Cheesy Rice, Corn and Chicken

This is such a comfort food meal. 

 It's warm and cheesy and full of rice.  It's filling and delicious.  

And it's so easy to make!  To make it even easier, you can cook the rice the day before!

Cheesy Rice, Corn and Chicken

Ingredients:

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

1/8 cup of chopped onion (chopped very small)

1 box of yellow rice mix (Zatarain's is a yummy brand), cooked according to directions. 

1 cup of cheddar cheese, shredded

1 can Cream of Chicken soup

1 small bag of frozen corn

Directions

Place chicken in the crock pot and sprinkle onion over the top. 

Spoon the soup over the top of that the onion and chicken.

Cook on low until the chicken is cooked through

Shred chicken. 

Return it to the crock pot and add in the corn, rice and cheese.  Let cook until the cheese is melted and everything is heated through.  

Stir and serve.

Source:  Southern Plate

Root Beer Pork

The best place to search for new recipes is the Internet.  Raise your hand if you use Pinterest!  The Internet is where I find a majority of my meal ideas, but occasionally, I'll find one in a magazine as I'm flipping through its pages.   I found this one in a magazine, but the irony is, it credits the recipe to allrecipies.com.  

Go figure!

Root Beer Pork

Ingredients:

2 pounds pork tenderloin

1 12 oz can of root beer

1 bottle of your favorite BBQ sauce

Hamburger buns

Directions:

Place the pork in the slow cooker; pour the root beer over the meat.  Cover and cook on low about 5-6 hours or until well cooked and shreds easily. 

Drain well and stir in BBQ sauce.  Serve over hamburger buns. 

Crock Pot Potato Soup

Sometimes I make dinner and I wish there were more people around to eat it because I can't believe how amazing it tastes. And it always seems to be the simplest meals that I feel this way.  Makes me wonder, why do I always think the long, complicated recipes will be the best tasting?  

Simple really is better.  

The proof is in this soup!

**And on a side note:  This is similar to "Funeral Potatoes" or as my family calls them, "Heavenly Potatoes" only in a soup version, so if you are a fan of these type of potatoes (you know you are) then you'll LOVE this soup. 

Crock Pot Potato Soup

Ingredients:

1 bag of cubed frozen hash browns

1 can of cream of chicken soup

2 cans of chicken broth

1 package of cream cheese

1/4 cup onion, finely chopped

salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

Mix together the cream of chicken and chicken broth and put in crock pot.  Add onions and potatoes and season with some pepper. Cook on low for 5-6 hours. 

 Cut the cream cheese into small pieces first and allow to soften, then add to the crock pot and turn to high.  Cook until the cream cheese is melted and can be stirred into the soup smoothly. 

Season with salt and pepper and top with shredded cheese.

Or, my favorite, spice it up with some Tabasco sauce!

Cilantro Lime Chicken Tacos

My new favorite thing to do is to cook chicken in the crock pot.  Usually, I'll throw in a few chicken breasts with some chicken broth and let it do its thing until it's ready to shred.  This recipe was right along the same idea, only there are yummy flavors added!

Ingredients:

3-4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

2 limes, juiced (depending on how lime-y you want it.  Consider added only 1 lime or 1 1/2)

1/2 cup cilantro

1 packet of taco seasoning

1 teaspoon onion salt

1/2 cup of water

Directions:

Put all of the ingredients into the crockpot.  Cooke on low for 4-6 hours.  Once the chicken is cooked, shred with a fork.  Stir to combine. 

Serve on taco sized tortillas and top with your favorites (cheese, sour cream, lettuce, tomatoes...)

Crock Pot Teriyaki Chicken

This turned out so yummy.  I love crock pot cooking.  I just wish my crock took longer to cook so I could use it during the week to cook dinner while I'm at work.  Usually, I reserve my crockpot meals for the weekends.  Now, I'm looking forward to a nice cool Saturday evening when I can try this again!

Crock Pot Teriyaki Chicken

Ingredients:

12 boneless, skinless chicken thighs (I used bone-in thighs and pulled the meat off, I didn't realize that you could buy thighs without the bones!)

3/4 cup sugar

3/4 cup low-sodium soy sauce

6 Tablespoons cider vinegar

3/4 teaspoon ground ginger

3/4 teaspoon minced garlic

1/4 teaspoon pepper

4 1/2 teaspoons cornstarch

4 1/2 teaspoons cold water

rice, cooked

Directions:

Place chicken in crockpot.  In a bowl, combine sugar, soy sauce, vinegar, ginger, garlic and pepper.  Pour over chicken.  Cover and cook on low for 4 to 5 hours or until chicken is tender. 

Remove chicken to platter and cover with foil.  Skim fat from liquid and pour the  remaining liquid into a saucepan and bring to a boil.  

Combine water and cornstarch until smooth.  Gradually stir into the liquid and stir until sauce is thickened. 

Serve over veggies, chicken and rice.

Source: Crock Pot Teriyaki Chicken

Carnita Roll Ups

You know how when you think of certain meals you've eaten your mouth literally starts to water.  That's the reaction I get when I think about this meal.  

So easy and so so good!  

It calls for salsa so I knew my husband wouldn't eat it.  

Lucky me!  

I ate half of what I made over the course of a few days and the rest of the meat is in my freezer patiently waiting for me.  I'm thinking about pulling it out tonight so it can thaw in time for lunch tomorrow.

