Slow cooker Chicken tortilla soup

INGREDIENTS

• 1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts
• 2 (10.75 ounce) cans condensed cream of chicken soup 
• 1 cup salsa
• 2 cups frozen corn
• 1 (15 ounce) can black beans, rinsed and drained
• 1 1/2 cups water
• 1 teaspoon cumin
• 1/2 teaspoon dried cilantro
• 1 cup cheddar cheese, shredded
• tomato, optional topping
• avocado, optional topping
• sour cream, optional topping
• crushed tortilla chips, optional topping.

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Spray slow cooker with nonstick cooking spray.
2. Place chicken into slow cooker.
3. In a bowl, mix together cream of chicken soup, salsa, corn, black beans, water, cumin, and cilantro. Pour over chicken in slow cooker. Cook on low for 4-6 hours (or high for 2-3 hours).
4. Remove chicken and shred using two forks.
5. Put chicken back into slow cooker, add cheese, and let cook for 15 more minutes.
6. Serve with your favorite fajita toppings.

Slow Cooker "Campfire" Potato

Ingredients

5 medium potatoes, sliced
1 stick butter (1/2 cup)
1 Tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp. salt
¼ tsp. pepper
½ tsp. oregano
1 large garlic clove, minced
1 small white onion, sliced
½ cup parmesan cheese
1 cup cheddar cheese
4-quart or larger slow cooker

In a large bowl, mix together the butter, Worcestershire sauce, salt, pepper, oregano, and garlic.
Add the potatoes, the cheeses, and onion to the bowl with the butter mixture. Mix until the potatoes are coated.

Spray the slow cooker with non-stick spray.

Add the potatoes mixture. Smooth out into an even layer. Cover and cook on high for 4 hours without opening the lid during cooking. 

Chicken tortilla soup

Ingredients
2 1/2 (14.5 oz) cans low-sodium chicken broth (4 1/2 cups)
1 (14.5 oz) can petite diced tomatoes
3/4 cup finely chopped yellow onion
4 cloves garlic, pressed through a garlic crusher
2 1/2 tsp chili powder
1 1/2 tsp ground cumin
3/4 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp ground coriander
Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
1 1/2 lbs boneless skinless chicken breasts
1 (14.5 oz) can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 1/2 cups frozen corn
1 Tbsp fresh lime juice
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
For serving:
Tortilla strips or tortilla chips
Shredded cheddar or monterey jack cheese
Diced avocado, diced roma tomatoes, sour cream (optional)



Directions
Pour chicken broth and diced tomatoes into a slow cooker. Add onion, garlic, chili powder, cumin, paprika, coriander and season with salt and pepper to taste. Add chicken breasts then cover with lid and cook on LOW heat 6 hours, or until chicken is cooked through.
Remove chicken and shred, then return to slow cooker along with black beans, corn, cilantro and lime juice, stir. Allow to cook until heated through.
Serve warm with tortilla strips and cheese and other optional ingredients.
Recipe source: Cooking Classy

Lime Cilantro Shredded Chicken Tacos

1 (16 oz) jar salsa- I used a green tomatillo salsa
1 package taco seasoning
1 lime, juiced
3 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro

3 lbs skinless boneless chicken breast halves
Place the salsa, taco seasoning, lime juice, and cilantro into a slow cooker, and stir to combine. Add the chicken breasts, and stir to coat with the salsa mixture. Cover the cooker, set to High, and cook until the chicken is very tender, about 4 hours. If desired, set cooker to Low and cook 6 to 8 hours. Shred chicken with 2 forks to serve.
I also made lime cilantro rice with this. In my rice maker I melted 2 tbsp butter, added 1 tsp pepper, 2 tbsp cilantro and 3 tbsp lime juice. I stirred in 2 cups uncooked rice and made sure it was all coated thoroughly in the mixture. Add 3.5c water and cook. Tasted just like qudoba rice :-)

Chicken Tortilla soup

4 boneless chicken breasts, cut into bite size pieces 
2 (15 ounce) cans black beans or pinto beans (or one of each) 
2 (15 ounce) cans diced tomatoes
1 cup salsa (heat of your choice)
1 (4 ounce) can diced green chilies 
1 (14 1/2 ounce) can tomato sauce  

Combine all ingredients into crockpot and cook on low for 8-10 hours. To serve, top with sour cream, avocado, tortilla strips or chips, diced green onions, sliced black olives. This is a nice "throw together" dinner that can cook all day and be ready when you are.  If soup is too thick, add a cup of chicken stock.

