Skinny Crockpot Chicken & Wild Rice Soup

This recipe was another winner for Soup Sunday (and operation fill the lunchbox)! I loved the smell of it while I was cooking and the lemon zest gives it just a hit of something that makes you curious of the smell and the taste but is the perfect element of flavor in the soup! Even though the recipe calls for just 3/4 cup of wild rice, it seems like there is so much by the time this is done cooking and it's a great filling soup. Plus, it's "skinny"!! That really means it's from a Weight Watcher's blog, but it's really good and you'd never know it's a "skinny" version!

oops, I thought I had another ugly picture of soup to share with you, but I'll share this ugly one instead:) This is Norris doing his "we're taking a picture in the garage and this is embarrassing and someone is going to drive by and see us doing this" awkward laugh and me taking a self pic in the garage. Fun K-State season, even with this weekend's loss!

Skinny Crockpot Chicken and Wild Rice Soup

slightly adapted from Let's Get Cooking

1 cup finely diced carrots
1/2 onion, finely diced
3/4 cup uncooked wild rice (this is expensive to buy a box/bag of, so check out the bulk bins!)
1/2 tsp dried rosemary
2 bay leaves
zest of one lemon
1/4 tsp ground pepper
2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
50 oz chicken broth

Combine all ingredients in a 4 1/2 qt crockpot. Cook on low for 7 hours or high for 3 hours. Remove chicken, shred with fork, and return to crockpot. Remove bay leaves and serve.
Serves 6

Slow Cooker Mexican Pot Roast

When we walked into the house for FCA last week, we were greeted with the smell of dinner cooking. Our host was proud of what his wife was making and showed us into the kitchen where he lifted the crockpot lid (don't tell his wife!! I think it was pretty close to done though) and revealed a Mexican pot roast topped with Monterey jack cheese, jalapenos, and tomato sauce. That sounded so good to me, but I knew my husband wouldn't go for thos toppings and I'd have to top it on my own. I searched for a recipe (hers was from a church cookbook) and found one I could adapt..I wanted to be sure the meat still tasted like the Mexican dish I was going for and knew I could just top it with the good stuff myself. This meat was really good, but I accidentally poured too much water over it so I know it would be better without so much water. You could make burritos or tacos out of it, but I served it with sour cream rice and kind of mixed them together and it was excellent that way! Especially considering I don't normally care for roast, I really enjoyed this!

Charley's Slow Cooker Mexican Style Meat

from All Recipes

1 (4 lb) rump or chuck roast
1 tsp salt
1 tsp ground black pepper
1 large onion, chopped
1 1/4 cups diced green chile pepper
1 tsp chili powder
1 tsp ground cayenne pepper
5 oz bottle hot pepper sauce
1 tsp garlic powder

Trim meat of excess fat, then rub with spices. Place in crockpot and sprinkle onion over meat. Pour pepper sauce over the meat, then add enough water to cover 1/3 of the meat.

Cook on low for ~8-9 hours, then shred meat and cook on low another hour.

Crockpot Honey Garlic Chicken

Today I was telling my dogs (yes, I like to talk to them sometimes because then I’m not talking to myself at least, right??) that it feels like something has to drop in order to keep my life together. Exercise, school, class, volunteering, cooking, what will it be? I know they aren’t all essential to life, but they make me feel complete. After we talked it out (okay, they panted and waited for me to throw them a treat), I realized I can’t let anything go. I need to plan things out better, but I also need to learn to ask for help or say no sometimes. I am getting better about saying no, but asking for help isn’t exactly in my nature. I have said before that I definitely earned my nickname “mom” in college. I am a total nurturer and need to learn to be nurtured sometimes.




And hey, I must have a few minutes if I’m here writing. I should probably be doing something else, but I do what I want! Not really, but it’s fun to say!


Oh, and those pumpkin snickerdoodles? I liked them so much (and so did my husband and my students) that I went home and made a full batch the next night to another day of rave reviews. Seriously good stuff!


Anyway, back in the kitchen today. Well, I turned my crockpot on in the kitchen this morning anyway. We’ve been eating a lot of turkey tacos and other fallback foods and still haven’t resorted to eating out yet, so I’m proud of that! Meal variety is low, but we are still eating at home which I like.


