Chicken Chili

My eldest hates beef...he actually calls it "meat gum." Thus I went in search of chili made with chicken or turkey. This recipe, made with ground chicken, is one of two that I really like. It is super easy to make, reasonable healthy and very flavorful.

Ingredients
• one pound of ground chicken
• two cans of white, navy bean
• 1 can (14.5 ounces) diced tomatoes
• 3.5 cups chicken broth (I use water and 4 bouillon cubes)
• 1 medium finely chopped onion
• 1/2 medium green pepper also finely chopped
• 1/2 to one cup frozen corn
• 2 minced garlic cloves
• 1.5-2 teaspoons chili powder (to your taste)
• 1.5 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• Cayenne pepper to your taste (when I make it for my kids, I don't use any and it is very flavorful).
• salt to your taste, I only add 1/2 teaspoon.

Directions
• Put the chicken broth, tomatoes, beans, corn, oregano, cumin and chili powder in a soup pot or a crock pot.
• brown the chicken in a frying pan, drain off the excess grease and add the meat to the soup/crock pot.
• don't wipe out the frying pan of the meat grease and with the burner on about medium head add the onion, peppers and garlic until the veggies are soft. This takes less than five minutes and stir often so the veggies don't burn. Once done, add this mix to the soup/crock pot.
• If cooking on a stove top, bring the mixture to a low boil and simmer for about 10-15 minutes. If cooking in a crock pot, let the flavors marry in a slow cooker for 4-5 hours on low.

Pot Roast in the Slow Cooker

Family Friendly Meals Series—Day 11

This one is a no brainer. It's both easy-peasy to cook, and the reason I have no photos is that my family ate it all so quickly that it's all gone. No lie!

Put a pot roast in your slow cooker with the beer from a bottle of Long Trail IPA. Turn it on low and walk away. Let it cook for the 8-9 hours you are at work. When you get home, throw a pound of wide egg noodles on the stove top, and toss together a salad. The pot roast shreds easily (I hand removed the fatty parts of the meat so my kids weren't grossed out) and I served it over the noodles with a little bit of the juice from the crock pot. It will definitely need salt; you can add it while it is cooking or season to taste based on the dietary needs of your family.

Enjoy!

Easy Chicken Noodle Soup

Family Friendly Meals Series, Day 7

I was going to post my "baked potato night" plan for Day 7, but it is such a cold and raw day that I had to post a soup recipe...despite the fact that the early portion of this series has been very chicken-tastic.

Ingredients
3 chicken breasts
6 chicken bouillon cubes
4 cups of veggies...you choose the ones your family likes: carrots, onions, celery, corn, tomato are my family's favorites.
1.5-2 cups of fine egg noodles
salt and pepper to taste

1. Soften your bouillon cubes in a small bowl of warm water.
2. Lay frozen chicken breasts in the bottom of the slow cooker.
3. I put all the onions and carrots in a food processor to dice them really small...then my kids eat them! If I am pressed for time, I skip the celery. I put the tomatoes in whole after I skin them as they will fall apart on their own in the slow cooker. The easiest way I know to skin a tomato is to put it in boiling water for 1 minute and then the skin comes off easily. Put all the diced veggies on top of the chicken in the slow cooker. (If you decide to add frozen corn, add that later.)
4. Put 9 cups of water into the slow cooker and then add the bowl of water and softened bouillon cubes.
5. Put the slow cooker on low and go do whatever you need to.
6. 8-9 hours later, shred the chicken with the edge of a spatula. And add the corn and noodles.
7. Eat half an hour later!

Add salt and pepper to taste! File this recipe under "easy, peeezy, lemon-squeezy."

Easiest Family Meal Ever—Crock Pot Fajitas

Family Friendly Meal Series, Day 5

With my leftover grilled chicken from Day 1, I planned to make my White Bean Chicken Chili. Alas, the recipe I had honed after many batches in the slow cooker was on my old laptop, the files from which are on my backup drive that I just haven't had two seconds to find, plug in, or wade through. Anywhoooo, time for Plan B.

Whenever I am absolutely at a loss about what to make for dinner, out comes my universally-loved Crock Pot Fajitas!

Ingredients (for a family of four)
• four boneless chicken breasts
• 2 cups salsa
• 1.5 cups frozen corn
• flour tortillas
• shredded cheddar cheese

1. Place chicken breasts (frozen or thawed) in the bottom of the slow cooker in a single layer.
2. Put the salsa on top of the breasts, roughly half a cup spread on top of each breast.
3. Turn slow cooker on low and go do whatever the heck you want for 6 hours if the breasts are raw and 9 hours if the breasts are frozen.
4. Return after the amount of time in step 3, and put your frozen corn in the microwave for 1.5-2 mins with 2T of Water in a covered microwavable dish.
5. While the corn is cooking, take a spatula and shred the chicken breasts in the slow cooker so it looks like the picture.
6. When the corn is done, dump it into the slow cooker and mix it all together.
7, Put 4 tortillas on a microwavable plate and cover with a dampened paper towel and heat on 1 minute at half power.
8. Using a slotted spoon and spatula to squeeze out all the liquid, put the fajita mixture into tortillas, and add some shredded cheese to taste.

I have served these in the summer with watermelon, the winter with acorn squash, and most often with a tossed salad. Sometimes, when our family is heading out to a baseball game, I wrap each filled tortilla individually in tin foil and off we go...dinner on the run.

The Easiest Beef Barley Soup on the Planet

2-3 lbs of stew beef
1 can of diced tomatoes
1.5 cups of shredded carrots (my boys won't eat big bits!)
4-5 cups water
1 packet of McCormick Hearty Beef Stew spices
1.5-2 cups of uncooked barley

Throw all of the above ingredients except the barley in the slow cooker for about 6 hours on low. Add the barley and let it cook for another 2 hours on low (total cooking time is 8 hrs).

It was staggeringly tasty!

Scrumptious in the Slow Cooker

This was a bit of an impromptu, late in the day creation, but it was so delicious that I just had to share!

Creamy and Zesty Chicken
Ingredients
2 lbs cubed raw chicken breast (about 4 boneless chicken breasts)
4 oz. neufchatel cheese
1 can cream of chicken condensed soup (though if you prefer cream of mushroom, I bet that'd be good too)
1/4 cup wine (red or white, you choose, gives it some zip)
1/4 cup zesty Italian dressing
1 lb thin spaghetti

Put the cubed chicken into the slow cooker. Whisk together the cheese, soup, wine and dressing and pour this mixture over the chicken. Cook on high for 2-3 hours or low for 4-5. Cook the pasta just before serving and pour the sauce and chicken on top.

Note: This would be a great dish for a dinner party; really simple and totally luscious. The ingredients listed above serve 4-5, but there was plenty of extra sauce so you could easily add another breast or two. Also, if you wanted to fancy it up, you could garnish with parsley.

Everyone in my house loved this, even my eldest who is the finickiest eater ever!