 Carnita Roll Ups

Ingredients

4 lb pork tenderloin roast

1 cup salsa

1 1/2 cups brown sugar

1 cup Coke (NOT DIET)

salt and pepper to taste

7- inch tortillas

2 cups Monterey Jack cheese, shredded

Directions

In a crock pot, place pork.  Season with pepper.  Add salsa, brown sugar and coke.  Cook on LOW for 4-5 hours (or until cooked)

Once pork is cooked, remove from the crock pot and shred.  Remove half of the sauce in the crock pot and return the shredded pork. Mix together so all the meat is covered in sauce. 

On a cookie sheet, spray lightly or use a baking mat.  

Preheat oven 375º

Lay out a tortilla and fill with 1/4 cup of pork.  Roll tight. Repeat with as many as you can. 

Sprinkle the tops of the tortillas with cheese and bake about 10 minutes. 

Remove from oven and let cook

Serve with ranch, sour cream or any type of dipping sauce. 

Source:  Sugar N Spicegals

BBQ Ribs

I never order ribs when I go out to eat.  I don't know why.  I LOVE RIBS.  Maybe it's because they are so messy and I don't need to be all "self-consious" about ribby sauce all over my face when I'm out in public.  

The first time I ate ribs was when my uncle made the most amazing dutch-oven ribs once at Girls Camp when I was a youth.  I clearly remember eating ribs for the first time and being surprised at how delicious they were.  I was actually amazed at the taste.  YUM.

These ribs are pretty tasty, but next time I'll get more.  The meat shrank during the cooking process so there wasn't much there to enjoy. 

BBQ Crockpot Ribs

Ingredients:

1 rack baby back pork ribs

2 cups water

bbq seasonings (you can purchase a bottle or just season with your favorites from your spice rack)

1 bottle of your favorite BBQ sauce

2/3 packed brown sugar

2 Tablespoons Worcestershire sauce

Directions:

Rub ribs with seasonings and place in your slow-cooker.  Cut to fit, if necessary.  Pour in water, cover and cook for 6-8 hours, until the ribs are cooked through and are starting to fall of the bone.  

In a medium bowl, combine BBQ sauce, brown sugar and Worcestershire sauce.  

Heat grill to a medium-high heat and cook 2-3 sections of ribs at a time on the grill.  Coat with the sauce.  Cook 2-3 minutes on each side.  Allow the sauce to get cooked onto the meat. 

If you are using an outdoor grill, place the finished ribs on the upper rack to stay warm and get a smokey flavor.  If you are grilling indoors, cover with foil until ready to serve. 

Thank you Family Favorite Recipes Cookbook!

Crockpot Meatball Subs

We went to a get together with some friends recently, and our friend, Heather, had these yummy meatball subs fixed up for everyone.  While the wives were visiting at the table I asked my friend for the recipe.  As she's telling me the simple steps I hear my husband holler at me from across the room (because he and all the husbands are gathered at the other side of the room giving each other high-fives)  He says, "Ask Heather for the recipe!  These are awesome!"  Whenever there is a meal that he gets excited about, I take note.  I think I made these at our house about 2 weeks later. 

Instant favorite!

Thanks, Heather!

Crockpot Meatball Subs

Ingredients:

1 bag of Italian meatballs (32 ounces)

1 package of spaghetti seasoning (Thick and Zesty)

4 cans of tomato sauce (the small size)

Hoagie rolls

sliced cheese (provolone or mozzarella)

Directions:

Mix the seasoning with the sauce and pour over the meatballs in the crockpot, and cook until the meatballs are heated through and the sauce is nice and thick. 

Serve on hoagie rolls with your choice of cheese, usually provolone is the best. 

Slow Cooker Maple Glazed Meatballs

There is something so comforting about meatballs.  The sauce these are cooked in adds so much sweet flavor to them that a little goes a long way.  My family loves these served over rice.  It's such an easy meal to put together (as long as you plan a head of time to allow cooking). And to make it even easier, try the Ready Rice that cooks in the microwave for 90 seconds.  These orange bags have become a staple in our house. 

Recipe used from CrockPot Best Loved Slow Cooker Recipes  

Slow Cooker Maple Glazed Meatballs

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups ketchup

1 cup maple-flavored syrup

1/3 cup reduced sodium soy sauce

1 Tablespoon quick-cooking tapioca

1 1/2 teaspoon ground allspice

1 teaspoon dry mustard

32 oz frozen fully cooked meatballs

1 20oz can pineapple chunks in juice, drained

Directions:

Combine ketchup, syrup, soy sauce, tapioca, allspice and mustard in crock-pot. 

Carefully stir in meatballs and pineapple into ketchup mixture

Cover and cook on LOW for 5 hours or until meatballs are heated through.  Stir before serving. 

*Serve over rice on on cocktail picks to be served as appetizers

Scalloped Potatoes and Ham

Originally, we ate this meal at a friends house.  I couldn't believe the tastiness!  It was so filling and full of creamy flavor.  After we left, I just couldn't stop thinking about how good it was.

About 3 months later I got this cookbook.

                                      

Guess what I found inside?  Not only the same meal I had eaten at my friend's house, but lots of dog-ear-the-page worthy recipes!  But out of them all, this is the one I go back to the most often. Such a good meal. I did make one adjustment, though.  It calls for russet potatoes, but I prefer red potatoes.  Scalloped Potatoes and Ham Ingredients: 8-10 red potatoes, sliced into 1/4 inch rounds 1 ham steak (about 1 1/2 pounds), cut into cubes 1 can (10 3/4 oz) condensed cream of mushroom soup 1 soup can water 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese Grill seasoning to taste (we like Johnnys Seasoning Salt) Layer potatoes and ham in slow cooker. Combine soup, water, cheese and seasoning in a bowl.  Pour mixture over ham and potatoes.  Cover; cook on HIGH 3 1/2 hours or until potatoes are fork-tender. Turn slow cooker to LOW and continue cooking 1 hour.