A Year of Slow Cooking will probably be a great resource again for me this fall and winter. I have enjoyed many crockpot meals from this blog in the past, but may be relying on this awesome kitchen tool even more in the coming months. This honey garlic chicken turned out awesome and went perfectly with golden sweet cornbread and some veggies. Quick and easy dinner ready in the time it takes to throw things in a crockpot or as the author said, put everything in the freezer and just throw it in some morning and there is no think time in the morning! (especially helpful on days you realize at 6:30 AM that you have a meeting at 7:10…)

Crockpot Honey Garlic Chicken

from Crockpot 365

no picture....didn't even think about it in the rush I was in to get dinner on the table then get to FCA!


4 chicken thighs


3 garlic cloves, smashed and chopped


1 teaspoon dried basil


1/2 cup soy sauce (La Choy or Tamari wheat-free are gluten free)


1/2 cup ketchup


1/3 cup honey


Combine ingredients in 4 quart slow cooker. Cook on low for 10 hours.

Cafe Rio Crockpot Chicken

During soccer season, I am lucky to get time to cook one meal a week at home, so I use the crockpot and things I can prepare ahead of time often. 365 Days of Slow Cooking is an excellent source for all things crockpot--everything from candles to chicken to cobblers. I made this in its original amounts so we could have leftovers throughout the week. Very simple and we both enjoyed it! I served on tortillas with veggies on the side.

                                                          Cafe Rio Crockpot Chicken

5 lbs boneless, skinless chicken breasts (I used leq quarters)

8 oz zesty Italian dressing (I used light)
1 Tbsp chili powder
1 Tbsp cumin
3 garlic cloves, minced

Mix Italian dressing, chili powder, cumin, and garlic in a bowl. Place chicken on bottom of a greased slow cooker. Pour mixture in bowl over the top of chicken. Cook on HIGH 5-6 hours. Shred chicken with a fork and reserve juice to pour over chicken when serving. Makes 15 servings.

French Dip Sandwiches

I never thought I was a fan of French dip sandwiches...I mean, who would purposely eat a soggy sandwich? My opinion has forever changed because I absolutely loved these sandwiches. Everything about them was great, from the ease of preparation to the taste and satisfaction factor. Try these out soon!French Dip Sandwiches

from Allrecipes via Macaroni and Cheesecake

Meat is enough to make about 6 sandwiches

2 lb beef chuck roast
1/2 tbsp minced garlic (used 2 cloves)
1/2 tbsp dried rosemary
1/2 tbsp chopped bay leaves
1/2 cup soy sauce
3 cups water

rolls (I agonzied for-ev-er in the bread aisle..mostly because I like to look at bread...and decided on a white braided roll that I crisped up a bit under the broiler with the cheese melting on top of one half..yum!)
provolone cheese slices
1/2 cup light mayonnaise
1/4 tsp dried parsley
1/4 tsp dried thyme

Place meat in crockpot and sprinkle with garlic, rosemary, and bay leaves. Pour soy sauce and water over the meat. Cover and cook on low for about 8 hours (I cooked for close to 10, then left on "keep warm" setting and it was great two hours later). Meat should be fork tender.

Combine mayonnaise, parsley, and thyme.
Broil bread with cheese slice on top. Spread one half with mayonnaise, top with meat (I'm sure you know how to assemble a sandwich, right???). Serve with a small bowl of au jus (the juice left in the crockpot) for dipping--that is key to this being SO great!

Slow Cooker Barbecue Pulled Chicken

This is a perfect weeknight meal because it can be made in your slow cooker and dinner is ready when you walk in the door!! Norris said it was "freakin awesome", so it will definitely be a repeat in our house! I assembled it the night before and had Norris turn it on at about 7:30 the next morning. We were home around 4:30 and put it on warm until we were ready to eat--it could definitely go the extra hour until you get home from work and not be burnt, though. Jenna's recipe calls for it to be on high for an hour, then turned down to low, but I just cooked it on low the whole time because who has time to run home and change their crockpot setting?? If you have a fancy schmany crockpot, maybe you can get it to do that for you!
The only thing I changed was to majorly reduce the brown sugar, which made the spice flavor more pronounced, but we really liked it that way. I doubled the recipe, so I should have used 1/2 cup of brown sugar, but actually only used about 2 Tbsp. You decide how spicy or sweet you like it!

Barbecue Pulled Chicken

Crockpot Roasted Chicken

If you want tender, fall of the bone chicken without heating up your whole house with your oven (or done while you're at work!), this is the recipe for you! I just combined a bunch of different ideas I saw for this, so I'll type out what I wound up using. This is the easiest way to roast a chicken, considering clean up takes about 2 minutes! I put this in the crockpot, went to bed, and woke up to a great smelling kitchen and perfectly cooked chicken.
Just be certain your chicken actually fits into your crockpot--I was so bummed when I tried to put mine in my smaller one and it was like me trying to fit into size 2 jeans...more than a little tight!:) Luckily Norris reminded me of a larger one we had in the garage!

