A couple weeks ago I had the chance to join nine bloggers from across the US on my home turf here in Iowa to learn more about corn.
When I was first invited on the trip, I wondered if I was the right person to go, after all I’m from Iowa where I live and breath corn every day. I felt like I probably had a pretty good handle on what it was all about. After some thought, I decided that I could always learn more and made the journey to Davenport where we met up for a couple days of fun, learning and delicious food.
Of course I came away from the trip inspired to create more recipes with corn. I actually learned about a Corn Cob Jelly that I am anxious to try!
Today we made an amazing Corn Chowder that I’m thrilled to say my family loved. Of course we added cheese to it too – check out the recipe below!
How to Make Corn Chowder
Ingredients You Need
- 2 Large Carrots, Diced
- 1 Large Onion, Diced
- 4 Russet Potatoes, diced
- 2 Cans Corn, Drained
- 1 Can Creamed Corn
- 4 cups Chicken Broth
- 1/2 lb Bacon, cooked and crumbled
- 2 Cups Shredded Cheese
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- salt & pepper to taste
- 1 12oz can of evaporated milk
- 2 tablespoons cornstarch
- 3 tablespoons of butter
Start with a slow cooker and place all of the ingredients except the evaporated milk, cornstarch and butter into the pot. Cook on low for six hours. Roughly 30 minutes before eating, mix the cornstarch and evaporated milk together before mixing into the corn mixture. Add the butter and cook on low for 30 minutes. Enjoy!
This made a huge batch! We easily fed 12 people and had left overs! I served our Honey White Bread with it and it was a huge hit!
What’s the main thing you think of when you hear Iowa Corn? If it’s like so many people you wonder about GMO’s. Right? It’s a hot topic and as a food blogger it’s something that we hear about a lot. But, we had the chance to talk to an expert on our trip.
We talked with Dr. Ruth McDonald, a professor at Iowa State University, about GMO’s. The thing that I thought was the most interesting was that GMO’s were nearly put into the Organic category! If that had happened, I highly doubt there would be this much discussion about them in the food world today and they wouldn’t be questioned if they were good or bad. Can you imagine the difference this would have made?
Basically there are two types of GMO. One creates a protein that is not digestible by certain bugs which means that it keeps them from invading the corn. Unlike the alternative sprays that would go on the fields, it only targets the specific bug that harms the corn. Not all the bugs in the field like bee’s, etc.
For the farmers this is a huge benefit because it causes higher yields, it’s more cost effective too because they don’t have run sprayers through the fields. This means fewer passes through the fields which helps reduce the carbon footprint too.
The second type of GMO actually produces more of an enzyme so the plant doesn’t die when it’s sprayed with Round Up. This makes killing weeds in the fields easier and safer.
I highly encourage you to do your own research on GMO’s and make a decision that’s best for your family.
Thank you to Iowa Corn for bringing me on this trip to learn so much more about corn!
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