Eating Real Food Is A Great Green Habit!

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I’m so excited because I’ve been selected as a 100 Days of Real Food Cookbook Ambassador! As a Cookbook Ambassador I received an advance copy (available October 25) of Lisa Leake’s new cookbook Fast & Fabulous and had the chance to try out some of her new recipes! Yum!!

Live Green – Eat Real Food

Not only am I excited to promote a great cookbook since I have been following Lisa and 100 Days of Real Food for years but I’m also excited because eating real food is a great way to practice environmentally friendly habits!

Eating real, organic foods:

reduces the need to purchase products in packaging which in turn creates less waste
supports sustainable farming methods which eliminate the use of harmful chemicals or pesticides
promotes shopping at local famer’s markets so food travels a shorter distance to get to you which uses less fuel (aka natural resources).

Enough about why I’m so excited and onto a yummy recipe!

White Chicken Chili

We are big chili eaters in our house but I have been making the same recipe for a long time so I was excited to switch things up and try 100 Days of Real Food’s White Chicken Chili. And, with a total time in the kitchen of about 40 minutes and a difficultly level of “EASY” I was sold!

Difficulty: Easy
Prep time: 10 to 15 minutes
Cook time: Less than 30 minutes
Makes 4 servings
GLUTEN-FREE, NUT-FREE, FREEZER-FRIENDLY

1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 onion, diced
1/2 jalapeño, minced
1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1-inch pieces (or use leftover cooked chicken)
1 garlic clove, minced
1 teaspoon chili powder
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/4 teaspoons salt
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/2 cup frozen corn kernels (no need to thaw)
Two 15-ounce cans white beans (such as Great Northern or cannellini), drained and rinsed
1 3/4 cups chicken broth, store bought or homemade
1/4 cup heavy cream
TOPPINGS: Chopped cilantro, sour cream, grated Monterey Jack cheese, diced avocado, and/or corn tortilla strips

1. In a medium soup pot, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the onion and jalapeño and cook, stirring, until the onion has softened, 2 to 3 minutes.

2. Add the chicken and cook, stirring occasionally, until it is lightly browned on the outside and no longer pink on the inside (add more olive oil if the pot starts to dry out), 4 to 5 minutes.

3. Toss the minced garlic and spices into the pot and turn a few times to coat the chicken evenly. Add the corn, beans, and chicken broth and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to low and simmer, about 20 minutes.

4. Break up some of the beans with the back of a wooden spoon to help thicken the chili. Stir in the cream, garnish with the desired toppings, and serve!

My Family Gave It…

…a thumbs up! This chili was SO good and SO easy to make! The ingredients were super simple and I had most of them on hand. I ended up using leftover shredded chicken and went light on the beans since some of my kids aren’t huge bean fans. I may have gone a little heavy with the jalapeno since I heard, “This is spicy!” a few times – but it got them to guzzle down their milk! 🙂 We will definitely make this again and again!

That’s just one of the many great recipes in the new 100 Days of Real Food Fast & Fabulous cookbook! I can’t wait to try more of them and hope you will too!