ingredients List (serves 5)

  • 5 links hot chicken or turkey sausage (such as Harris Teeter brand)
  • 3 15 ounce cans white cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
  • 1 10.75 ounce can condensed cheddar cheese soup
  • 1 can mild Rotel Tomatoes
  • 1 can diced green chilis
  • 1 tbsp + 1 tsp burrito seasoning (McCormicks)
  • 1 tsp cumin
  • 1 tsp chili powder
  • 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
  • Chopped green onions

Stats on one serving:   366 calories, 49g carbs, 7g fat, 35g protein, 14g fiber

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Well that was…. odd…

Tonight I pose an age old question.

If it looks like spaghetti and meatballs…

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and smells like spaghetti and meatballs….

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and twirls on your fork like spaghetti and meatballs…

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does it TASTE like spaghetti and meatballs???

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Hmmmmm……..

Tonight’s dinner was courtesy of 3 factors:

1.) Poor planning and insufficient food purchasing during my weekly grocery shopping trip.

2.) Insufficient time and energy to make a second grocery shopping trip.

and

3.)  3 random ingredients I happened to have on hand each of which was purchased (no doubt) during a hunger induced trip to the grocery store where lots of little odds and ends somehow ended up in my cart despite not being on my list and have since been sitting collecting dust (or freezer burn, as the case may be) in my kitchen.

So what’s a hungry gal to do?

Make spaghetti meatballs of course! Err… well sort of anyway.

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I’m guessing most of you probably consider diced tomatoes to be a fairly normal pantry staple.  I on the other hand LOATHE them (unless they are sufficiently masked in a recipe).  So tonight when I dumped the can of diced tomatoes into the pot I seasoned it LIBERALLY with anything Italian-ish in hopes of covering up their weird tinny taste.

Then I popped six Trader Joes meatless meatballs into the sauce and let it all simmer away.

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Next it was on to the Shirataki noodles. I first saw these on the Hungry Girl show on Food Network and have been anxious to try them ever since.  Tofu noodles?? 40 calories for the whole bag???   How could you not be intrigued?

The instructions said to rinse the noodles, drain, then microwave, and pat dry.  Easy enough!  I followed each step diligently, and as I went to pop them into the microwave I caught a whif of this funky nose curling scent.  I paused eyes scanning the room as I tried to determine what on earth had gone awry in my kitchen, and then I realized it was the noodles I was preparing to ingest.  They smelled.  Like garbage.  No… Like rotting fish that had been sitting out in the sun for a few hours.

Do to the stench, I decided it’d be best to give the noodles an extra super thorough rinse.  Funny how I was still more than willing to eat the noodles… I mean.. 40 calorie noodles, people!  You gotta be willing to give a little with the take!

After nuking them in microwave for a minute I dried the crap out of them (and most of the stench) with a few paper towels.

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I combined these 3 random ingredients on my plate, and VOILA!!  I had spaghetti and meatballs!  Or more appropriately named Tofu Noodle Substitute and Meatless Meatballs!  Has a nice ring to it, eh?

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Bet you’re wondering if it was any good huh??

Well this is what my plate looked like at the end of dinner:

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Guess that pretty much sums it up!  Clearly, the highlight of this meal was the meatless meatballs.  They got pretty soft once cooked (but managed to still hold together).  I might try baking them in the oven next time to see if they firm up at all.  Regardless, I’d definitely give two thumbs up on the meatless meatballs!

And the noodles were… ehhhh.. It’s not that they tasted “bad” per se, but they had this really ODD texture.  Really rubbery.  I guess it just felt wrong in my mouth.  Like my belly was saying “please, please, please for the love of all that is edible do not ingest those things!”

So I didn’t cuz when my belly talks, I sure as hell listen.

And now I think a cupcake is in order Winking smile

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So simple, so tasty.

For as much as I like to go out to eat, and boy do I like to go out to eat, I too enjoy having a simple tasty meal at home. Tonight’s dinner was just that.  So simple, so tasty.  Since I talked myself out of running this morning (I guess I learned nothing from yesterday’s post), I wanted a quick and light dinner so that I could spend some quality time with my tenner shoes this evening.

After a quick fridge inventory, I decided a turkey wrap was the feature entre of the evening.  1 whole wheat Flat-out wrap, 4 ounces of Boars Head Turkey Breast, 2 tbsp Trader Joes creamy original hummus (MY FAV!!!!), some tomatoes, onions, and cucumber:

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P.S. cucumbers are my new favorite vehicles for loading up with hummus.  So friggin good… why did I not discover this combo sooner?!

I also had some lazy-gal’s cucumber salad on the side:

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Since I go out to eat quite a bit on the weekends, during the week I shoot to eat as healthy as I can.  The key for me is that “healthy” still has to equal tasty.  If it ain’t tasty, I ain’t eatin!

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It’s a wrap:  324 calories, 30g carbs, 9g fat, 39g protein, 13g fiber

As I sat on my balcony devouring this delicious dinner, I started thinking about how varied my meals are throughout any given week.  Tonight I was feasting on a simple wrap—and Saturday night I feasted on French cuisine.  Is it just me, or is it kind of crazy how much food there is to taste and experience in the world?  It just kind of astounds me!  I have problems.  I know.

Speaking of that French Cuisine, Saturday night after Jamie, Vanessa, and I saw Harry Potter, we took a stroll over to Café Monte to get our grub on.  I wonder how you say “grub” in French…?  Grubeaux?

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We had a bit of time to spare before our reservation, so we used a bit of it to oogle over the dessert case.

