Comfort Food Season is here in full swing!

Last night I made a great discovery! Cheesey Chicken and corn chowder.
It started off as a way to #1 use leftover raw chicken before it could go bad and #2 a way to warm up the family during the cold weather when a handful of us are dealing with colds.
I of course when searching around the internet, Pinterest in particular and found a host of ideas and different recipes to try.

Ingredients:
Butter
About 2lbs of boneless, skinless chicken breast or chicken tenderloins
2 cans of sweet corn, drained
1 sweet onion, chopped
8 c water
2 oz of Chicken boulion powder
OR
8 c chicken stock

For the Rue and Cheesey additions:
About 1 c butter
1C of flour
2 C milk
2 C shredded cheddar cheese (you can also used a mix of Cheddar and Monterrey Jack

Optional: Bacon bits/crumbles

Step 1: Brown the chicken) in a buttered pan. I seasoned the meat with salt, garlic powder, dried chopped onions and paprika. While that was going I prepped the crock pot-which is a mothers best friend.
Step 2: After you have set up your trusty crock-pot get out 2 cans of corn-I used regular sweet corn not the creamed kind because my family is just not a fan of the latter. Drain the corn and dump in the pot. Take 8 cups of water and pour into the crock pot and add chicken bullion. Now, I have a big tub of the powdered kind and used a little over 2 oz of the stuff. If you have the cubes simply follow the instructions for the amount of water we put in-I think it is 1 cube per 8 oz of water. I personally would add in an extra cube or two because there is not much worse than watery flavored broth. If you have chicken stock on hand just use 8 cups of that.
Step3: Once your chicken has browned and your crock pot is ready with the broth and corn go ahead and set your chicken in the crock pot. You do not need to cut it up first-you will be able to "pull" the breast meat once it has hit 200 degrees.
Step 4: In the same pan you browned the chicken in, add a bit more butter and some chopped onion. Saute until transparent. I like mine a little crispier-some pieces looking almost burnt because it seems to bring out the sweetness of the onion. Once this is done add the onions to the pot.
Step 5: Wash, peel and chop potatoes. Then just dump them in the crock pt with the rest of your stuff, give it a good stir and let it cook!

Now, you can do this on high but it will not take 4-5 hours and you run the risk of over cooking the chicken which gives it a toughness you might not like-If you have that much time just keep it on low and check halfway through and then you can switch it to high if you feel its taking too long. Every crock pot is different!

Once your chicken has hit 200 degrees switch to "keep warm" if you have that setting.
THe next part it tricky because my crock pot was full to the brim-there was no room for the next step so I had to get a second pot going on the stove-the good news is the soup in the crock pot already tastes great and my husband opted to eat it as it was but i wanted my cheesey chowder! So, take a cup of butter and melt it. Once melted add 1 cup of flour and stir until smooth and thick. Then add about 2 cups of milk along with the contents of your crock pot.
Add as much cheese as you want-I recommend at least 2 cups but you can keep adding handfuls of shredded cheese until it tastes right to you. I even threw in some bacon bits. Let it sit 5-10 minutes before serving so that it can thicken up a bit.

It was the best soup I have ever made.
I have tried the ham and potato cheese chowder but it always tasted a little on the salty side (it is tough to account for just how salty the ham will be when combined with bacon and potatoes.) The chicken was a much better meat for a soup like this and the texture was quite nice.
Another of my fave meals for a cold day is chili and I found a great recipe here It is a great chili and the only changes I made was that I added more diced tomatoes and I liked to play around with different flavors of the diced stuff-they make garlic roasted which was a hit in my house. I also added in stew meat. I like the addition because it #1 it makes it a more hearty chili and #2 the texture and flavor of the hamburger, tomatoes and the chucnks of beef are wonderful. I serve it with a big piece of corn bread that I make using the Marie Calendars mix, adding in an egg and some about half a cup of corn meal to keep it from being too sweet and to help thicken it up and feel more moist. I also drizzle a little honey on the top just before I pop it into the oven.