Fastest Dinner Ever!

I was getting ready for work the other morning thinking what the heck am I going to make for dinner tonight! I have no idea what's in the pantry, haven't been to the grocery store yet and all the meat we have is frozen! 

I admit, even though I love to cook and bake.....I am in NO WAY organized. I rarely am prepared ahead of time for dinners, I kind of just wing it! I buy a lot of the staples and then make short runs to the store on the way home, or just find something else to make :) I'm horrible.

That's when I thought about throwing something into the crock pot so it would be ready by time I got home. Chicken tacos! This literally took me all of 5 minutes to throw together beforehand and 2 minutes to shred the chicken once I walked in the door and then it was ready to serve! 

Slow Cooker Chicken Tacos

1.5 lbs frozen chicken breasts

1 can crushed tomatoes

1 can black beans, drained and rinsed

1 contained Philadelphia Cooking Creme, Santa Fe

1 pkg soft tortilla or hard shell tacos

Add ins - mushrooms, lettuce, salsa, avocado, cheese, sour cream, etc.

Add frozen chicken (yes FROZEN) to bottom of crock pot. Mix together crushed tomatoes, black beans and cook cream, then pour over chicken. Cook on low for 6-8 hours or until chicken shreds easily with a fork. Stir together to combine well and serve in soft or hard shell tacos and top with your favorites.

Now that's what I call a no fuss meal!

Reubens!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

This was the first time I've ever made anything special for St. Patty's Day. I've never been huge on the whole corned beef/cabbage/sauerkraut thing but I saw a picture for this Reuben recipe and my mouth was watering and thought this would be a great time to be open minded about try this recipe. Yup that's right, I may like to try new things but there are some things I have a hard time being open minded about, such as sauerkraut. There's just something about it that makes me wrinkle my nose up at the site of it (and I'm even doing it as I write about it too!).

But I have to say this slow cooked sandwich was pretty darn delicious. The corned beef was so juicy and flavorful and the Swiss cheese is a perfect compliment. I just wished I would have used a thicker rye bread because that sauerkraut can sure make the bread soggy. Here's a tip when putting your sandwich together, don't but the sauerkraut on the bottom! Put it on top of everything so the juice has to make its way thru the corned beef, cheese and dressing barrier before finding the bottom piece of bread that will soak it up!





Slow Cooker Reuben Sandwiches

• 1 package (2 pounds) refrigerated sauerkraut
• 1 package (2 to 3 pounds) corned beef brisket
• 1 cup Thousand Island dressing
• 16 slices pumpernickel rye bread, toasted
• 8 slices (1 ounce each) Swiss cheese

Directions:

1. Place sauerkraut in 3- to 4-quart slow cooker. Place beef brisket on sauerkraut. (If brisket includes packet of spices, sprinkle spices over brisket.)
2. Cover and cook on Low heat setting 9 to 11 hours.
3. Remove beef from cooker; place on cutting board. Cut beef into slices. To serve, spread 1 tablespoon dressing on each toast slice. Using slotted spoon to remove sauerkraut from cooker, top 8 slices toast with 1/2 cup sauerkraut each. Top sauerkraut with beef slices and cheese slice. Top with remaining toast.

Note: This recipe was tested in slow cookers with heating elements in the side and bottom of the cooker, not in cookers that stand only on a heated base. For slow cookers with just a heated base, follow the manufacturer’s directions for layering ingredients and choosing a temperature.

Crock Pot Success

I found this recipe on another blog and have to admit at first wasn't interested in it after reading the ingredients, let alone the title - Salsa Chicken - mixing salsa and cream of chicken soup!?! Apparently after review that's most people's first reaction but it has rave reviews. So I decided to go for it since it sounded easy, I had all the ingredients (plus some), and who doesn't love a crock pot meal.

At first it may not look appetizing (see photo 3), but let me assure you it is creamy and delicious! I was shockingly surprised as how moist and flavorful the chicken was and how easily it just fell apart with a fork to shred it. I added onions, mushrooms and black beans to mine since they were on hand and I wanted to use them before they started to turn bad. I served this over rice one night and with tortilla chips as my leftover lunch. It would be fabulous as an enchilada filling. Definitely a keeper!

Crockpot Salsa Chicken
Source: Cooking For Fun blog

• 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
• 1 cup salsa-Fresh
• 1 package taco seasoning
• 1 can reduced fat cream of mushroom soup (condensed) or cream of chicken soup
• 1/2 cup reduced fat sour cream
  
  

  
  Add chicken to slow cooker. Sprinkle taco seasoning over chicken.
  

Mix salsa and soup (this was the part that looked a little iffy, but persevere! Its well worth it!); pour over chicken. Cook on low for 6 to 8 hours.

Shred chicken with a fork. Stir in sour cream until heated, then serve over rice or tortillas. You can ever top with cheese or serve with tortilla chips too.

Note: Don't forget the sour cream, it's a game changer, I swear! I forgot to add it at first, it was still good but once I added the sour cream it was so much better!!!