CrockPot Cream Cheese Chicken

Seriously, who doesn't love cream cheese? If I could eat it all the time, I think I would. I mean my butt would be MASSIVE but my belly would be happy right? Yeah I know, bad idea. 

Anyway, Thursday night we ended up having our "slumber party" while snowpocalypse hit us. I had started dinner that morning for us and D. When N and her family came, we had plenty! Like all recipes her blog has, this was really minimal with ingredients. Which I am starting to see is amazing and so quick. And this dish is so flavorful! The only thing that I noticed was that the sauce wasn't as thick as in her picture. So not sure what I did there but we shall see! Might have to experiment next time I make it!! I used her "alternate" ingredients which was amazing. The Italian seasoning tasted AH-MAZING on it. I served it over Rotini pasta :D

Verdict: Definetly a crowd pleaser. N's daughter had 3 bowlfuls! Most definetly will be making this again (in fact contemplated it when I was trying to figure out what to make tonight that was quick and easy!)

Sorry for no pictures. I had 5 adults and 3 kids to feed! 

The recipe can be found here or below!! 

--2 cups homemade cream of mushroom soup

--frozen chicken--enough to feed four adults

--2 T Italian seasoning

--1/2 t celery seed

--1 T onion powder

--1 T sugar (weird, I know.)

--1/4 t black pepper

--1 t kosher salt

--2 cloves minced garlic

--block of cream cheese (to add later)

or you can make it with:

--1 can cream-of-something soup

--1/2 cup chicken broth

--frozen chicken pieces

--packet of Italian salad dressing mix

--2 cloves minced garlic

--block of cream cheese (to add later)

Put everything except for the cream cheese into the crockpot. Cook on low for 6 hours, or until the chicken is cooked through and begins to shred. Shred the chicken with two large forks, and mix in the block of cream cheese. Switch the crock to high and cook for another 30 minutes, or until the cream cheese is fully melted.

Serve over pasta. We used Trader Joe's brown rice fusilli.

CrockPot Broccoli and Beef

A couple nights ago, D was over for dinner (like always :-P) and I had broccoli and beef going in the crockpot. The house smelled DELICIOUS. I have never made this before so was really excited to try it out (as its my favorite thing to eat when we have Chinese). Let's just say, I think this one is way better then anything I can get out to eat! The only thing I do say is make sure you adjust the time to the cut of meat you have. I used a lean, no fat cut of meat and it was a tad dry. Not bad but you definetly want some juicy meat (or at least we do). The ingredients are minimal, the crockpot does all the work and you serve with some rice.

Quick.

Easy.

Delicious.

Crockpot Broccoli and Beef with some steamed rice

Verdict: We will most DEFINETLY be making this again. Loved it :D

--1 lb thin beef (I used rib eye)

--1/4 cup soy sauce (La Choy and Tamari wheat-free are gluten free)

--2 T white wine

--2 T apple cider vinegar

--1 T brown sugar

--2 t sesame oil

--2 cloves smashed and chopped garlic

--1/2 t crushed red pepper flakes

--1 bag thawed broccoli florets (to add later)

The Directions.

--add the liquid to the crockpot

--chop up your garlic, add to mixture

--stir in spices

--slice meat into thin strips

--toss ( I used my hands. it wasn't gross! )in the liquid and spice mixture to coat thoroughly

--cook on low for 6-8 hours, depending on the cut of meat. Thicker pieces will take longer to tenderize.

--an hour before serving, add entire bag of broccoli, cover and cook on high for another hour or so.

--stir gingerly to coat broccoli

serve over steamed rice.

Original Taco Soup and our Ice Storm

I have most definetly been giving my crockpot a workout this past week. The blog I found on Pinterest had some really awesome recipes on there and I am just moving on through them! This one I knew I would love. I love all things Mexican food. I really do. (I think that is a tied for first with Asian cuisine.) Its super easy to make but like she said, lots of cans. So make Al Gore happy and recycle! ;-D The thing that surprised me was the spices. Just a package of Taco Seasoning and then...Ranch dressing? Thought that was kinda strange but nope. Delicious. You could just barely taste the ranch dressing. Kind of like "hello, here I am and you are loving me!" Yes, we were!

