Easy Chicken Tacos...well the meat part!!

Yes, this is another Crock Pot dish (as I am becoming more obsessed with it). This was really what I like to call "experimental dinner", but it turned out GREAT!!! And I believe I'll be adding this to my regular menu!

Ingredients:

5 or 6 Skinless chicken thighs

4 cups of water

4 chicken boullion

1 - 10 oz. can of diced tomatoes

1 small can of mild diced green chiles

1/2 small onion (sliced)

Salt and Pepper to taste

Directions:

Place chicken at the bottom of the crockpot. Place onion slices, diced tomatoes, green chiles, salt and pepper on TOP of the chicken. Dissolve the boullion in the water and pour the broth over the chicken. Cover the pot and cook on low for 10 hours. This makes FANTASTIC chicken tacos, but also works great for burritos or enchiladas!

Fix it and Forget it Pork Chops (crockpot style)

I found myself with a family pack of pork chops and all I knew is that I didn't wanna fry them (I'm on a diet!) This is a doubled recipe because I had 10 chops...

Ingredients:

8 - 10 pork chops
2 - 10 oz. cans of Cream of Mushroom Soup
1 teaspoon of pepper
1 teaspoon of garlic salt
Optional: Onion slices
1/2 cup of water

Directions:

If using onions with this recipe, place onions on the bottom of the crockpot. Saute pork chops til they are no longer pink. (I used Olive oil to give it a kick in the flavor). Place chops over the onions. Combine the soup, pepper, garlic salt and water until well mixed and pour the entire mixture over the meat. Cover and cook on high for 6 hours.

The original recipe calls for uncooked rice to be placed inthe crockpot, but its been my experience that rice should be cooked on the side.

Fix it and Forget it Chicken Teriyaki (crockpot style)

I made this last night and it smelled great - and tasted EVEN better!! Works well over rice and would go perfect with stir fry veggies!

Ingredients:

2-3 lbs. of boneless, skinless chicken
1 cup of your favorite teriyaki sauce
A dash of ground ginger
1 - 20 oz. can of crushed pineapples

Directions:

Place chicken on the bottom of the crock pot. Sprinkle with a dash of ginger, then pour teriyaki sauce and pineapples over the chicken. Cover and cook on low for 8 hours. Fix it and FORGET IT!

I added onion slices and usually have either green onions or seasame seeds handy for Teriyaki dishes. It was DELICIOUS!!

Crockpot BEEF STEW

How wonderful would it be to throw everything in the crockpot before you go to work, and come home to a house filled with wonderful aromas and dinner already finished?? This is a great recipe (one of the family favorites)...especially in the winter!

** DISCLAIMER: All of my crockpot recipes are prepared to fit a 6 qt. pot...you may choose to lessen the amount of each ingredient in order to make things FIT!

Ingredients:

3lbs. beef stew meat (diced into 3/4 inch cubes
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon pepper
2 tablespoons of oil
1/2 cup of all-purpose flour
3-4 small red potatoes (quartered)
1/2 medium sized onion sliced
2 - 1lb pkg of fresh baby carrots
2 - 12 oz. jars of beef gravy
1 - large can of diced tomatoes (undrained)
1/2 cup cold water

Directions:

Place the flour, salt and pepper into a large ziplock bag and toss stew meat until well coated. Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat, add coated beef and stir for about 5 minutes until browned. Set aside.

Layer potatoes, onions and carrots in the crockpot. Add browned meat and any leftover flour mixture. Top with gravy and tomatoes.

Cover and cook on low setting for 8 to 10 hours. About 10 minutes before serving, blend water and 3 tablespoons of flour until smooth....stir into stew. Increase heat setting to high, cover and cook an additional 10 minutes or until thickened.

This dish goes well with a small dinner salad and warm sourdough bread with butter.

Cake mix cookies

This is one of my FAVORITE recipes because it's quick and SUPER easy to make...

Ingredients:

1 box of cake mix*
1/2 cup of vegetable oil
2 large eggs

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350. Mix all ingredients well - it'll be a little gummy. Drop teaspoons of dough on an ungreased** cookie sheet, 2 inches apart. Bake for 10 minutes (do NOT over bake). Let cookies cool on baking sheet for 2 minutes, then place on a wire rack. Cookies will be completely cool in 30 minutes. Store TIGHTLY covered.

*Get creative with the cake flavors. Lemon is my personal favorite for this cookie, but you can also try yellow cake and chocolate chips, spice cake, german chocolate (just top with a little german chocolate frosting for a yummy treat.)

**To help with the mess that baking usually creates, try lining parchment paper on the cookie sheet (creates less mess, nothing sticks and if following the directions properly - NO BURNT COOKIES!)

BBQ Pulled Pork - BBQ in the winter!!

