White Bean Chicken Chili + Repurposing Leftovers

We are ALL about some leftovers in the Fry house. I know some people are on the "throw them away" train... but I reallllllly think one of my missions in life is to convert everyone to the "keep leftovers and repurpose them into a new meal" train. Who wouldn't want to cut back on some time, save some money and still eat something delicious? Count this girl in!

I love a getting creative in the kitchen and reusing leftovers is the perfect outlet to do this. If I'm on top of my game -- which is not very often these days ; ) -- I will plan a few weeks out so several meals can build off of one another. Think leftover meatballs on homemade pizza, leftover veggies can go in the food processor to make a healthy red sauce, baked chicken can become chicken salad, mashed potatoes can turn into potato pancakes, you get the idea. Note: there is obviously a point at which leftovers do need to be thrown away (i.e. reuse within a couple days after first cooking) so be conscious of that as you cook.

For a real time example, I made our favorite Slow-Cooked Creamy Chicken Tacos two nights ago. Side note: I didn't have cream cheese on hand so I made them without. They were still yummy but just not so creamy, which worked out really well for me to use them again in the dish below. 

Last night I used the leftover chicken to make White Bean Chicken Chili (recipe below). The chicken was already so flavorful I barely had to do anything else to it. Dumped everything into the crock pot, threw a few spices in and let it cook 6 hours. SO EASY!

Next time I have leftover chicken from these tacos (because we make them more than I'd like to admit) I will use it to make a tamale pie with a corn + cornmeal + cheese mixture on top, and serve it with a salad. Guys, see? You can totally do this! You may not always have leftovers (which is not a bad sign) and they may not always be reusable, but if they are and you can start thinking in advance about how to get two meals out of one I promise your life (and time spent in the kitchen) will be forever changed! : )

Ingredients
2 cups (leftover) slow-cooked chicken taco mixture
1 can cannellini beans, rinsed & drained
1 can pinto beans, rinsed & drained
1 cup frozen corn, thawed
1 can petitie diced tomatoes
½ yellow onion, diced
½ green pepper, diced
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 tbsp each: chili powder, cumin, salt
1 tsp each: garlic powder, onion powder, black pepper
Dash of cayenne pepper (optional)
3 cups chicken broth (or more depending on how "soupy" you want it)

Throw everything into a crock pot and cook on high 6 hours or low 8 hours. Garnish with avocado, cheese, cilantro and tortilla chips.

xoxo --