Chicken Cheddar Casserole

From: Moms Who Think
http://www.momswhothink.com/crock-pot-recipes/cheddar-chicken-casserole-in-the-crockpot.html

This meal reminds me of Thanksgiving! It's hardy, savory, and the cheddar cheese really makes the dish! I have been trying to avoide using the oven since the past couple of days have been very HOT and I was came across this meal when looking from Crockpot ideas. I think the last time we made it, we used cream of chicken soup but the recipe calls for cream of mushroom. I had that on hand, so we went with it and I don't think it tasted any different BUT if you hate cream of mushroom feel free to switch it up.

The Fixin's
1 lb Chicken
2 Cups Cheddar Cheese
1 Can Cream of Mushroom Soup
1/4 Cup Milk
2 Cups Stuffing Mix
1/4 Cup Butter

Let's Cook Dinner
Lightly grease Crockpot and spray with cooking spray
Place chicken breasts in pot
Top with cheese
Combine soup and milk in a small mixing bowl and stir until combined.
Spoon mixture over cheese
Pour the stuffing mix on top
Drizzle melted butter over stuffing mix
Cook on low for 6 hours
Shred chicken and stir with stuffing mix

Oven Chicken Fajitas

Adapted From: Real Mom Kitchen
http://realmomkitchen.com/9318/oven-baked-chicken-fajitas/

This meal was fablous! The Mr. actually pinned it on Pinterest one afternoon when he was playing with my phone and I decided to give it a try. I have never heard of oven baked fajitas before but the person who thought of this is my hero. Crockpot fajitas leave the veggies too soggy and really who has time to stand infront of the stove for 20 minutes and stir-fry! This meal would be a super easy meal to prep the night before and then throw in the oven when you get home from work! The seasoning mix is spicy, so if you prefer I would just cut the amount of chili powder or leave out the cajun seasoning. The Mr. doesn't like onions, so we left those out and added an extra bell pepper! Be creative!

The Fixin's

1lb Chicken
2 Tablespoons Olive Oil
2 Teaspoons Chili Powder
2 Teaspoons Cumin
1 Teaspoon Cajun Seasoning
1/2 Teaspoon Garlic Powder
1/2 Teaspoon Onion Powder
1/4 Teaspoon Salt
1 15 Oz Can Rotel Tomatoes

2-3 Bell Peppers

12 Tortillas

Let's Cook Dinner

Preheat the oven to 400F

Cut chicken in small chunks or strips

Spray a large baking dish with cooking spray and add chicken 

In a mixing bowl combine oil, chili powder, cumin, garlic powder, and salt

Pour mixture over the chicken and stir till the chicken in coated

Cut and seed bell peppers into strips

Add Rotal and bell peppers to baking dish

Bake uncovered for 20-25 minutes

Serve on tortillas with toppings like salsa, cheese, and sour cream

Chicken Garlic Pasta

Adapted From: The Cheese Pusher
http://thecheesepusher.tumblr.com/post/2719857351/creamy-garlic-pasta

I don't cook a lot of pasta but after this recipe, I might have to start! This is amazing. It was fairly easy to make but tasted like a million bucks! You could easily double the recipe to make for a large crowd but as is, we have plenty of left overs for tomorrow's lunch! I added chicken to the original because the Mr. likes his protein but I'm sure it would be great without or maybe with shrimp?! I had a 2 lb box of spaghetti and I'm a terrible guesser...I think I used too much pasta. To combat this I added an additional cup of broth and 1/4 extra of whipping cream so it wouldn't be too dry. Maybe you can be a better judge than me! We also ate it for lunch the next day and it reheats great! Make sure to add a tiny bit of water and cover the noddles with a wet papertowl.

