Crock Pot Fever!

There are a lot of things I love about my job, but cooking isn't one of them. Dinner time is usually very stressful for me. I never know what to make, and then I put it off until the last minute so at 5 o'clock I'm stressing out in the kitchen trying to throw something half decent together. I'm usually starving though and fried from my day and the kids are grouchy and hungry too, so most the time I just bag the idea of cooking and call Taber to tell him to bring home take out. Yeah, not good for our diets, or our budget, or poor Taber's sanity. He's had a long day too and I'm sure the last thing he wants to do is wait in line for take out (or eat Ramen, which is the other alternative.)

So anyway, long story short, I went to a fireside where Julie Beck was speaking, and SHE said that she puts her dinner on as soon as she cleans up breakfast. Genius!! Mornings are much more sane than late afternoons. If I could get my dinner on early it would make everything so smooth and easy. So I asked my friends for their crock pot recipes and got to work. We had a fabulous week of tasty meals, and best of all, it was soooo EASY!! And made my afternoons so much more calm and peaceful. I'm going to try some more but here are 4 that I loved from last week.

Savory Whole Chicken:
This chicken was out of this world delicious!! Click here for the recipe. After you make the rub you spread it all over the chicken and then just stick it in the pot, no water or anything. The chicken makes it's own juices as it cooks and OH MAN!! That broth is mouth watering! Next time I'll throw some carrots and potatoes in the broth an hour before it finishes. I also pulled the chicken out of the crock pot and put it in the oven on broil for 5 minutes to crisp the skin. (oh yeah, and I only used half a tsp of cayenne pepper and it still had a little kick)

Chicken in the fabulous broth after cooking all day.

Chicken after crisping the skin in the oven.

Chicken Tortilla Soup:

Another tasty one. I've actually done this one twice it was so good! (also makes GREAT leftovers!)
4 chicken breast halves (mine were still frozen)
2 15 oz cans of black beans, undrained
2 15 oz cans of Mexican stewed tomatoes, or Rotel Tomatoes (I used the mild rotel ones)
1 cup salsa (mild, medium, or hot, whichever you prefer) I used pace picante mild.
4 oz can chopped green chilies
14 1/2 oz can tomato sace
Tortilla chips
2 cups grated cheese

1)combine all ingreidents except chips and cheese in large slow cooker
2)Cover, cook on low 8 hours
3) Just before serving, remove chicken breasts and slice into bite size pieces. Stir into soup.
4) Serve with Chips and cheese on top.

Tortilla soup in the pot and below with chips and cheese.

Nicole's Creamy Chicken
I didn't know what to call this one so I named it after my friend who gave me the recipe! It's super easy. Just combine an 8oz brick of cream cheese, 1 packet of lipton onion soup, and one can of cream of chicken soup (I used a hand mixer to blend them) Then put the mixture on top of 4 frozen chicken breasts in the crock pot and cook on low for about 5 hours. Shred the chicken and serve with rice. The flavor is rich and my KIDS LOVED IT!! Teya had seconds both times I made this and ate the leftovers the next day. Taber loved this too and seriously ate like 5 servings worth.


Salsa Chicken
Another super easy one. Just dump a jar of salsa on top of 3 or 4 frozen chicken breasts. Cook on low for 5 hours or so. Shred the chicken and serve on tortillas with all the fixins!

Salsa chicken in the pot and with the fixin's below!

Hope you enjoy the recipes and that they help make your dinner time a more relaxing part of your day! (p.s. I'm always looking for more crock pot recipes, if you have a good one please send it my way!)