Tummy Warming From Quilt Villa! (Recipe and More!)

It’s the very beginning of my favorite season – CROCK POT SEASON!!

When the temps turn cooler, when nights turn to two-quilt weather, and my day by day uniform of choice goes from capris and t-shirt to full length jeans and t-shirt with the addition of a favorite comfy denim shirt over the top (sleeves rolled up – gotta get down to business!) it’s also time to bring out and dust off the tried and true crock pot recipes and add a few new ones to the mix.

White Chicken Chili – just the ticket!  And I had a mostly devoured rotisserie chicken in the fridge that would be perfect for making chicken stock in the crock pot the night before. 

You could use canned chicken and canned chicken broth, but why bother? Too much salt in that.  just break that chicken carcass into pieces, cover it with about 4 cups of water or so and simmer it until all the meat falls off the bones.  Strain the broth into a container, separating it from the meat and bones and put it in the fridge to chill overnight.  The fat, what little there is, will rise to the top and solidify so you can easily discard the fat from off the broth.

While simmering, you can season your broth, but I usually wait until I know what the broth is going into before I season.

When cool enough to handle, comb through the meat and bones, pulling the chicken meat into shreds and discarding any bones or cartilage or undesirable bits.  At this point I usually put the good chicken meat into a zip lock bag in the fridge next to my container of broth that is chilling and save it for the next day.

Recipe:

• 2 to 3 fresh or frozen chicken breasts (I used 2 since I had some of the meat left from the rotisserie chicken.)
• 4 cups (32 ounces) low-sodium chicken broth (I used what I made the day before.)
• 2 (15-ounce) cans reduced-sodium Great Northern Beans, drained and rinsed.
• 1 7 oz. can chopped green chiles (mild) You can always add more heat later if you need it!
• 3 cloves garlic, minced (I used minced in a jar from my fridge!)
• 1 small yellow onion, finely diced
• 2 teaspoons ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
• For serving: Diced avocado, sour cream, shredded cheese, crushed tortilla chips, Fresh lime wedges.

1. Place chicken in the bottom of a 6-quart or larger slow cooker.Cover with the chicken broth, white beans, green chiles, garlic, onion, cumin, oregano, salt, and cayenne. Stir to combine. Cover and cook on low for 4 to 6 hours or high for 2 to 4 hours, until the chicken is cooked through. Remove the chicken breasts to a plate. Once cool enough to handle, shred or chop and set aside. ( I chop into smaller pieces as I don’t like long shreds of meat hanging off my spoon.)
2. To thicken the chili - Transfer a few ladles of the chili to a food processor or a blender (Or use an immersion blender) and roughly blend, leaving some of the beans whole.  Stir the blended portion back into the chili. Add in the shredded chicken and cilantro.
3. Portion into bowls and add any other desired toppings.
4. Enjoy!

It’s also been time to get the autumn decor out of cold storage!

These twiggy pumpkins will stay through Thanksgiving!

They were on a half-price rack at Sam’s club after the holidays many moons ago, and they still make me smile.  It’s officially FALL when these come out to sit by the fireplace.

Do you have favorite things you bring out for autumn?

Leaves are getting more yellow by the day!

With the summer heat gone, there has been much man shed activity.

I think my favorite thing about the shed are the hand made barn doors.

I do think there is a perfect spot for a barn quilt block on point above the doors, don’t you??

Another addition – the shed back porch!

The gutter is new.  And the shed will be getting a new coat of paint as soon as we can decide on what color to paint it.  I was thinking a cedar shade – to blend better with the surroundings and somewhat match the color of the cabin.  This beige is just the “basic” color that the walls came in.  It’s fairly boring, and gives off a pink cast when the light is right with the red roof.  Nope.  That siding has to change.

Yesterday’s discovery.

This is NOT what I was supposed to be working on!

But you know how it goes – while searching for ONE thing, I came across another – and had to lay these blocks out to see how many there were and what they would do.  I think at one time I was going to use them as a border, but didn’t.

AHA! I only need 4 more blocks and I would have enough for a small quilt!

*BRAINSTORM!*  I could grab the string bucket and MAKE SOME!  It wouldn’t take long…..

And then I found another baggie – with THESE already done.

There were close to 100 that were already trimmed and simply needed the paper removed.

There is another huge stack just waiting for trimming and de-papering.

I think this quilt can be a lot larger than just a wall-hanging! LOL!

Have I been manically sewing these in my sleep and hiding them away where I would find them?

MUCH de-papering happened last night during Blue Bloods!

Now for the test – Who recognizes that brown floral print triangle on the top piece?  I bought some of that in the blue colorway when first married, 1981.  Do you still have this in your stash?!

It’s a going home day.  Things are busy here with much vacuuming and cleaning so things are spit-spot the next time I come up.  It’s always a bit of a downer, but I am counting down the days until I can return again.

Quiltville Quote of the Day!

Vintage log cabin quilt found while antiquing near Wytheville on Tuesday.

Time to pull the train of doubts off the track! Name ONE of your strengths below! Even if it isn't easy for you, I know they are there, no matter how insignificant you think they are.

And at the next opportunity compliment someone on what you see within them that they might not see within themselves. #upliftnotputdown

As for me - DETERMINATION! Don't tell me that I can't do something as it lights a fire within me to not only do just that, but to take it over the top.

YOUR TURN!