Chicken Enchilada Chili

Well, our ward "Trunk or Treat" party is this evening. I am making my "Chicken Enchilada Chili". Two years ago, it won me two movie tickets for first place! That was the first time EVER that I entered ANY cooking contest! I couldn't believe it. Last year, I lost, but was a total miracle I won the year before. Here are two pictures of my chili cooking. The top one is one without any onions at all, as there is a guy in our ward that is highly allergic to onions and has a hard time deciding what to eat at a ward party. Mr Wonderful hates onions, too, so no skin off of his back that we have an onion free chili. The bottom one is just more chili WITH a medium onion, and Zesty chili beans in sauce that also has onion in it. I don't expect to win anything. I just know this is a GREAT chili recipe and I like it better than one with beef in it. Recipe to follow. It never turns out the same twice....Oh, forgot. I have always used the boneless, skinless chicken thighs in this recipe. Well, last night, they did not have any boneless skinless thighs, so I bought three packages of thighs, took the skin off of them and precooked them in my crock pot last evening, waited for them to cool and then took the bones out. Hey, if I am worried about causing an allergic reaction (I can't seem to spell the reaction that can kill you, so we will just call it an allergic reaction.) with some onions, believe me when I say, I don't want to have to Heimlich a bone out of anyone's throat! Anyway, here is the recipe, or a version of it. If you like, try it and adjust it to fit the hotness or non hotness, etc that your family likes their chili. Enjoy!

Slow Cooker (Or Big Roaster) Chicken Enchilada Chili

The recipe started out:
1 1/4 pounds boneless skinless chicken thighs
1 medium onion, chopped
1 Medium yellow or green pepper, chopped
2 cans (14.5 oz each) Mexican-style stewed tomatoes, undrained
2 cans (15 to 16 oz each) chili beans in sauce, undrained (zesty or mild, your choice)
1 can (10 ounce) enchildada sauce (I use Macayo's)
**may need a 40 ounce can of pinto beans if it looks too runny to you. I always use them.
sour cream
cheese of your choice--we have a Mexican blend
fresh cilantro

Spray a 4-5 quart slow cooker (or roaster if you double this recipe) with cooking spray. In cooker, mix all ingredients except sour cream, cheese and cilantro.

Cover and cook on low heat (for crock pot or 250 degrees for large roaster pan) for 7-8 hours...Hey, folks, I use 250 degrees for the roaster, but high on my crock pot as I usually only have 4 hours for it to get done...so either way works. Just in case there is someone out there like me that is starting at noon and not 6 am with their chili. This was the recipe. It was WAY runny the first time I made it, so I added a 40 oz can of drained pinto beans. Now, I just add them at the first as I like a chunky chili. If you like a soupy chili....leave them out. At some point, stir the chicken to break it up. When you are ready to serve it, top each serving or let people top the chili with sour cream, cheese and cilantro. I put the sour cream, cheese and cilantro out last year and people used it for other chilis, so plan to put the big chili in an aluminum roaster pan, frost it with sour cream and cheese and cilantro. We shall see how it goes.....if people don't like those toppings, they can eat another chili. :)

PS Check out our Jib Jab below if you are reading this the week of Halloween. :)