crockpot chicken enchilada soup

I found this recipe on pinterest, and was a little bit skeptical. It’s slightly adapted from a blog called Scattered Thoughts of a Crafty Mom. I used good quality chicken, and I really think that made it great! The enchilada sauce gives it a nice hint of lime flavor, and the little bit of cream cheese and rice makes it thick enough, but not too heavy. For a cold winter night when you don’t have time to do something fancier, this is a great go-to. J

Ingredients:

28-32 oz. low sodium chicken broth (plus about a cup of water)

16 oz. organic air chilled chicken breasts (about 2 large breasts)

2 cans mild green enchilada sauce

4 oz. can diced green chilies

2 T cumin

1.5 T chili powder

1 t onion powder

1 t garlic powder

1 t garlic salt

ground pepper to taste (I used about a half teaspoon)

1-2 c frozen corn, defrosted

1 block 1/3 reduced fat cream cheese, cut into cubes

¾ c instant brown rice

garnish: avocado, cilantro, shredded cheese, and tortilla chips

Directions:

Add broth, water, enchilada sauce, chilies, and spices to crockpot. Add chicken. Cook on low for 7 hours. Remove chicken and shred with 2 forks. Put chicken back in, along with corn, cream cheese, and instant rice. Cook about 30 more minutes.

Garnish with cilantro, shredded cheese, tortilla chips, and avocado.

Enjoy! 

Crockpot Coconut Ginger Curry Chicken

This crockpot recipe originally

 called for a lot of prep work, pre cooking, etc. 

I'm not into that when I'm using a crockpot....

so I added (almost) all ingredients at once and it turned out great. 

It serves a lot of people! 

I made this for our "small group" of 12. If making it for fewer people, 

consider halving the recipe.

Ingredients: 

4 cloves garlic, chopped

2 inch piece fresh ginger, roughly chopped

1 onion, quartered and roughly chopped

1 red bell pepper, cut into chunks 

2 handfuls sugar snap peas, ends trimmed

1 can baby corn, drained

3 T olive oil

2.5 lbs boneless skinless chicken breasts 

2 cans lite coconut milk

1/2 t pepper

1 t cumin

1 t ground coriander

1.5 t ground turmeric

1 t salt

Directions: 

Set baby corn, snap peas, and red bell pepper aside.

Add all other ingredient to crockpot and stir thoroughly. 

Cook on low 4-6 hours. 

Add bell pepper and corn with 1 hour cooking time left. 

Add snap peas for last 15 minutes of cooking time. 

Serve over brown rice or quinoa.
Garnish with green onion, cilantro, or crushed peanuts. 

enjoy :) 

Crockpot Tomato Basil Parmesan Soup

Growing up, my mom never cooked in a crockpot. Ever. 

Mom, do you own a crockpot??

I've been told many times that "the apple doesn't fall far from the tree" 

when it comes to being like my mama. 

 Because of a busier work schedule this year, I've veered from "the tree" 

and started resorting to my crockpot. a lot! 

Life saver!
(thank you, Tom & Camille for my wonderful crockpot!)

In the original directions, this soup has a lot of fuss and hoop-la and 

stuff you're supposed to do before adding it to the crockpot. 

To me, that defeats the purpose of using a crockpot.
It's already hard enough to crawl

 into the back of my cabinet to lug the thing out....

So I decided to just dump all the ingredients in at once and voila.
Delicious. 

Ingredients: 
3 cans diced tomatoes, with juice (low sodium if possible)
1 can tomato sauce
1 cup diced celery
1 cup chopped carrots
1 cup chopped onion

1 T dried oregano
1 T chili powder
1/2 t cayenne pepper
4 c broth
1 bay leaf
1 c shredded parmesan cheese
2 T butter, optional
2 c skim milk (or fat free half and half)
1/2 cup fresh basil
1 t salt
1 t pepper

Directions: 
Add all ingredients to the crockpot
EXCEPT the fresh basil and 1/4 cup parmesan cheese.

Cook on low for 5-7 hours.

Add basil and reserved parmesan for last 30 minutes of cooking time.


enjoy :)