Crock Pot Chipotle Sweet Potato Black Bean Quinoa Chili

I'm a day late. I was hopping to share this yesterday for meatless Monday but after my morning therapy appointments my body seemed be done cooperating with me.

My body and mind have 2 different ideas of how things should be lately and I've had to learn so much patience with myself.

If you like chipotle and sweet potatoes then Crock Pot Chipotle Sweet Potato Black Bean Quinoa Chili is for you.

It's super easy to make, you just toss everything in the crock pot to fix it and forget it until dinner time.

The spice of the chipotle is a nice contrast to the sweetness of the sweet potatoes and is filled with lots of protein from the black beans and quinoa! 

If your not big on sweet potatoes then I would suggest Chipotle Black Bean Chili,  Artichoke and Mushroom Tomato Sauce or Curly Endive With Spaghetti  all are regular fast, meatless, inexpensive dinners in our house.

3

Crock-Pot Tomatillo Hominy Chili

There's just something about chili. It's easy fairly inexpensive and healthy to boot. 

If you've been reading the blog for sometime you'll know I've done several twists on chili from Darn Good Chili to Chipotle Chicken Sweet Potato Pumpkin Ale Chili, it's a mouthful but worth every wonderful bite! 

I adapted Tomatillo Hominy Chili from my Chicken Chili Verde . I was looking for something with a little less maintenance and crock-pot friendly.

This chili has a nice twist from traditional with roasted tomatillos and hominy. 

When Colt and I were first living together I bought yellow hominy at the store on accident instead of canned corn.

I hadn't realized my mistake until I had opened the cans to find something that looked a little like corn but had a different texture and was much larger. 

Needless to say I avoided hominy for the next 15 years until I ordered a Tomatillo Soup from the cafe in Nordstoms. I had no clue at first it was hominy but after further inspection I asked the waiter to confirm these little puffy pieces were white hominy.

Defiantly not what my mind recalled and I am sure it helped being slow cooked in a broth along with other ingredients! 

Deliciousness! 

3

White Bean Chicken Chili

White Bean Chicken Chili

With the forecast calling for snow in Seattle there was nothing more comforting then a big bowl of chili and cornbread! 

The prep time on this chili is under 10 minutes and could easily be tossed in the crock-pot to simmer for the day for a wonderful dinner to come home to.

This recipe fits 2 of my New Years resolutions! 

The first was to try and keep my grocery budget down, which this chili defiantly accomplished that even with leftovers! 

My second goal is to try and incorporate beans into our diet at least once a week because they are a wonderful source of antioxidants, protein, fiber, B vitamins, iron, magnesium, potassium, copper and zinc. Well and of course they are super affordable and great for the New Years resolution of a better budget or slimmer waist. We'll see how well I do on this goal but so far so good! 

If you are looking for other chili recipes make sure to check out  Chipotle Chicken Sweet Potato Pumpkin Ale Chili, Chipotle Black Beans (another super budget friendly meal), Chicken Chili Verde With Avocado, and of course Darn Good Chili. 

4

Chipotle Black Beans Recipe

Chipotle Black Beans recipe is a perfect healthy meal with under 500 calories! It actually has under 300 calories for a hearty serving. Plus it's cheap to make on budget at under $5! 

Who doesn't like a delicious meal on the cheap?

Beans make a super healthy cheap meal and Colt and the kids didn't even miss the meat! 

Our grocery list has been a little out of control lately and I was looking to incorporate some healthy, easy, cheap meals back into our busy weeknight dinners.

One way I found to keep the cost down was to make a grocery list of everything I was going to buy and not buying anything not on the list. I know it's hard I still ended up with a bottle of white wine at trader joes and some crackers the kids wanted, it's bound to happen.

 I also tried to repurpose some of my meals, for example this made a fabulous lunch the next day for the family and a few days later I added 2 chicken breast or a little leftover turkey and cheese wrapped in a tortilla for a burrito night.

The black beans would be tasty over rice or fabulous frozen in single serving to pull out as needed for lunch. 

6