Happy 2017! One of my resolutions this year has been to blog more. Another resolution has been to make more plans. So I decided to combine both of those and do a post on spontaneous dinner parties!

In the industry I work in almost everyone gets a two week break at the end of the year. Some people spend it with family, some travel, and some do a combination of the two. After coming back from the break I really wanted to catch up with my friends but wanted an informal setting to do it in. So I invited some of my friends over for a spontaneous dinner on Saturday and then invited another friend over to enjoy the left overs on Sunday.

One of the best parts about the whole meal is that I delegated a piece of it to each guest and the main course took less than an hour to make!

Since this was a bit spur of the moment, I decided to make a chicken chili. The recipe I used all cooks in a dutch oven except for the chicken breasts that need to be baked ahead. But hey, a pan and a dutch oven is so much easier to clean then a bunch of pots and pans.

Eunice brought appetizers and accoutrements for the chili while Becky brought this amazing dessert from her trip to Japan! We ended the night playing some card games before we retired for the evening. It was such a relaxed night!

The next night I had my friend Allegra over and we feasted on the leftovers in front of the TV. A pretty great dinner and a movie for a Sunday night!

[Ingredients]

1 1/2 cups chopped onion
1 cup chopped green and red bell peppers
3 jalapeño peppers, chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 tbsp chili powder
2 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp dried oregano
2 cups cubed, cooked chicken
1 cup water
1/2 tsp ground red pepper
1/4 tsp black pepper
1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
1 tbsp Dijon mustard
1 (14 1/2 oz) can stewed tomatoes
1 (13 1/2 oz) can chicken broth
1 (12oz) bottle chili sauce
1 (16oz) can white beans, drained
Toppings of your choice

Coat dutch oven with cooking spray and place over medium heat until hot. Add onion, bell peppers, jalapeños and garlic. Cook until softened, about 5 minutes.

Add chili powder, cumin and oregano; cook for 2 minutes.

Add chicken, water and remaining ingredients, except beans. Bring to boil. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 20 minutes.

Add beans and cook 5 minutes. Serve when hot or refrigerate overnight.

Garnish with you toppings. I suggest cheese, avocados, or tortilla strips.

To make this an even easier meal, prep all your vegetables and the chicken the night before and you can just dump it in the pot in stages. Also I’m sure this could be an easy crockpot meal as well!

Enjoy!