Crockpot Roasted Chicken

1 whole chicken (about 4 lbs.)

~3/4 cup chicken broth

3 garlic cloves, peeled

any seasonings you like

olive oil

foil

Prepare your chicken by cleaning out the inside (there is normally at least neck in there..Grandma, that doesn't scare me anymore, fortunately:). Save it for making stock sometime if you want!

Roll up three foil pieces into balls. This is so your chicken isn't touching the bottom of your crockpot and burning. Place them in a triangle pattern on the bottom of your crock.

Pour in the chicken broth and garlic cloves, then place your chicken on the foil balls. Rub it down with olive oil and any seasonings. (at least salt and pepper!!)

Cook on low for 8.5 to 9 hours. When you pull it out, it will be falling off the bones tender!

So tender and good smelling that if you have dogs, you should put them outside:) Don't worry, there wasn't any countertop licking involved. But look at Bear's face (if you can find the dark knight in the picture)--I think he thinks he got caught!

Easy Crockpot Mushroom Chicken

I had parent teacher conferences last week, which means work days from 7-7. I know, that's a regular day for some of you, but a meeting in the morning followed by a day of teaching, making and serving the parent meal for 500 over two days, and some conferences, I'm not in the mood to cook when I get home! I put this in the crockpot before I left for work, and the last bits were being consumed when I got home. Sign of success!!
Norris didn't take a picture :) but this is a simple dish to make--he served it with corn.
This is from the Fix It and Forget It cookbook.

Crockpot Mushroom Chicken

6 boneless, skinless frozen chicken breast halves
2- 10.75 oz cans cream of chicken or cream of mushroom soup (I used one of each)
1/2 cup sliced fresh mushrooms ( I used close to 1 cup)
3/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp peppers

Place frozen chicken in slow cooker. Mix together soup, mushrooms, salt, and pepper and pour over chicken.
Cover and cook on low for 10-12 hours.

Slow Cooker Puffy Pizza Casserole

It's no secret that we love our homemade pizza in this household, but I wanted to try something new. A Year of Slow Cooking is a great resource during the school year as it has all slow cooker recipes (and so much variety!!). She cooks all gluten free, so check out her site if that applies to your family also!

Norris really loved this--he wants me to make it again tomorrow. He said it was like "pizza and dumplings" I cooked the ground beef and made the tomato sauce the night before so that all I had to do on the night I wanted to make it was to pour it all in the crockpot and turn it on! It takes 4 hours on high, which is a strange amount if you work until 5 or so and don't have a chance to go home to turn it on. But for me, it was perfect and ready at around 7:30! (a little late, but it was Norris' late class night). I would cut back on the salt a bit next time, but wouldn't make any other changes!!

Seriously, casseroles and enchiladas make the worst pictures, and they taste great!

Slow Cooker Puffy Pizza Casserole

from A Year of Slow Cooking (I wrote in my changes; click the link to see original recipe)

1 lb lean ground turkey

1 small onion, diced

2 garlic cloves, minced

homemade spaghetti mix packet (recipe below)

1/2 tsp oregano

15 oz tomato sauce

1/2 cup water

1 cup AP flour

1 cup milk

1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

2 eggs

20 pepperoni slices

Spaghetti sauce mix:

1 tsp kosher salt

1 tbsp cornstarch

1 tbsp dried minced onion

1 tbsp parsley flakes

1 tsp white sugar

1/4 tsp garlic powder

3/4 tsp Italian seasoning

Cook meat with onion and garlic, then drain fat. Stir in tomato sauce, oregano, water, and spaghetti sauce mix. Allow mixture to simmer for about 5 minutes. (at this point I put it in the fridge until the next day)

Spray 4 quart slow cooker and pour meat sauce in bottom.

Combine flour, eggs, milk, and cheese in separate bowl, then pour on top of meat sauce. Top with pepperonis and cover with lid. Cook on high for about 4 hours, until the top becomes light golden brown and the bread layer begins to pull away from the sides.

Crockpot Swiss Chicken

Comfort food at its best....I put this recipe from easycrockpotrecipes.com (although a google search showed it has a lot of "sources"!!) in the crockpot on a Sunday afternoon while I tried to make a few freezer meals and my weekly batch of oatmeal, gearing up for another busy week of combining school and soccer. Getting used to this coaching schedule, although slowly!

