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Super Bowl Birthday Chili Cookoff

Posted by Cooking in Cowboy Boots on

Football is a big deal in our house.  When I was growing up, we followed sports, A LOT of sports – football, basketball, baseball, hockey, you name it we had to watch it.  So, my family knows that Sunday is football day and if its Sunday (or Monday night), Denver Bronco gear must be worn (even if they aren’t at our house) and usually they humor me and do it (or they lie and tell me they have it on).  I always tell them that alBirthday banner.jpgl hands need to be on deck on football day. I am not nor have I ever been a band wagon fan, I support my teams in good times and bad and never give up on them!  So, Super Bowl Sunday is a great day for a party but an even better reason for a party is when my husband is home for his birthday AND it falls on Super Bowl Sunday, sounds like the makings for a great celebration at our house so a party we must have!

Now, every year we have a Super Bowl party, after all, my beloved Broncos won the big game last year so I knew it would be hard to beat that party but I was going to give it a go anyway!  But what will I do to make it different AND awesome?  Usually, we have chili and chicken wings so how about working from that?  So, a chili cook off is what I decided on.  Everyone who was coming was to make a small pot of chili and the original plan was that the birthday boy would be the judge.  He then decided that it was too much pressure for fullsizerender-28him to be the judge (maybe because I was certain I would win as I was going with a nontraditional chili, he was worried that he would get flack for being biased……) I don’t know why he thought that but we quickly re-evaluated the judging process.  We decided that we would have everyone taste all 6 chili’s and cast a secret ballot for their favorite.

I was so impressed that every family participated and they were extremely serious about winning.  Each chili was named, we had “White Chick Chili” (named for the white beans and chicken, like I said nontraditional), “Italian Stallion”, “El Turkey Calliente”, “Game Day”, “Choot Em” and  “Winner”.  Contrary to the name though, “Winner” was not the winner of the day.  After all ballots were read “Choot Em” was victorious with “Winner” and “El Turkey Calliente” coming in 2nd and 3rd. While my poor Chili didn’t win, it was excellent but I think it was a little too nontraditional for this audience.  Anyway, that’s my story and I’m sticking to it!

It was a great day full of football, food and family.  My 3 favorite F words!

Crockpot Green Chicken Chili

Cooking in Cowboy Boots
Delicious green chicken Chili is a perfect dump it and forget about it slow cooker meal!
Print Recipe
Prep Time 30 minutes
Cook Time 5 hours
Course Main Course
Cuisine Mexican

Equipment

  • Crock Pot

Ingredients
  

  • 1 Pound Ground chicken
  • 1 Yellow Onion Finely Diced
  • 3 Cloves Minced Garlic More or less depending on taste preference
  • 1 Can Black Beans Drained and rinsed well
  • 1 Can Red Kidney Beans Drained and rinsed well
  • 1 Can White Beans Drained and rinsed well
  • 1 10 oz Can Green Enchilada Sauce
  • 2 4 oz Cans Diced Fire-Roasted Green Chiles
  • 1 10.5 oz Can Diced Tomatoes (optional) I've also used canned tomatillos sticking with the green theme
  • 4 Tsp Ground Chili Powder
  • 1 Tbsp Ground Cumin
  • ¾ Tsp Paprika
  • 1 Tsp Sea Salt
  • ¼ Tsp Pepper
  • 2-3 Tbsp Fresh Cilantro Optional;
  • 2 Cups Chicken Broth or Stock
  • 1 8 oz Package Cream Cheese Softened
  • ¾ Cup Corn Kernels Fresh, frozen or canned works

Instructions
 

  • Brown the ground chicken in a frying pan with the diced onion and minced garlic
  • In a large crockpot (I use a 6-quart crockpot) pour in the green enchilada sauce, drained and rinsed beans, corn and cooked ground chicken
  • Add the undrained diced fire-roasted green chiles, diced tomatoes, chilli powder, cumin, paprika, about 1 teaspoon salt, about 1/4 teaspoon pepper, coarsely chopped fresh cilantro, and chicken broth or stock.
  • Cover and cook on low for 4-5 hours
  • Add softened cream cheese (cube into smaller pieces and melt in the microwave) into the crockpot.
  • Cover and cook on high for another 30 minutes or until the cream cheese melts completely and is easily stirred into the soup. Briskly whisk to get the cheese completely incorporated.
  • Serve with desired toppings. I love a big handful of pepper-jack cheese, sour cream, a wedge of lime, crumbled corn chips, and some cilantro. Sometimes I will add grated cheddar cheese as well or in place of the pepper jack cheese

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