Smoky Sausage Chowder in the Ninja Cooking System

There's nothing quite like the sounds of pattering feet throughout the house, music playing in the background, the latest and greatest version of Modern Warfare being played on two t.v.'s, the cat meowing because he's mad that it's raining and wants to go outside but doesn't want to get wet & the guinea pig squealing for more veggies. It's a semi- ordinary weekend when you sprinkle in birthday parties, a company holiday party, a basketball tournament, a Girl Scout function, cousin sleepovers & a sex ed class. My only revenge, this time, was to belt out 90's songs as they played on the radio. There's something really freeing about singing, especially when you can't hold a tune.

With a schedule like this we picked up pizza mid-day on Saturday & admittedly it tasted perfect. When evening rolled around and my husband asked what's for dinner I replied in a forced and my most unemotional tone "pizza".  By Sunday I knew I couldn't feed the family take out all day again, mostly because there wasn't any leftovers and I didn't want to feel guilty about feeding them more processed food.

I fired up my Ninja Cooking System that I received at the IFBC Bloggers Conference in Portland.  Since this cooking system is unlike anything on the market recipes are hard to find. Sure, there are lots of slow cooker recipes around but this cooking system can do so much more than a slow cooker and I really didn't want to wait 4-8 hours for a slow cooked meal.  I decided on a chowder, mostly because I happened to have the ingredients on hand.  It was way better than the pizza the day before and everyone in my family enjoyed it. A few had seconds too.

     In 45 minutes we had a wholesome, homemade chowder

Here's what you need:

• One pound of new potatoes, diced
• 6 carrots, peeled and sliced
• 2 cups frozen corn
• 2 cups frozen peas
• 1 cup of green beans, sliced in 1/2" pieces
• 3 stalks of celery, diced
• 14 ounces of smoked Kielbasa, sliced
• 1 yellow onion, diced
• 1 cup half and half
• 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese to garnish
• 2 cups 2% milk
• 8 cups Chicken broth
• 3 tablespoons Kirkland no salt seasoning or Trader Joe's 21 seasonings salute (no salt)

Serves 10

Place sliced Kielbasa in the Ninja & turn the dial to stove top, medium. Fry for 10 minutes. Remove & set aside. 

Place carrots, celery, potatoes and onions in the Ninja. Fry for 10 minutes on stove top, medium. Add all ingredients except the milk. Set Ninja to Oven 350 for 20 minutes.  

Add milk + half and half & set on Oven 350 for 5 minutes.

Turn Ninja to slow cooker, warm. Serve chowder & sprinkle with cheese.

How do you manage the chaos of a busy schedule?