Chicken and Ham Chowda Chowda

Day 6 of 365..... Well, since I missed posting this on Day 6, you're getting a two for one on Day 7!!!! So yesterday, I had no idea what to cook for dinner. It was a rainy Sunday, we were all cold. We had all stayed at grandma's house the night before because the low on Saturday night was in the 30's and the kids would have been freezing. So our wonderful rainy Sunday rolls around, our day to keep holy and my grandma, Brooklyn and I all attend mass together. It was a beautiful mass and since the Day of Epiphany just happened to fall on Sunday, Brooklyn was able to see the reenactment of the Three Kings bringing their gifts of Gold, Frankincense and Myrrh to baby Jesus. Brooklyn was so amazed to watch this. She thought it was the coolest thing to see at church and she sure did rub it in her Brother's face that he missed it. He was a little jealous, but we showed him the pictures. 

After church service, we had lunch at grandmas and then the battle of the upstairs room and toy cleaning went down.... You know, like trying to pull teeth trying to get kids to clean. I seriously feel like they just go upstairs and walk around their toys and move them to a different spot in the room. They were upstairs "Cleaning" for 5 hours and it still wasn't done. Meanwhile, I deep cleaned the kitchen, living room, downstairs bathroom and did 3 loads of laundry... kids I tell ya!!! Gotta love 'em.

By 5 pm it was time to cook dinner. I had taken out chicken breasts late afternoon, but I still had no clue what I was going to cook for dinner. Chicken... what else do I cook, should I make cauliflower rice? Should I do something fried, baked.... I couldn't think of anything for the longest time and then all of a sudden it hit me as I scrolled through Pinterest looking for some sort of inspiration... I came across a Loaded Potato soup recipe, so I was intrigued on how I could change it up to add this chicken, so I decided to make it a Chowder... Everyone likes that rich creaminess of the chowder and instead of doing the potatoes, I decided to do Cauliflower.... It was amazing. Everybody loved it and now Jack has meal preps for the rest of the week. Yes!!! Win for this mama!!!!

Chicken and Ham Chowda Chowda

Ingredients:

6 slices bacon, diced

4 cups bone broth (or veggie broth)

1 head of cauliflower (cut into small pieces) 

1/4 cup cream cheese

1/2 cup diced onion

2 tbsp butter

1 tbsp minced garlic

2 chicken breasts, cooked and shredded

2 cups diced ham

salt & pepper to taste

Parmesan Cheese (for topping)

Instructions

In a large pot, brown bacon over medium head until cooked to desired crispness. Remove bacon from pan, reserving bacon fat. 

Add the butter and onions to the same pan you cooked the bacon in and saute until clear. Add the minced garlic and saute for an additional minute.

Add the broth, seasoning and cauliflower to the pot and simmer for about 15 minutes or until the cauliflower is tender.

Carefully pour half or more of the mixture into a blender and pulse a few times until creamy. 

Place back on the heat, and add the cream cheese and about a cup of water or more chicken broth, depending on your consistency preference. Add Chicken and ham and simmer for 5-10 minutes or until the cream cheese is melted and blended nicely. 

Top with crumbled bacon and enjoy! Feel free to add cheese for topping as well, or chopped green onions.