Crockpot Swiss Chicken

6 boneless skinless chicken breasts
6 slices Swiss cheese (I used 4)
1 can cream of mushroom soup (used 98% fat free)
2 cups stuffing mix (used cornbread variety)
1/2 cup butter or margarine, melted (use chicken broth in place of this to cut waaay back on fat and calories!!! Although, if I were going to bake it instead of putting it in the crockpot, I would suggest sticking with the butter if you want a crispy top at all, but you could cut back on the amount.)

Lightly grease slow cooker insert. Place chicken breasts on bottom, top with Swiss cheese, then mushroom soup, then stuffing mix, then drizzle with butter. Cook on low for 8 hours or high for 4 hours.

Serves 6.

Crockpot Hickory Smoked Brisket

I made this the other day since we STILL have more roasts than we can handle. At least it lasts a long time in the freezer.
This was really good-- I made the changes she suggested (2T of liquid smoke and 1/2T of celery salt) and it made for a great dinner to come home from conferences to. I was too tired to take a picture--look at hers:) Just wanted to share in case you're also looking for crockpot ideas. Enjoy!

Three Packet Pot Roast

I saw this recipe the other day when the Rookie Chef posted it, and since we are working through a bunch of beef from that cow we got back in the spring, I tried it out. Neither of us really like roast much, but we wound up with a whole bunch of them (we already decided we won't be doing this cow thing again!). But, we both really liked this. It's really tender and has great flavor. It's also super easy. I put it in before we went to bed and it was ready for Sunday lunch. This recipe is originally from the Crockpot Lady, the one who cooked with her crockpot every single day for a year, blogged about it, and got a cookbook deal from it! Maybe a movie is next, like Julie Powell?:) (can't wait to see that movie!)
And I was way too impatient to wait for the steam to die down before photographing, so here it is with steam ruining the focus completely!

Three Packet Pot Roast

1 pkg Italian salad dressing mix
1 pkg brown gravy mix
1 pkg ranch dressing mix
2 1/2 cups water
4.5 pound roast (we used a chuck roast)
mushrooms (optional)--I used about 2.5 cups of sliced fresh mushrooms; Rookie Chef used 2 cans

Directions:
Trim extra fat off of roast so it doesn't float around and get your gravy all globby.
Empty three packets into bowl and stir together.
Use about half of the dry mix to rub the roast.
Place the roast in your crockpot, add two cups of water around it, and stir in the rest of the dry mix into the water.
Add the mushrooms here if you want.
Heat on high for 6 hours or low for 8 to 10.

Barbecued Beef

It was so snowy when we woke up this morning! I was really kicking myself for not moving my car into the garage last night...the 4-wheeler we are keeping was in there, and I forgot to ask Norris to move it, but tonight my car is in the garage thankfully!!

Anyway, it was really cold and great to come home to a warm meal already cooking. Here it is:

Barbecued Beef (from my All Recipes cookbook)

1 1/2 c ketchup
1/4 c packed brown sugar
1/4 c red wine vinegar
2 T prepared mustard (Dijon or regular)
2 T Worcestershire sauce
1 t liquid smoke flavoring
1/2 t salt
1/4 t ground black pepper
1/4 t garlic powder
1 (4 pound) boneless chuck roast, cut in half, fat trimmed

1. In a slow cooker, combine everything but the roast. Stir well.
2. Place chuck roast halves in slow cooker. Turn meat to oat with ketchup mixture. Cover and cook on high for 1 hour. Reduce heat to low and cook 7 to 8 hours.
3. Remove roast, shred with two forks, and return to slow cooker. Sitr meat to evenly coat with sauce. Continue cooking on low approximately one hour.
Yield: 12 servings

You can put everything in the crockpot the night before, then stick it on high right when you wake up. Before you leave (about an hour for me), put it back on low.

Serve on toasted sandwich buns with extra sauce. There will be enough sauce that you could use it as a dipping sauce if you like. We had it on toasted rosemary ciabatta buns which was soooo good!

**A good way to skim more fat: put the sauce in a container in the freezer while you shred the beef. The grease will harden on top and then you can skim off the extra grease/fat at the top. Then return the sauce to the slow cooker with the shredded beef to cook for the remaining hour.

Edit: I used the leftover beef for a beef stew, and it was really really good in that. It added a slightly sweet element I don't normally have in beef stew. Definitely do this with leftovers!