20-minute Corn Chowder

There are some things I'm really good at planning -- vacations, kids' birthday parties, summer activities.  You can always count on me to come up with next summer's road trip through Germany, or a perfectly themed Super Mario Kart party, or the best places to take your child when you're in my neighborhood.

But there are other things that I suck at planning.  Laundry.  Playdates.  And dinner.  My inability to think ahead to dinnertime is one of the main reasons I started my What's for Dinner series of posts -- writing it out forces me to plan ahead.  But even then, I still find myself looking up from my laptop, realizing it's 6 o'clock and remembering that I have to make dinner.  This potato-corn chowder is something I whipped up last night instead of packing everyone in the van and heading to In-N-Out Burger.  When I make soup, it usually takes at least 40 minutes for the ingredients to cook and the flavors to blend, but this chowder only takes 20 minutes to reach a nice, creamy, simmered-for-hours consistency and flavor.  We add a dollop of sour cream and a sprinkling of cheese on top, and all thoughts of In-N-Out Burger fly from our minds after the first spoonful.

20-Minute Corn Chowder

2 cans of creamed corn
2 cups chicken broth
3  medium potatoes
1 red bell pepper
1 small onion
1 12-oz. pack of chicken apple sausage (4-5 medium sized sausages)
olive oil
salt and pepper to taste

1) Dump the creamed corn and chicken broth into a pot; bring to boil.
2) Microwave the potatoes on high for 12 minutes.
3) While the corn is boiling and potatoes are nuking, mince the onion and bell pepper, and chop the sausages.
4) Sautee the onion, bell pepper, sausages and olive oil in a pan.
5) Take the potatoes out of the microwave, chop them up and add them to the pan.
6) Add the sauteed mixture to the pot.  Spoon a bit of the soup into the pan to deglaze the pan, and return the soup to the pot.
7) Season with salt and pepper.  Simmer until it's time to eat!