Chicken & Corn Chili

For the Niu family Thursday nights are our busiest nights. We get home after 6pm and it's hard to be motivated to cook up a healthy, delicious meal. So... when we found this meal we knew it would become a Thursday night favorite. A healthy crockpot meal? Who wooda thought?

Ingredients

• 4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
• 1 (16 ounce) jar salsa
• 2 teaspoons garlic powder
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon chili powder
• salt to taste
• ground black pepper to taste
• 1 (11 ounce) can Mexican-style corn
• 1 (15 ounce) can pinto beans

Directions

1. Place chicken and salsa in the slow cooker the night before you want to eat this chili. Season with garlic powder, cumin, chili powder, salt, and pepper. Cook 6 to 8 hours on Low setting.
2. About 3 to 4 hours before you want to eat, shred the chicken with 2 forks. Return the meat to the pot, and continue cooking.
3. Stir the corn and the pinto beans into the slow cooker. Simmer until ready to serve.

Notes: I usually add one small can of diced tomatoes with green chilies and I only use half of the salsa. It works well for our small family. I also substitute the garlic powder for fresh, minced garlic. I'm at work for 10 hours so I don't have time to come back home, shred the chicken and then go back to work. We begin cooking when we leave our home for the day. We shred the chicken when we get home, add the corn & beans and let it heat up. We usually just serve with a little cheese, but you can add some sour cream and chips too! Yum!!

Servings: 6
Prep time: 15 min. Cook time: 12 hrs. Ready in: 12 hrs. 15 min.
Amount per serving: 145 calories, 1.9 grams fat

- Mindy

Angel's Pasta

Last night we chose from our weekly menu to make a new dish, Angel's Pasta. I really didn't think it would be all that great, but it looked really healthy and I love zucchini. It turned out to be surprisingly incredible!! So I thought I'd share. Yum! I love healthy recipes.

Ingredients

• 8 ounces angel hair pasta
• 1 tablespoon crushed garlic
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 2 zucchini, sliced
• salt and pepper to taste
• 3 tomatoes, chopped
• 12 leaves fresh basil
• 4 ounces mozzarella cheese, shredded

Directions

1. Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add pasta and cook for 8 to 10 minutes or until al dente; drain.
2. Meanwhile, heat a medium skillet over medium heat. Pour in oil and saute garlic until golden. Stir in zucchini, salt and pepper. Saute 2 minutes, then mix in tomato and cook a few minutes more. Chop basil and add to vegetables right before mixing with pasta.
3. Combine pasta and vegetables. Serve topped with mozzarella.

Note: We didn't have fresh basil so I added some dried basil just before serving. This is a meatless dish, but you're welcome to add chicken and even more veggies, like mushrooms.

Servings: 6
Prep Time: 10 min. Cook Time: 15 min. Ready in: 25 min.
Amount per serving: 201 calories, 6.6 grams fat

- Mindy