Chicken Ranchiladas

The Recipe: Swiped from here. We changed the name and I added a few ingredients.

What You Need:
4 large chicken breasts
1 packet taco seasoning mix
1 packet ranch mix
4 10-inch tortillas
1 can black beans
1 can whole kernel sweet corn
about 2 C shredded cheddar or Mexican blend cheese
about 1 C ranch dressing

Your Turn:
Place chicken in crockpot. Dump in taco mix and ranch mix on top of chicken. Cook on low 8 hours or more.

Shred chicken with two forks, and remove from crock pot.

Drain and rinse black beans and corn. 

In the bottom of a 9x13 baking dish, place two tortillas.

Top with half of the shredded chicken.

Top with 1 C shredded cheese, about 1/2 C ranch dressing, and the beans and corn.

Add another layer of tortillas.

For both the first layer, and the second layer, I like to tear them in half and lay them like this. You get better coverage.

Top with remaining chicken, followed by another 1/2 C ranch dressing, and the remaining 1 C shredded cheese.

Bake at 350 for 20 minutes.

Serve with Mexican Rice!

Chili

The Recipe: From Cook This; Not That.

The Food: Husband doesn't even like chili, but he likes this.

What You Need:
1 T olive oil
1 large onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
1 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp dried oregano
2 heaping T chili powder
1/8 tsp ground cinnamon
2 bay leaves
1 lb ground turkey (or ground beef)
2 T tomato paste
1 oz dark chocolate (1 piece)
1 bottle or can of beer
1 can diced tomatoes, with juices (I like the petite diced)
1 can pinto beans, rinsed and drained
1 can white beans, rinsed and drained
1 can corn, rinsed and drained
salt and pepper to taste

Your Turn:
Chop the onion and toss it into a large stock pot in which your olive oil is already heating up. Mince the garlic and add that too.

Cook about 5 minutes over medium heat.

Add the 1 tsp cumin, 1/2 tsp oregano, 2 heaping T chili powder, 1/8 tsp cinnamon and 2 bay leaves. Cook until fragrant, about 3 more minutes.

Add ground turkey and 2 T tomato paste and stir with a wooden spoon. Cook until turkey is no longer pink, stirring occasionally.

Add 1 oz dark chocolate, 1 bottle beer, and the can of diced tomatoes. Turn heat to low, cover, and simmer about 30 - 45 minutes.

After it's cooked at least 30 minutes, it's a good time to throw it in the crock pot for a few hours if you have the time. Add the beans and corn, drained and rinsed, and let it cook in the crock pot on low for as long as you're able. (You can add any combination of beans and/or corn, as you prefer. Husband doesn't like beans, so I only do one can of pinto along with a can of corn. Substituting black beans for one of the types - or even just adding it - would be really good too!) An hour or two is good; all day works too. If you can't manage this, just add the beans and corn at this point, and simmer on low for a little longer, until it's all hot through.

Add salt and pepper. (Don't forget this like I often do!) Start with a small amount, taste, and add more as needed. You can also add hot sauce, if you like.

Serve over hot white rice with shredded cheddar cheese on top. Also yummy with tortilla chips!

Italian Chicken Stroganoff

The Recipe: From yummly.com, a recipe called "Simply Divine Crock Pot Chicken"

How it Went: Yummly was right. It was pretty divine. I changed the name because I served it with egg noodles, which seems stroganoff-ish to me. You could also serve it with rice. It was quite tasty.

What You Need:
1 package chicken breasts (3 breasts)
1 C Italian salad dressing
1 can cream of chicken soup
*OR homemade version: 2 T butter melted on the stove, whisked with 2 T flour, blended with 1/2 C broth and 1/2 C milk until smooth and thick*
1 C chicken broth
about 4 oz soft cream cheese
about 4 fresh basil leaves, chopped
1/2 tsp dried thyme
salt and pepper
egg noodles

Your Turn:
Place 3 chicken breasts in crock pot.

Drench with 1 C Italian dressing.

Cook on low for 8 or 10 hours.

When you return to it, tear it all up with a pair of forks.

