Weeknight dinners that satisfy the whole family can be less of a challenge than many people realize. Comforting, filling and quickly prepared meals don’t have to mean less nutritious choices for busy families. One good idea, for example, is chili-a dish most families enjoy. You can easily toss everything in the crock pot before you leave in the morning and when you get home the family can be eating in less time than the pizza delivery.

Every cook has their own chili. Chili is one of those dishes that each person tweaks to fit their tastes and what they have on hand. Chili is nice that way, as it’s very forgiving. You can use ground beef, chunked up chicken or even ground venison for this recipe. This recipe is called Picadillo it is a latin chili that combines sweet and spicy. It’s quite delicious and may end up being your favorite chili recipe. If you have crunched for time you can just throw the meat into your crock pot frozen before you leave the house.

Chili has so many options, from the time you start making it to the the options available when you serve it. You can choose different meats to put in the chili, beans or no beans. Once it’s cooked there are tons of options as far as toppings go. It really is a dish that can please the whole family.

Most people end up making a huge pot of chili. I also know a lot of families can get pretty bored of the same meal night after night. However, with chili you can recreate your original meal and make it into a couple different meals. You can get some taco shells, lettuce, cheese and black olives for a new twist on tacos. You can also do the same thing with flour tortillas, and make burritos. Adding corn is a nice touch to add to burritos.

Picadillo Chili Crock Pot Recipe

2 tsp. ground cumin

2 tsp. chili powder

1 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. cinnamon

1 lb. boneless, skinless chicken breasts cut into 1-inch chunks

1 Tbsp. vegetable oil

1 large onion, chopped

4 cloves garlic, minced

2 cans (14.5 oz. each) Mexican-style diced tomatoes, undrained

1/2 cup chipotle salsa or medium heat salsa

3/4 cup Sun-Maid Raisins

1 can (16-oz.) red or black beans, drained

Choose from these toppings: black olives, cilantro, shredded cheese, diced red onions, sour cream

Combine cumin, chili powder, salt and cinnamon. Coat chicken evenly with seasonings. Add chicken to the bottom of your crock pot. Toss in the remainder of the ingredients into your programmable crock pot. Cook on low 6 to 8 hours in your crock pot.

After the required cooking time you can dish this up into bowls. There are plenty of toppings to be added to the chili, just let each person choose what they want. Serves 6.