**This recipe requires a crockpot.**

Ingredients:

3-5 lbs. boneless pork shoulder (the leaner the better)
1 can of beef broth
1 teaspoon of liquid smoke
1 bottle of your favorite BBQ sauce (maybe 2 depending on your taste)

Directions:

Place meat in the crockpot first. Pour entire can of broth over meat. Add liquid smoke into the broth (not directly on meat). Cook on LOW for 6-10 hours depending on tenderness preference. (I cook it for 10 hours overnight).

When the meat is finished cooking, pull from the broth (disgard fluid) and with 2 forks separate meat in a shredding fashion. Put the meat BACK into the empty crockpot and pour in BBQ sauce. Mix well until meat is saturated. Set the crockpot to HIGH for another hour.

Spoon meat into large buns and serve with your favorite BBQ side dishes. Enjoy!

Green Chile Quiche

This is one of my favorites! I know 8 eggs sounds like a lot, but when you think a quiche can yield maybe 6 "nice sized" slices, its not as bad as it sounds! Most quiche recipes call for heavy whipping cream, but for this recipe - 2 cups of heavy whipping cream alone (in lieu of 1 c. sour cream and 1 c. half & half) equals 1580 calories (and that's not including the eggs, pie crust and cheese). Make it on Sunday...freeze one (they freeze well) and take a slice to work each day for breakfast (or lunch). Enjoy!


INGREDIENTS:

2 frozen pie crusts (not the deep dish ones)
8 LARGE Eggs (beaten)
1/3 teaspoon salt
1/3 teaspoon pepper
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 cup Monterey Jack Cheese, shredded
1 cup Chedder Cheese, shredded
1 cup fat free sour cream
1 cup of half & half
1 small can mild diced Green Chiles

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat the oven to 425. DO NOT THAW PIE CRUSTS PRIOR TO BAKING!! Combine all ingredients and evenly fill both pie crusts. Place on center rack and bake at 425 for 8 minutes. Turn oven down to 325 and bake for 45-50 minutes. Crust should be golden and quiche is done when a knife inserted in the middle comes out clean. Cool on wire rack. Wait 10 minutes prior to cutting.

Gumbo

INGREDIENTS:

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 cup skinless, boneless chicken breast halves - chopped
1/2 pound pork sausage links, thinly sliced
1 cup olive oil
1 cup all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons minced garlic
3 quarts chicken broth
1 (12 fluid ounce) can or bottle beer
6 stalks celery, diced
4 roma (plum) tomatoes, diced
1 sweet onion, sliced
1 (10 ounce) can diced tomatoes with green chile peppers, with liquid
2 tablespoons chopped fresh red chile peppers
1 bunch fresh parsley, chopped
1/4 cup Cajun seasoning
1 pound shrimp, peeled and deveined

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MY CROCKPOT VERSION (6 qt): I modified this recipe to fit my crockpot, budget and taste (even though I wasn't gonna eat any).

2 lbs. boneless chicken leg meat (dark meat holds more flavor)
1 rope of Hillshire Farm Beel Kielbasa
1 lb. cooked shrimp (too lazy for dealing with fresh)
1 WHOLE shallot (because I'm allergic to garlic)
1/2 medium onion (sliced)
2 qts. chicken broth (2 - 32oz. containers of Swanson Chicken Broth)
1 - 12 oz. bottle of Heineken (DO NOT USE Old English or St. Ides!)
4 celery stalks
2 roma tomatoes
1 bunch of parsley (rince and finely chop the top off)
1 - 10 oz. can of diced tomatoes with green chiles
4 tablespoons of Old Bay seasoning (because I wasn't paying $7 for cajon spice)

The roux:

1 cup of olive oil
1 cup of flour


After I made the roux, I put everything in the crockpot EXCEPT the shrimp (which I added LAST) because it was already cooked. Set to HIGH for 6 hours (my crockpot has time settings). Top it off with some gumbo filet and a bit of season salt when its finished.

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STOVE TOP DIRECTIONS:

Heat oil in a medium skillet over medium high heat, and cook chicken until no longer pink and juices run clear. Stir in sausage, and cook until evenly browned. Drain chicken and sausage, and set aside.

In a large, heavy saucepan over medium heat, blend olive oil and flour to create a roux. Stir constantly until browned and bubbly. Mix in garlic, and cook about 1 minute.

Gradually stir chicken broth and beer into the roux mixture. Bring to a boil, and mix in celery, tomatoes, sweet onion, diced tomatoes with green chile peppers, red chile peppers, parsley, and Cajun seasoning. Reduce heat, cover, and simmer about 40 minutes, stirring often.

Mix chicken, sausage, and shrimp into the broth mixture. Cook, stirring frequently, about 20 minutes.