Drain the juice / dressing out. You can save it as a sort of stock, or just toss it.

In a medium bowl, mix:
1 can cream of chicken soup (or homemade substitute)
1 C chicken broth
about 4 oz soft cream cheese
4-5 fresh basil leaves, chopped small
1/2 tsp dried thyme
pinch each of salt and pepper

Pour over chicken in crock pot, and continue to cook on low about 1 hour.

It will become a divine thing.

Serve over egg noodles with a fresh steamed vegetable.

Cilantro-Lime Pork Enchiladas

The Date: 18 February 2012

The Occasion: Saturday night dinner

The Recipe: From Pillsbury 2009 Annual Recipes cookbook

How it went: I did this differently from the recipe’s instructions. I’ve never had luck with cooking pork in a skillet, which is what this recipe suggests. So I slow-cooked this in the crock pot all day. It was only supposed to be marinated for 1/2 - 2 hours, but I cooked it for probably 9 or 10 hours. I think this made the pork really tender and good. I've written the recipe below the way I did it, but the original recipe can be found here.

What You Need:

Vegetable broth or bouillon 

One lime

Cilantro

Garlic clove

Crushed red pepper flakes

1 lb boneless pork loin chops

2 small onions

1 can refried beans

Flour tortillas (about 6)

Shredded cheese (Mexican flavor, or Monterey Jack is good)

Salsa

Sour cream

Your Turn:

In a crock pot, place 1 lb boneless pork loin chops.

Add

· 2 C vegetable broth (I use 2 C boiling water over 2 vegetable bouillon cubes)

· The grated peel of the lime

· As much lime juice as you can squeeze from one half of the lime

· The other half of the lime, with the skin cut off

· 1 minced garlic clove

· 1 T fresh cilantro, finely chopped (more, if you love cilantro like we do)

· 1/2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes

Let cook 7 or more hours on low.

When you’re ready to assemble the enchiladas, you can drain the pork and discard the marinade (or I guess you could save it for something else, if you wish). Chop 2 small onions and sauté in oil or butter until golden brown, about 10 minutes. Open a can of refried beans, empty them into a bowl and zap for 1 minute or so in the microwave until warm. Prepared some shredded cheese, Mexican blend or another type of your choice.

Spray a 9x13 casserole dish with cooking spray. 

Assemble enchiladas as follows:

On a tortilla, spoon a few tablespoons of refried beans down the center. Top with some pork, onions, and shredded cheese. Roll up and place, seam side down, in the casserole dish. (I bet this would also be great with some rice in each enchilada!) I only made 5 enchiladas, but how many you can make depends how full you stuff them. Sprinkle additional cheese, and any onions you have left, over the top of the enchiladas. Bake 18-24 minutes at 375, until edges are golden brown. Serve with salsa and sour cream. 

A few recipes that aren't mine

I've made a few things recently that turned out excellent, but are so insanely easy, it's not worth a play-by-play of how to make it. I'll just give you the links and let you give it a whirl on your own.

A Whole Chicken in the Crock Pot
I made this today (recipe here) and it was seriously excellent. The blog I found it on says it's "fall-off-the-bone delicious," and I tell you... it absolutely was. I got this chicken from my employer at work for Christmas, so it was free, but I also read that buying a whole chicken is really cheap per pound, and you can make broth (which makes for divine soup) with the juices and bones! I also saved 4 cups of chicken, aside from what we ate for dinner, which I'll put in soup or casserole. It seems like a win-win-win situation. The broth is currently in my crock pot, where it will cook all night. I'll skim out all the bones and stuff in the morning, and save the excellent broth for an upcoming soup. Mmmm. I was a bit scared to attempt this whole-chicken-bones-and-all thing, but I'm impressed with myself and thrilled with the result. Please: Try this.

Nantucket Cranberry Pie
I took this recipe from Pioneer Woman to bake for Christmas Eve at my in-laws. Everyone loved it (I liked it more than the Cranberry Chess Pie, myself) and I'll definitely keep it in my favorite pies list. I might do a post on this, since it was so good and I love blogging pies, but Pioneer Woman's post (and photos, of course) are far superior to mine. So just check her recipe out.