Steel Cut Oats 3 ways

1 cup steel-cut oats
3 cups water
1/2 cup milk
1/2 teaspoon salt

(optional)
Spices like cinnamon, nutmeg or ground cloves
Maple syrup or brown sugar
Fruit such as berries, chopped apples, or chopped bananas

Basic Stovetop Steel-Cut Oatmeal

Boil the water. Add the steel-cut oats to the pot, along with a pinch of salt, and bring back to a boil. Stir (traditionally done with a wooden spoon.) Reduce the heat to medium low and cook uncovered for about 20 to 30 minutes. Start checking for doneness at about the 20-minute mark. For chewier oats, cook less. For more done oats, cook more. Do not stir the oats as they simmer. Allow them to rest in place as the water cooks them. Turn the heat lower if the oats seem to be drying out too quickly.

Add the milk to the oats. Stir the mixture well using a wooden spoon. Let the oatmeal simmer for another 5 to 10 minutes. Remove the oatmeal from heat. Spoon into bowls for serving. Sprinkle with cinnamon, nutmeg, brown sugar, maple syrup, or fruit.

Baked Steel-Cut Oatmeal

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

In a medium pot on the stove over medium heat, melt the butter. Add the steel-cut oats. Use a wooden spoon to toss the oats with the butter. Toast the oats, stirring occasionally, for about three minutes or until brown.

Pour 3 - 3 1/4 cups boiling water into the pot with the oats. Stir the water into the oats with a wooden spoon. Stir in milk, salt, and optional ingredients such as cinnamon, apples, raisins, craisins, other dried fruits, etc. Scoop the mixture into a buttered glass baking dish. Place the dish in the preheated oven. Bake the oatmeal for 50 - 60 minutes. Check on it after 30 minutes to make sure it isn't burning. The oatmeal is ready when the top has browned. Serve with cream, fresh apples, or the toppings of your choice.

Overnight Steel-Cut Oatmeal

Butter your slow-cooker insert or crock. If you don't butter your crock first, you'll have a tough time extracting the oats from the slow-cooker in the morning. Place the steel-cut oats, salt, milk, and water in the crock pot or slow-cooker. Optional: Place the apples, brown sugar, cinnamon, butter, and/or nuts in the crock pot or slow-cooker as well. Mix all the ingredients together until incorporated.

Put the lid on the slow cooker and turn the setting to low. Let the oatmeal cook overnight. If possible, check for doneness after five hours.

In the morning, remove the container from the slow cooker and stir the oatmeal. Spoon into bowls and stir in the toppings of your choice.

Slow Cooker Beef Stew

I have found two recipes for beef stew made in the crock pot.  The first one looks easier (and is a smaller batch) because you don't have to pre-brown the beef, but for that reason I wonder if it will still be good.  The second one is a lot like my own recipe other than it's cooked in a crock pot so I'm pretty sure it'd be good.  Anyway, I wanted to put them both in here so I'd have them when I wanted to try them.  The first calls for a bag of frozen stew vegetables, which are potatoes, carrots, pearl onions, and celery.  I assume I can use fresh if I don't have frozen.  

Recipe 1:

2 tablespoons flour

1 tablespoon sugar

1 teaspoon Spice Islands Garlic Powder

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon Spice Islands Rosemary

1/4 teaspoon Spice Islands Pepper, Black Fine Grind

1 bag (16 ounces) frozen stew vegetables

1 pound beef stew meat, cut in 1 -inch cubes

1/4 cup red wine OR water

1 Spice Islands Bay Leaves

1 can (14 ounces) diced tomatoes, undrained

Mix flour, sugar, garlic powder, salt, rosemary and pepper in a small bowl. Place frozen vegetables in bottom of slow cooker. Sprinkle with flour/spice mixture. Add stew meat, wine, bay leaf and tomatoes. Place lid on slow cooker and cook on HIGH for 4 to 6 hours or on LOW for 8 to 10 hours. Remove bay leaf before serving.

Recipe 2:

3 pounds cubed beef stew meat

1/4 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon salt, or to taste

3 tablespoons olive oil

1 cup baby carrots

4 large potatoes, cubed

1 tablespoon dried parsley

1 teaspoon ground black pepper

2 cups boiling water

1 (1 ounce) package dry onion soup mix

3 tablespoons butter

3 onions, sliced

1/4 cup red wine

1/4 cup warm water

2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

Place meat in a large plastic bag. Combine 1/4 cup flour with 1/2 teaspoon salt; pour into the bag with the meat, and shake to coat.  Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. In batches small enough to prevent crowding chunks of meat, cook until evenly browned on the outside. Transfer to a slow cooker along with the carrots, potatoes, parsley, and pepper. In a small bowl, stir together 2 cups of boiling water and dry soup mix; pour into the slow cooker.  In the same skillet, melt butter and sauté onions until softened; remove to the slow cooker. Pour red wine into the skillet, and stir to loosen browned bits of food on the bottom. Remove from heat, and pour into the slow cooker.  Cover, and cook on High for 30 minutes. Reduce heat to Low, and cook for 6 hours, or until meat is fork tender. In a small bowl or cup, mix together 2 tablespoons flour with 1/4 cup warm water. Stir into stew, and cook uncovered for 15 minutes, or until thickened.