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And then their expansive breakfast menu (must come back for breakfast soon).

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Then headed to the bar for some cocktails because that’s what any self respecting lady does on Ladies Night Out.

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Hello orange dress Smile

The restaurant was really cute inside and reminded me of some of the places I visited during the week I spent in Paris in college.

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Speaking of that week, the one main thing I remember about Paris was how rude the people were and how much I hated the food.  The only French word I’d learned was “poulet” (translates to chicken).  So at every restaurant I visited I‘d scan the menu for poulet, then use the point and repeat technique to order my meals.  Poulet.  Poooooolettttttttt (insert rapid menu tapping here).  No wonder the people hated me Winking smile

Luckily, the folks at Café Monte were very hospitable and also very knowledgeable about the menu items.  Plus the menu was in English, so I didn’t have to search too hard to find the chicken dishes SmileDSCF7414

Since I had a Living Social deal for the restaurant (Boo.Ya.), we decided to get crazy and order the cheese fondue for our appetizer:

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Give me a loaf of bread, and I’m a very happy lady.  Give me a loaf of bread AND a tub full of melty cheese and I may kiss you and beg to be your sugar mama.  Do not be alarmed.

For our dinners, I went with the Chicken (poulet!  pouuuletttttttt!) and Wild Mushroom crepes, Vanessa got some crazy looking fish dish (the Trout Amandine), and Jamie got the Lobster and Crab risotto:

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I think we were all pretty happy with our meals.  My crepes were really tasty, and I especially enjoyed the juiciness of the pulled chicken breast against the creamy madeira sauce.  If the dish would of included sundried tomatoes it would have been a show stopper.  That’s probably not very “french” though, huh?

After dinner, we decided it would only be proper to cap our night off with coffee and dessert.  After nixing the desserts each of us weren’t feeling, we were left with the winner.

Carrot cake:

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I’m not sure what carrot cake has to do with French Cuisine, but it was pretty darn delicious.  Especially with the coffee!

Cafe Monte French Bistro & Bakery on Urbanspoon

On a side note, I really enjoyed the Harry Potter movie!  There were some parts that were a bit cheesy and child like–but I had to keep reminding myself that these were SUPPOSED to be kids.  Even though Harry had a 5 o’clock shadow and six pack abs and Ron and Hermione we making out every time they had five seconds to get a quick grope in these were the KIDS I’d been following for the past 10+ years… they’d just grown up a bit.  *Sigh* … haven’t we all?

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Picnic in the Penthouse + #giveaway

Over the weekend, my mom, sister, and I made a trip to the Charlotte Farmer’s Market in search of delicious treats.  It was my FIRST trip to the market since moving to Charlotte.  What the heck have I been waiting for?!

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I was really impressed by the wide variety of goods for sale at the market.  Yes, they had your standard fruit and veggie selection, but they also had a fab selection of local meats, cheeses, jams, and even local crafts, pottery, and jewelry.  And a bunch of crazy vegetables I’ve never seen before.

Here are some pretty shots:

We did a lap around the market in search of dinner inspiration.

And ended up nabbing quite a few goodies including these fresh tomatoes and basil which we combined with fresh mozzarella from Trader Joe’s to make a fantastic caprese salad:DSCF7051

We opted (aka I demanded) to put olive oil, salt and pepper, and balsamic vinegar on top:

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We also snagged some corn on the cob and some grass-fed beef for our burgers.  I haven’t had corn on the cob in quite a while, and the cobs we picked up from the farmer’s market were so tasty and sweet and the kernels were just the perfect size to fit between the gap in my front teeth.

Makes me think I need to incorporate that veggie into my life more often 😉

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We sandwiched our grass-fed beef burgers between brioche buns courtesy of Trader Joes, and topped everything off with more tomato and onion from the market and lotsa ketchup and mustard, of course.

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I know these look like little baby burgers, but they were actually six ouncers dwarfed by those delicious brioche buns.

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The only things missing from our picnic in the penthouse were potato chips and dip.  In my family, we eat chips and dip as an appetizer, and as a first course, AND as a compliment to any summer meal.  We will down 2 bags with gusto, especially if there’s some Lawson’s chip dip nearby for dunking Smile

My belly was still obsessing over the thought of chips and dip when I came home from work yesterday and was greeted by a large box of York’s Harvest Garden Chips from Charlotte-based Tropical Foods!

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First off, coming home to a package of goodies to sample has to be THE BEST welcome home present EVER.  I immediately tore into the package to check out the Garden Chips.

The chips are made from real vegetables (awesome), and they are completely natural, completely crunchy, and completely addicting Smile

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I was sent a few different varieties to try, including Okra, Green Beans, and the Mixed Vegetable chips (sweet potato, taro root, squash, carrots, and green beans).  After trying each and every vegetable chip variety, I decided the carrots and the green beans are my fav Smile

Have you guys tried these veggie chips yet?

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More importantly, do you want to try them *for free*?!  We all know I love freebies.  I have no shame 😛

You can enter this giveaway for the York’s Harvest Garden Chips up to four times by leaving a comment on this post for each of the following:

1.  Leave a comment and let me know your favorite cookout food (recipe links are always welcome!)

2.  Add me to your RSS feed OR sign up for email subscription to my blog

3.  Follow me on Twitter and tweet about this giveaway:

4.  Like the Fervent Foodie page on Facebook:

Comments must be posted by midnight Thursday July 28, 2011.  Then I’ll use a random number generator to select a winner Open-mouthed smile

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