Original Taco Soup

Verdict: Delicious. It makes a TON of food so for three people might cut the recipe in half next time I make it. Or not. We had a ton of leftovers and are now down to 2 servings. Definetly warm food for the nasty weather we have been having.

Speaking of nasty weather, we are not being slammed with an ice storm. There was about an inch thick of ice on my windshield this morning. I love how quiet your surroundings feel though in the winter. I went outside this morning to snap some pictures and it was just so peaceful outside. All this snow makes me miss Ohio :(

The tree right off our front porch

See all that ice? 

Hope everyone enjoys their day!

Side note, have you all seen this site? Super cute!!

CrockPot Chicken Nachos

So warning, no pictures. If you came for the pictures I would just click the X in the corner now. But if you came for the recipe stick around!

So trying to eat healthy is kinda...crappy. Not gonna lie. Some things that should look or taste good just doesn't. Maybe its because I am not in that "mode" right now? I don't know. But after I made the Veggie Soup that Other Chef devoured I told him I would make a recipe I found on that 365 Days of Crock Pot Cooking blog. Definetly not the greatest thing in the world for you but its quick and easy to make.

Verdict: It was okay. The cheese doesn't melt that well so it looked kinda lumpy. I also don't think that it should cook for that full 6 hours. Some of the cheese was burnt to the sides. So I guess that is an easy fix by just stirring it up but I had not. Its decent but not something I think we will continue to cook.

Chinese Lemon Chicken

So making my menu for the next two weeks, I found this recipe. It looked good and we love Chinese food in this house so figured it was perfect. I cooked it on high as I had to sear the meat beforehand and I ended up waking up late. So 4-5 hours on high and didn't worry about it the rest of the night. The sauce itself is really quick and easy, I ended up doubling it as I used more chicken then she called for. Little did I know that I would just HATE the taste of this.

I ended up making some rice and served it all up to Other Chef, Little Man and D. It smelled DELICIOUS. The taste though, not so much. Little Man took one bite and made a face. Other Chef was eating it but definetly taking small bites, lots of sips of water and putting his fork down a lot. The person I paid the most attention to though was D. Normally D scarfs down anything we make. He loves eating at our house. D was taking small bites. His fork was put down quite a lot and same thing, lots of water. Yup, it was nasty. So I took a bite. *shakes head* No freaking way. The sauce was just too lemony. Which is a quick fix, don't get me wrong. It was just very overpowering! But the sauce was also kinda watery, not at all thick like in the picture on her site. Like I said all easy fixes but not entirely sure we will make this one again. Probably not actually.

Looks soo good!!! 

(Ignore that awesome chipped plate up there. Apparently this particular make of the Pflatzgraff dishes don't hold up very well. You could lightly tap it on something and you get a chip. Awwwwwwesome.)

Verdict: Probably not ever again. I am not saying its horrible, I am sure someone else can make this and it be absolutely 100% delicious. But none of us liked it. :( Maybe I might make some changes another time but it really isn't one of those recipes that I want to keep making and see if I can get it right! So if you do, good luck to you and I would love to hear it came out!!

Recipe is here:

The Ingredients:

--4 boneless, skinless chicken breast pieces or equivalent

--1/2 cup flour (or Pamela's)

--1 T kosher salt

--6 oz (1/2 can) frozen lemonade concentrate, thawed

--3 T brown sugar

--1 t balsamic vinegar

--3 T ketchup

--olive oil for browning chicken

The Directions:

--cut chicken into strips or largish chunks

--dredge in flour and salt, shake off excess

--brown chicken in a skillet with a bit of olive oil (you are not trying to cook the chicken--just give it some color and get the flour mixture to stick a bit)

--place into crockpot

--mix the rest of the ingredients in a separate bowl and pour over the top of chicken pieces

--cover and cook on high for 4 hours, low for 6-8

Serve over rice, drizzle with remaining sauce.