The Fixin's
1 lb Chicken
2 Teaspoons Olive Oil
4 Cloves Minced Garlic
2 Tablespoons Butter
¼  Teaspoon Salt
½ Teaspoon Pepper
3 Cups Chicken Broth
½ lb Spaghetti
1 Cup Grated Parmesan Cheese
¾ Cup Heavy Whipping Cream
1 Tablespoon Parsley

Let's Cook Dinner

Cut chicken in bite sized pieces
Melt butter in skillet
Season chicken with salt, pepper
Cook until no longer pink, set aside
In a large pot, heat olive oil over low heat for one minute
Add the garlic and stir for one minute
Add butter and stir until melted
Once butter is melted, stir in salt, pepper and chicken broth
Bring to boil over medium-high heat
Add the pasta and cook for 10 minutes or until pasta is tender
Take off heat and mix in cheese and whipping cream until completely melted
Top with parsley
Stir in chicken
Serve

Beef Tamale Pie

 Adapted
From: All Recipes.com                                                                                                          http://allrecipes.com/recipe/slow-cooker-tamale-pie

I am always looking for ways to mix up traditional Mexican food. We tend to get stuck eating soft or hard tacos because that's all I can think of when we are craving a quick meal. This tamale pie is great! My Mother-in-Law even made it for Raul and Kristen when she visited Japan and it got a thumbs up. The sweetness of the corn bread really gives it a unique flavor. We top ours with sour cream and salsa. I added another 1/2 a cup of cheese to the original recipe but other than that, no changes needed! The cooking time is really going to vary depending on your Crockpot. Ours was done right at 4 hours, but our Crockpot tends to run a bit hot. Just make sure you check the center every once in a while!

The Fixin's
1  lb Ground Beef
1 15 Oz Can Kidney Beans
1 10.5 Oz Can Enchilada Sauce
2  Teaspoons Garlic Powder
8.5 Oz Corn Bread/Muffin Mix
1/3 Cup Milk
1 Egg
2 Tablespoons Butter
1 Cup Cheddar Cheese

Let's Cook Dinner 
Brown ground beef, drain
Spray Crockpot with cooking spray
Place it into Crockpot
Stir in the drained kidney beans, enchilada sauce, and garlic powder
In a separate mixing bowl, combine the corn bread mix with milk, egg, and melted butter
Stir until mixed
Stir in the cheddar cheese
Spoon the corn bread mixture on top of the beef mixture
Cook on low for 4 to 5 hours or until bread is cooked through

Beef Taquitos

Adapted From: Family Fun
http://familyfun.go.com/recipes/beef-taquitos-687272/

We love taquitos, so I was very pleased to find a taquito recipe that called for beef. We don't normally eat a lot of beef but my Mother-in-Law was kind enough to bring us several pounds from their parents farm. I am excited about researching new ways serve ground beef, besides my go to taco meal. We had so much success with the Chicken Lime Taquitos and the Buffalo Chicken Taquitos that I had no reservations about trying beef taquitos. The recipe calls for pepper jack cheese but we used mexican blend cheese because that is what we had on hand. I also saw a good many recipes that cooked the ground beef in taco seasoning. I think we will try that next time but the recipe is GREAT the way it is.

The Fixin's
1 lb Grounf Beef
2 cloves minced garlic
1 1/2 Cups Salsa
2 Teaspoons Chili Powder
1 Teaspoon Cumin
1 Tablespoon Lime Juice
1 Cup Mexican Blend Cheese
Medium Torillas
Cooking Spray
Salt

Let's Cook Dinner
Preheat your oven to 425˚F
Cook ground beef in skillet, drain fat
Add minced garlic to beef and stir until blended
In a mixing bowl combine salsa, chili powder, cumin, lime juice, and cheese
Combine beef and garlic mixture into mixing bowl and stir unitl well mixed
Heat tortillas for 20 seconds in microwave
Spoon 2-3 tablespoons of the beef mixture onto tortilla
Roll the tortilla tightly
Place the rolled tortilla seam side down on a greased baking sheet
Spray the tops lightly with cooking spray and sprinkle with kosher salt
Bake for 15 -18 minutes or until golden brown

Crockpot Orange Chicken

Adapted From: The Pursuit of Happiness
http://team-t-adventures.blogspot.com/2010/03/crock-pot-orange-chicken.html?spref=fb

We have been working really hard at cooking at home and eating out no more than one meal a week. This hasn't been the easiest goal to achieve but most weeks we do a really good job. One of the things I frequently crave that I have never been able to cook at home is Chinese food. I am sucker for good, greasy hole-in-the-wall Chinese food, so when I found this recipe I was hopeful that it just might do the trick. Lucky for me, my health, and my wallet, this meal is awesome. It takes a little more prep this most Crockpot meals but it's still really easy! Be warned that the orange juice and brown sugar makes it SWEET but no more so than orange chicken at a Chinese place. Soy sauce on the side or on the rice helps cuts the sweet flavor.