Taco Soup
I made this a couple months ago for a friend who had a baby and needed meals delivered. It was a crock pot soup and embarrassingly easy, but she and her husband loved it. For an easy crock pot dinner, this is an excellent choice. It's also flexible. Leave out a certain kind of beans or the green chiles, or add more of anything you like. It's really great with shredded cheese and sour cream on top and a sprinkling of tortilla chips.

Skillet Chili
I've always made chili in a big skillet on the stove, but I've always used ground meat, a packet of McCormick chili seasoning, and whatever ingredients it suggests on the back of the packet. When I came across this recipe for chili, it sounded really similar but with a homemade flair. We loved it, and Husband even said it was better than my normal chili (which is funny because he normally likes packaged things more than the homemade versions). It was extremely good. I served it with rice, which I don't think she suggests. Also, I didn't use the whole jar of tomato sauce. I used tomato paste and some water instead, because I didn't have tomato sauce on hand. I also didn't have celery salt, so I used a bit of regular salt instead. It was really, really good.

Thanks to other cooks and food bloggers of the world for making such excellent recipes available!

Smashed Potato Soup

The Date: 7 December 2011

The Occasion: Continuation of Soup Week, which never quite got off the ground. Tuesday and Wednesday I made soup, but Thursday and Friday found us elsewhere at dinnertime. So I have a few soups to add to next week's menu.

The Recipe: From recipe.com, a featured recipe in a recent Daily Recipe email, adapted by me.

How it Went: Winner!! Excellent crock pot soup. Easy and extremely yummy. The only changes I would definitely make are to add bacon and to swap carrots for the yellow bell pepper which the recipe calls for. Bell pepper wasn't a good fit for the soup at all. The carrots are great because they break down when you mash them, just like the potatoes, and they add a bit of sweetness.

What You Need:
potatoes
carrots
garlic
black pepper
salt
chicken broth
whipping cream, half and half or milk
cheddar cheese
green onions
bacon or bacon bits

Your Turn:
Peel and cube 3 & 1/2 lbs potatoes (white or yukon gold are good).

In a crock pot, combine

• the chopped potatoes
• 3/4 C chopped carrots
• garlic (1 tsp bottled roasted, if you want to follow the recipe, or a few shakes of dried minced garlic if you're cheap like me)
• 1/2 tsp black pepper

Add 4 & 1/2 C chicken broth.

Cook 8-10 hours on low heat while you go to work at your wonderful job that you love.

When you get home, take a deep sniff. It will smell wonderful. 

This batch was made with yellow pepper instead of carrots. The pepper just didn't fit with the flavor or texture of the soup, so I changed the recipe to use carrots instead.

Now, you've got a few things to add.

First, though, we need to mash up the potatoes. Use a masher and get them good and smashed.

When you're satisfied with the consistency, add

• 1/2 C whipping cream, half & half, or milk
• 1 C shredded cheddar cheese
• 1/2 C thinly sliced green onions
• 1/2 C bacon pieces (or more)
• 1/2 tsp salt

Stir to mix well, and put the lid back on for a few minutes to make sure it heats back up.

If you want, sprinkle some scallions or bacon pieces on the top of each serving.

Mine was very thick. If you like it thinner, add additional milk, or even additional broth.

Crock Pot Turkey in Cream Sauce & Sesame Green Beans with Browned Butter

The Date: 22 November 2011

The Occasion: Crock pot dinners are just so nice. Turkey this week because it's almost Thanksgiving!

The Recipe: The turkey recipe is from this recipe book. Just so happened a Taste of Home reader from Pottstown, Pennsylvania submitted this recipe! The beans recipe is from this book.

How it Went: This might be my new go-to crock pot recipe. We loved it. Extremely easy, but tasted absolutely wonderful. You do have to allow time to make the cream sauce (which was more like gravy) after the meal is done in the crock pot, but it's not a lot of extra work. Just a little extra time. Also, I used a "Zesty Italian" turkey tenderloin. So I don't know how this would taste with a regular one.

