So how about warming up with a bowl of creamy white chicken chili?

When I think of chili I think of my youngest brother Brock. Brock is a very unique person. I’ve never, and don’t think I ever will, met anyone like him. He gets away with things that my older sister and I never would have when we were his age. I think that usually it’s because he does everything in a way that makes you laugh. He basically marches to the beat of his own drum.

I remember when he was a baby he would eat just about anything including really healthy foods. In fact, he would eat some, in my opinion too healthy, things that I probably wouldn’t have eaten and I am like the least picky person out there. As long as he could sit on a lap and share it with whoever was eating it he loved it. Funny kid.

Then he went through his picky stage and it seems like that lasted forever but I think he finally outgrew it. Now he is hitting the teenage boy eating-machine stage and it’s hilarious to watch. He’s not quite there yet but there is hope and he’s been trying way more things. Recently we’ve been calling him one-bite-boy. He keeps leaving one bite of whatever he eats to the annoyance of whoever is doing the dishes because we don’t have a garage disposal and everything has to be scraped into the trash. It sounds like no big deal but one bite can clog the sink. At least he’s eating it, I guess.

Anyway, he actually loves chili. It’s his favorite at the moment and he always asks me to make it for dinner. Well, I’ve never made white chili before until a few days ago but I thought he’d like it. I was worried he wasn’t even going to try it after he kept making referrences to how it looked like barf (you probably didn’t need to know that) but he finally did and loved it. I’ll never figure that boy out.

So, I made this chili with dried beans that I soaked overnight and then cooked in the broth. They absorb more flavor that way, plus they’re cheaper dried. I love how easy this soup comes together and it’s a one pot dish unless you are counting the bowl to soak the beans. Yay for less dishes.

This will probably end up being a regular thing now because everyone really liked it. I can’t believe we’ve been missing out on it for all this time.

It was a great holiday weekend and a pretty good start of this month but I’m guessing that you have all pretty much cleared the fridge of your turkey day leftovers by now. Which means that you’re probably looking for some new cozy recipes to make for the rest of this month.

I’m counting on that because nothing says warm and homey like a big steaming bowl of soup.

Start with a rich chicken stock base, include some roasted veggies and fresh herbs, and then add cheese of course, and you’ve got yourself a great thing going.

Okay, now that I’ve gone and totally sounded like a soup commercial. Ugh, I know, I do that a lot don’t I? Someday I will hopefully be better at this whole writing thing. I can write long posts in my head but when I go to type them out I always draw a blank. I usually come up with the best stuff like in the shower or when I’m trying to go to sleep and stop thinking. Figures. Please tell me that I’m not the only one who has writers block on an almost daily basis.

I know part of it is the holidays. I pretty much go into creative overload this time of year. There are so many things that I want to do and make, so many Christmas movies to watch, so many plans to make.

I wouldn’t change it though. It’s my absolute favorite time of year. I am the type of person that really likes, no needs, to stay busy. I’m like a robot and I go crazy if I don’t have something to do.

We’ve settled that I’m not a gifted writer, so whatever, I can at least tell you that you need to make this soup.

Oh, and did I mention that it is gluten-free and low carb! Like loaded baked potato soup, hold the potato. It is definitely one of my new faves. I’m guilty of being kind of obsessed with anything roasted. It just adds so much flavor!

I hope that all of you up north make this to warm up this month and the rest of you make it even though it’s not cold here in the southern hem. It actually hasn’t gotten hot here yet and we are still enjoying a fire at night. I can’t decide whether I want it to warm up or stay cold because I hate being cold but I love having a fire roaring by the Christmas tree for effect.

I have warned you all that my recipe posts are going to be extra odd for the next few months. All of my fellow food bloggers are making everything pumpkin spice and warm apple pie and here I am giving you a spring recipe.

The markets here are very dependant on season so we have to buy what is in season. Which has been lots of the same stuff for months where produce is concerned. Very boring. Don’t worry, I have plenty of pumpkin and apple recipes coming but I can’t help myself. I just have to make some recipes with all of the fresh produce that is coming into season here in the southern hemisphere. You may have already gotten your fill of spring and summer recipes but I have been waiting a year for berries and fresh asparagus.

That’s why, when I saw the beautiful asparagus, I decided to step away from the cinnamon for at least one post (Okay, fine. There will most likely be a bunch more. I can’t resist fresh berries.)

How do you feel about asparagus? I forgot how much I liked it. I’ve fallen in love with again this year. So much flavor.

I have actually never made cream of asparagus soup before but I am definitely a fan. Plus, it’s gluten free and low carb. I added some pancetta as a finishing touch and it goes so well together. However, I did find out the hard way that it is best to leave the pancetta out until serving if you want it to stay crispy.

So I hope you guys don’t mind that I am so mixed up with my seasons. I know that it is really weird or at least it feels weird to me. Tommorrow I am posting a pumpkin recipe. It’s so mixed up.

I hardly ever make chili. Mostly because my family has never been big on chili. Especially my younger siblings. In fact, the mere suggestion of chili for dinner has usually always rewarded me with a song about magical fruit.

Yeah, it’s just never been our thing…until now. Not only did I make chili for dinner recently but everyone wanted it again less than a week later.

The most surprising part of that is that my 5-year-old sister may be my chili’s biggest fan. She actually got excited about dinner that night. That is so unusual you guys. My youngest brother and sister pretty much consider dinner a bad word and have been known to hide in an attempt to avoid eating it. Are all kids this way? Getting nutrition into them seems impossible sometimes.

My point is that this chili was really good. It’s even better with cornbread. In my house we all put the cornbread into the chili and it becomes a super thick bowl of savory sweet goodness.

I know that lentils aren’t the most common ingredient in chili and I don’t get why. They are so good in it and they are less noticable to the kids than beans. I love using them in recipe.

Oh, and don’t forget about the toppings sour cream, cheddar cheese, and cilantro are my favorite toppings.

Oh joy………it’s monday………again.

I can feel that it will be one of those days. Figures. I shouldn’t be surprised. I mean, monday isn’t exactly synonymous with spectacular.

Today has decided to be a very gloomy day. A very wet gloomy day. We are right at that point between seasons where the weather can’t decide what it wants to do so it just settles on being generally unpleasant. A lot of rain.

I am dreaming of spring strawberries and still trying to get over the weirdness of planning holiday recipes for summer time. You know, because I live in the southern hemisphere now.

I wonder if that is weird for other people as it is for me. It just feels so wrong to be making pumpkin spice recipes while waiting for the weather to warm up. I need to stop being repeatetive. I am having major de ja vu right now because it feels like have said this over and over before. Someone needs to stop me from rambling.

Oh, speaking of pumpkin spice, I have some yummy recipes coming this week. I have been cooking so much recently. I am probably the most unorganized person on the planet so I am excited that I have a few recipes already finished instead of my usual last minute rushing. Hopefully that will give me more time this week.

Sorry if anyone has noticed the chaos on certain parts of the blog. I am still working on fixing and organizing some things and it doesn’t help that our internet has been off and on the last few days.

Okay, about the recipe. I have been wanting to make bread bowls for a while. I mean, who doesn’t love getting to eat the bowl when the soup is gone? Plus, it looks so pretty and rustic when you serve it. And I don’t know about you, but I have always loved corn chowder. I made this recipe with just chicken but it is really good with bacon too.

I think I should mention that my soup was not quite as corny and thick as it looks in the pictures. That is due to me spending too long taking pictures and the soup being in a bread bowl that likes to absorb broth. Although, if you want it to be that corny or thick by all means add extra corn or a little extra flour. For me soup is more of an art than a recipe. Make it how you like it.