The Fixin's
1 lb Chicken Breasts
1/3 Cup Flour
2 Tablespoons Olive Oil
1/2 Tablespoon Salt
1 Teaspoon Balsamic Vinegar
3 Tablespoons Ketchup
6 Oz. Frozen Orange Juice Concentrate
4 Tablespoons Brown Sugar
Rice

Let's Cook Dinner
Thaw orange juice
Cut chicken in small, bite sized chunks
In a bowl, mix orange juice, brown sugar, vinegar, salt, and ketchup together until well blended, set aside
Pour the flour in a small bowl
Cover the chicken breast chunks in flour and shake off the excess
Heat olive oil in a skillet over medium heat
Place chicken into skillet and cook until the outside is light brown

Spray crock pot with cooking spray
Place chiken into the bottom of the crockpot.
Cover the chicken with the sauce mixture and stir to combine
Cook on high for 2 hours
Serve over rice

"Redneck" Jambalaya

Adapted From: My Dad

My dad did most of the cooking when I was growing up and one of his famous methods was to throw random ingredients together, cook, and serve. We use to laugh at him and call it "Redneck". It was always tasty and truth be told, a great idea! My parents were up for a visit last week and my dad suggested this meal as an easy, "OH MY GOSH I FORGOT TO COOK DINNER" idea. In thirty minutes we had an awesome meal with left overs! We used Italian sausage because that's what I had, but any time of sausage will work.

The Fixin's
1 Box Cajun or "Dirty" Rice
1 Can Kidney Beans
1lb Sausage

Let's Cook Dinner
Cook rice according to box directions
Drain kidney beans and add to rice mixture with 5 minutes left cooking
While rice is cooking, cut sausage into bit sized pieces
Cook sausage until brown and slightly crispy
Drain sausage stir into rice and bean mixture

Lasagna Cups

Adapted From: Plain Chicken
http://www.plainchicken.com/2012/04/lasagna-biscuit-cups.html

This is another meal from Plain Chicken. You will see me cook her recipes A LOT. It's a great site and you have to check out all her fun ideas for football tailgates and grilling! I love making lasagna but the frozen kind is way to expensive and who really have time to assemble and bake one from scratch?! I have had so much success cooking with crescent rolls, I figured it was only fair that I branch out into other bread doughs. The Mr. and I both loved this meal. I was a little skeptical when I was spooning the mixture into the muffin cups because it did not look like it was going to fit, but it cooked great. We used cottage cheese but you really can't taste it, so don't be shy if you are not a big cottage cheese fan! The only change I made was in the seasonings because of what I had on hand. I also doubled the meat and sauce mixture to ensure we had enough to cover the biscuits once they were cooked.

The Fixin's
1 lb Ground Beef
1 Jar Spaghetti Sauce
3/4 Cup Cottage Cheese
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp Italian Seasoning
1 Egg White
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
1 can large flaky biscuits

Let's Cook DinnerPreheat oven to 375
Brown meat in pan, drain fat
Stir in spaghetti sauce and leave on low heat
In a bowl mix together cottage cheese,garlic powder, Italian seasoning and egg white.
Separate dough into 12 biscuits
Lightly spray muffin pan with cooking oil
Place each biscuit in a in a muffin cup and press into the sides and bottom.
Spoon one spoon full of meat mixture into each cup
Top meat mixture with one spoon full of cottage cheese mixture
Sprinkle with mozzarella cheese
Repeat layers

Bake 17 to 20 minutes
Serve with leftover meat sauce on top