The beans were great too. I've made them before and I forgot how easy it was to make steamed vegetables actually interesting. This is one good way to jazz up veggies for dinner. The butter means it's certainly not your healthiest option, but it's tasty. I made it with sesame seeds, the recipe calls for pine nuts, and I think almonds would also be delicious. Try whatever you have on hand that's crunchy! 

What You Need:
Turkey Tenderloin
white wine or chicken broth
onion
garlic clove
bay leaf
rosemary
black pepper
cornstarch
milk
salt
fresh green beans
sesame seeds, almonds, or pine nuts
butter

Your Turn:
In the crock pot, combine

• 3/4 C white wine or chicken broth
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 1 bay leaf

Combine 1 tsp dried rosemary and 1/4 tsp black pepper. Rub over 1 turkey tenderloin. (Mine was Shady Brook Farms brand from Giant and it was 1.85 lb. The recipe calls for 3 tenderloins, each 3/4 lb. Since I used the smaller piece of meat, I've halved all the other ingredients in the recipe for my version.) If you're using an already-marinated turkey tenderloin, like I did, you can probably skip this step. But what harm have rosemary and pepper ever done to a recipe?

Add the turkey to the crock pot. Cover and cook on low 7-8 hours (or longer, if necessary).

When you get home from work (or otherwise return to your kitchen), snap the ends off 1 lb of fresh green beans and snap them in half. Rinse well.

Boil 1 inch of water, then drop the beans in and cover. Let simmer for about 10 minutes, until beans are somewhat tender.

In the meantime, remove the turkey from the crock pot and set it aside. Pour the juices from the crock pot into a saucepan.

Combine 1 and 1/2 T cornstarch, 1/4 tsp salt, and 1/4 C milk or cream. Add this to the cooking juices. Bring to a boil, then cook and stir a few minutes until thickened. Turn it off and let it sit there while you do the next few steps. If your beans are done, drain the water and transfer them to a serving bowl.

Melt 2 T butter in a small skillet over low heat.

Add either 2 T pine nuts or 1 T sesame seeds or 1 T slivered almonds.

Stir constantly until butter is golden brown. Toss with the green beans.

Serve turkey with cream sauce on top and beans on the side.

So delicious. The turkey just melts in your mouth!

Crock Pot Beef Stew

The Date: 16 November 2011

The Occasion: Since I rush off to Bible Study on Wednesdays after dinner, it's nice to have an easy meal that night. Crock pot meals are great, and this is a spin on my usual crock pot stew.

The Recipe: From this website, with just a few modifications.

How it Went: We loved it! Pete commented last time I made stew that it was too brothy and would be nice a bit thicker. This accomplished that, although I'm sure his love of yummy canned stews makes this still more like soup than his idea of beef stew. It was good, though, and I'll use this recipe again next time.

What You Need:
stew beef
carrots
onions
potatoes
celery
flour
pepper & salt
Worcestershire sauce
onion soup mix
broth
paprika
garlic powder
bay leaf

Your Turn:
Chop up

• 3 smallish potatoes (in 1/2 inch cubes)
  (I used both red-skinned and Yukon gold. Any type should work)
• a handful of baby carrots (in half)
• 1 medium onion (not too small; keep the pieces fork-able, not diced fine)
  
• 1 - 2 stalks celery

Set this aside.

Chop 1 lb of stew beef into small pieces. (Cutting each chunk in half worked for me.) Put the meat in the crock pot.

Mix up

• 2 T flour
• 3/4 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp pepper

Toss this with the beef to coat.

Now, add the vegetables along with

• 1 packet onion soup mix
• 2 C water
• 1/2 C broth, if you like it brothier
• 1 bay leaf
• 1/2 tsp paprika
• 1/2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
• 1/4 tsp garlic powder

Stir to blend all ingredients.

Cook on low for about 10 hours, then serve. I actually halved the original recipe because I have a small crock pot and I only cook for two. It can easily be doubled up again to feed a larger crowd.