Crock pot cocoa

This is a really rich, creamy hot chocolate.  Wish I could have it (dratted dairy allergy) but at least it's posted here so I can find it when I want it for others.  

2 cups whipping cream 

1 can sweetened condensed milk

6 cups milk 

1 tsp vanilla extract 

12 oz pkge mlk chocolate chips. 

Directions - Combine all ingredients in a slow cooker and stir well. Heat on low for 2-2 1/2 hours, whisking every half hour or so, until chocolate is melted and mixture is hot. Stir well to blend.  Makes about 12 cups.  (Can substitute white chocolate chips for a white hot chocolate.)

Pulled Pork

1 large onion, chopped
6 garlic cloves, peeled
1 pickled jalapeño pepper, seeded and chopped
2 teaspoons of Chipotle chile powder
1 Tbsp tomato paste
2 Tbsp Dijon mustard
3/4 cup distilled white vinegar
1 teaspoon paprika
1/3 cup ketchup
2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
1/4 cup light brown sugar

Salt
3 lbs of pork butt shoulder roast, trimmed of excess fat

Put all of the ingredients except salt and roast in blender and puree to create sauce. Put sauce and pork into a large pot and add 1 quart of water. Bring mixture to a boil and simmer, covered, turning frequently, for 2 hours or until the meat pulls apart easily with a fork. Remove from heat and cool pork in the sauce. When cool, remove the pork from the sauce and shred into small pieces. Set aside. Reduce the sauce by two thirds. Add the pork back to the sauce. Salt to taste. Serve hot on hamburger buns or ciabatta rolls.

This can be made in a crock pot by omiting water and cooking on low for 8 hours. (Pork will give up enough liquid for cooking in crock pot.) Shred pork, and if necessary reduce on stovetop before salting to taste and serving.

Serves 6 to 8.

Maple & Brown Sugar Pork Tenderloin

I made this the other night when Carolyn and the kids were here.  The sauce turns out yummy.  I served it with oven-roasted potatoes, which were also good with a little of the sauce dribbled on.

• 2 pork tenderloins, about 1 pound each
• salt and pepper
• 1 small clove garlic, minced
• 4 tablespoons grainy Dijon mustard or country-style
• 2 tablespoons honey
• 2 tablespoons brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon cider vinegar or balsamic vinegar
• (I used Champagne Orange vinegar)
• 1/2 teaspoon dried leaf thyme, crumbled
• 1 tablespoon pure maple syrup or Maple Sugar Seasoning
• 1 tablespoon cornstarch
• 1 tablespoon cold water

Wash and trim the pork and pat dry; sprinkle lightly with salt and pepper. Place pork in the slow cooker. Combine garlic, mustard, honey, brown sugar, vinegar, thyme and maple syrup; pour over the pork. Turn pork to coat thoroughly. Cover and cook on LOW for 7 to 9 hours, or on HIGH for 3 1/2 to 4 1/2 hours.

Remove pork to a plate, cover with foil, and keep warm. Pour the juices into a saucepan and bring to a boil over medium heat. Simmer for 8 to 10 minutes, or until reduced by about one-third. Combine the cornstarch and cold water; whisk into the reduced juices and cook for 1 minute longer. Serve pork sliced with the thickened juices

Sherried Beef

Perfect to put in the oven before church, it’s done when you get home.  I have substituted ground beef for the stew meat, it’s still good.  You do not need to precook hamburger, just break it into chunks.  Easy to expand, use another can of soup.  I have also used chicken parts instead of beef, but cut down on the onion soup mix so you don’t overwhelm the chicken.

Two pounds Stew meat, cut into bite-size pieces. 

Three cans cream of mushroom soup

1 can water or cooking sherry

1 envelope onion soup mix.

In large oven-proof glass bowl (preferably one with a lid) mix soups with water or sherry, stirring well.  You do NOT have to get all the lumps out.  Mixture will be a pasty white, don’t worry as it turns a very rich brown by the time it’s done cooking.  Add cut stew meat, stir, cover.  Bake for 3 hours at 350 degrees.  Serve over rice, noodles, mashed potatoes, or biscuits.

This can be done in a crock pot as well, mix together in crock instead of baing dish and cook on low for 8 hrs.