I don't know about you, but I am always on the look-out for new crockpot recipes. I LOVE using my crockpot, but it's hard because between my workday and commute, I am gone from home for a minimum of 10 hours every day! Most crockpot recipes are for much less than that, even if I cook them on low instead of high. So far, I have only found 1 dish and 2 soups that are able to hold up to this timeframe. But then, I came across this recipe and saw that it could go 6-9 hours. I figured, I bet it could hold up a lot longer if it had just a bit more liquid and I tried it! Of course, I also had to tweak it! Here is my version:
Crockpot Salsa Chicken
from Clara Ogren, Six Food Intolerance Living
Serves 4-6
Ingredients:
4 chicken breasts or thighs (can even use frozen)
1 can corn, drained
1 can black beans, drained
1 can diced tomatoes, NOT drained
1 jar salsa (chose the spiciness level that is right for your family)
2-3 tbsp lime juice
1-2 tsp of adobo powder
Half of a bunch of cilantro, chopped
Tortilla chips or soft corn tortillas
Directions:
Place chicken, salsa, corn, beans, tomatoes (with juice), lime juice and adobo powder into crockpot, mix.
Cook on low for 10-12 hours.
Just before serving, sprinkle in the cilantro, mix in.
To eat, shred chicken (this can be done in the crockpot with a spoon) and serve with tortilla chips, over rice or inside soft corn tortillas.
Tips:
A nice lettuce side salad is the perfect accompaniment to this meal or instead top the salad with the chicken mixture for a fiesta salad
Top with sliced avocado or with a dollop of guacamole
If you are able to have dairy, this dish would be great topped with sour cream and/or shredded cheese
And wouldn't you know it, it held up beautifully for 12 hours. I mixed it around a bit to evenly distribute the liquids and it was perfect as it stayed nice and moist! I took my lid off and on a lot the last 2 hours or so doing a lot of mixing. If yours is too liquidy, just take the lid off, turn the crockpot on high, watch it and mix occasionally. That'll help boil out the liquid. I don't know about you, but I'd rather it be too liquidy and moist than dry and hard! ;)
I ate this rolled up in soft corn tortillas with a side salad. Hubby ate it with tortilla chips and was plenty happy without the cheese (though I'm sure he would have prefered it!).
This dish was super easy - effortless, really and was quite tasty. And, it's pantry-friendly! What more could you ask for? :D
So, after the recent post on Bulk Meals, I started thinking about how much I love Pantry Meals, as in dishes that are be made from items that can be kept in your pantry. I love them for several reasons:
1) I am able to keep ingredients on hand for however long and use them whenever I need to whip up a quick meal!
2) They're also economical! I also like being able to stock up on canned goods when they're on sale and know that I can use them in the future. Our pantry foods, and pantry meals, have saved our budget lots of times in the past!
3) They're easy to double or triple for when you have surprise guests, or to just make bulk meals!
So, I thought I'd share my favorite Pantry Meals - you'll notice several of them are also on the Bulk Meals list, sorry for the cross-over, but I wanted to point out how the two really intermingle! Anyway, as usual, this list is by no means complete, and I'm sure to update it from time-to-time. When I do, I'll be sure to put an "updated" date on it so you'll always know how recent it is.
Carries Creamy Clam Chowder
Curry
Pantry Casserole -- no recipe - I just throw whatever veggies/beans that I have in the pantry into a casserole dish with whatever meat I have on hand, add some canned soup (or not!) whatever spices look good and cook!
Seafood Pasta
Shepards Pie - this does require some ground meat, but other than that, it's pantry! I make mine with ground beef, cooked and drained canned (drained) corn, carrots, green beans, all mixed together with either tomato soup or beef broth, pour into a casserole dish and mix up, top with instant mashed potatoes and bake until meat mixture is boiling and the potatoes start to brown.
Spanish Rice
Tuna Salad -- I know there are lots of recipes for this, mine is just a mixture of diced onions, diced celery (including the leafy tops), mayo, yellow, mustard, Old Bay spice and dill relish.
Chili
Spaghetti - brown rice pasta, a jar of spaghetti sauce and a can of beans - all things easily kept in the pantry! Of course, if you have some ground turkey/beef/chicken or some sausage in the fridge to add, that's even better! :D
Enjoy!
So, I'm sure I've mentioned in the past that I really like to make foods in bulk and freeze them. It's great for a few of reasons:
1) It's economical - frozen GDSYWP-free foods are expensive!
2) I can only handle eating so many leftovers before getting tired of them, this makes sure that I don't throw away a bunch of perfectly good food
3) It's convenient! I can just grab it and take it to lunch or grab it when we're going to someone elses house so I know that if they don't have something safe for me to eat, I am prepared!
So, what are you waiting for? You should do some bulk cooking yourself! :D
I thought I'd compile my favorite bulk cooking recipes for your use. This list is by no means complete, and I'm sure to update it from time-to-time. When I do, I'll be sure to put an "updated" date on it so you'll always know how recent it is.
Updated: 2/16/09
Stove-Top
Chili (to switch this up, you can put it on top of hot dogs for Chili Dogs or you can put it on top of a salad to make Taco Salad)
Spanish Rice (you can add ground turkey/beef to this and/or whatever veggies you have on hand to make it more of a main dish)
Curry
Turkey or Chicken Veggie soup (I take a roasted turkey or chicken carcass, boil it out to make a broth, add any leftover chicken pieces, along with chopped celery onions and drained canned green beans, corn and carrots. Yum!)
Pancakes and Waffles!
Carries Creamy Clam Chowder
Oven:
Easy Light Cassoulet
Roasted meat (I love to make a large roast, then freeze the leftover, cooked meat to use later in a recipe or to defrost and eat with sides later)
Crock Pot:
Pizza Soup
Pasta Fagioli
Burger Heaven Casserole
Things that do NOT freeze well:
GF Pasta (the Pasta Fagioli and Pizza Soup recipes above call for GF Pasta. You can tackle this 2 ways - 1: just deal with soggy, broken up pasta - which is what I usually do - or 2: make and freeze the soup without the pasta and make fresh stuff and add it when you're ready to eat the soup)
Enjoy!
