Shane's Chicken Chili

To celebrate the creation of this blog, I'll post one of my all-time favourite recipes.

Shane's Chicken Chili
Cost: 10-15$
Servings: A lot!
Skill: Zero
Prep Time: 5 min
Cooking Time: 5 hours+

Appliances:
- slow cooker*

Ingredients:
- boneless skinless chicken breasts (2)
- salsa (1 big jar)
- kidney beans (1)
- canned corn (1)
- whatever else strikes your fancy

Turn the slow cooker on low, and dump about half the jar of salsa on the bottom. Now, I used to cut up the chicken, but after a couple tries I realized there is no point unless you're trying to make it cook faster. The chicken cooks amazingly in the slow cooker - gradually shredding apart - and because of the salsa it doesn't dry out like it would if you had overcooked it.
So place the raw chicken breasts in the cooker, and the pour the rest of the salsa overtop. Go ahead and add whatever seasonings you would like, extra sauces, whatever. Put the lid on, and carry on with your day.
You can leave it for as long as you'd like, just make sure that you check every couple of hours to stir it. When stirring it, break up the chicken (if it's whole).
When you think that the chicken is cooked to the point where it would be safe to eat it, go ahead and add the rest of the ingredients, stirring them in. And once again, let it sit for as long as you'd like.
You'll know you're done when the chicken is cooked, shredded to tiny wonderful little pieces.

Canned goods are awesome. So considering how much it costs, and how easy it is to prepare (you don't even dirty any dishes except the slow cooker) this recipe rocks, and is one of my favourites. It's a nice change from the regular ground beef chili, and you can change the spiciness just by picking whatever salsa. Plus it cooks a lot, so I recommend some tupperware and some freezer space. Besides, eating chili every night for four days would murder your esophagus.

*If you don't have a slow cooker, and don't want to invest in one, ask around. Relatives, friends, coworkers. Chances are someone will have an old one sitting around and they'll just give it to you anyway.

Hey!

I won't waste too much time trying to explain myself and this blog. Basically, I'm a broke college student who's moved out, and is sick and tired of sandwiches and ramen noodles.

The recipes I'll post on here aren't meant to be incredible. I'm by no means a spectacular cook. But I enjoy eating real food, and the truth is, you'll save money by cooking. The problem is, many young people aren't good cooks...as far as they know.

I keep the following things in mind when posting these recipes - many college students have restricted budgets, and don't always have the appliances and utensils that many recipes would require. And as great as it is to create a whole meal from scratch, cutting corners can save you time and money. It's not fair to make you choose from the two extremes - the take-out, fast-food lifestyle, and the 'Grandmother perfection' recipes that are so common on the internet.

I don't own any measuring cups. Use common sense when trying recipes out, and think, "What would I like?" Don't be afraid to wing it. Don't be afraid to taste it while you're cooking, and add new things. This isn't baking. There isn't much that can go wrong, really. If you think, "That might be gross," then don't try it.

These recipes are altered and can certainly be changed to suit your personal preferences. As a matter of fact I welcome any feedback about alterations to the recipes, and suggestions.

I'm partially doing this for myself - to encourage myself to find and try new recipes, and share the recipes that I have with other people.