Chicken Tortilla Soup

This was a delicious and easy crockpot soup! I got the recipe from my co-worker, and am posting the original below, along with my changes.

Chicken Tortilla Soup

Makes 6 Servings

4 cooked chicken breasts, shredded

1 garlic clove (I added 2)

2 tbsp margarine (I used 1 tbsp olive oil)

2- 14.5 oz. cans chicken broth

2- 14.5 oz. cans chopped stewed tomatoes and juice (I used 2 cans of diced tomatoes and juice)

1 cup salsa – hot, medium, or mild – your preference

1/2 cup chopped cilantro (I used 1/4 cup because we’re not big cilantro eaters)

1 tbsp cumin

8 oz cubed monterey jack cheese

sour cream

tortilla chips

rice (optional)

Directions

– Add minced garlic and margarine to the crockpot and saute

– Add chicken broth, tomatoes, salsa, cilantro, chicken and cumin; stir

– Cover and cook on low for 8 – 10 hours

– Divid cubed cheese into soup bowls and ladle soup over

– Add dollop of sour cream and serve with chips

Changes

– I used shredded cheese, and added it on top of the soup

– To make the soup more substantial, I served it over brown rice

 

 

Crockpot Pork Barbacoa

This crockpot pork recipe is delicious! It’s very similar to the Cafe Rio pork — but less sweet, and more of the pork flavor shines through.

Absolutely delicious! I imagine you could make this with chicken, as well, with similar results.

My pork didn’t turn out nearly as red as Joelen’s, but I think that’s because I was unable to find La Victoria taco sauce, and substitued another brand for it.

Still delicious!

We served it as tacos, and can be served any way mexican meat is  — tacos, nachos, enchiladas, burritos, over salad, etc!

Also: Since we hadn’t had it before, I elected to halve the recipe and make a 2 lb pork roast. Next time, I’ll make the full amount and freeze it for future meals! I also made this on a Sunday and just re-heated it during the week for our meals, since I wouldn’t be home during the week to add the other ingredients after 6 hours!

Pork Barbacoa

(Joelen’s Culinary Adventures)

5-6 pound pork roast
3-4 cloves minced garlic
1 onion, dicedwater

1 tablespoon cumin
1 cup dark brown sugar
12 oz bottle La Victoria taco sauce
20 oz Coke

Directions

– Place pork roast in a crock pot with the garlic and onion. Add water halfway covering roast. Cook on low for 6-8 hours.

– Drain water and add remaining ingredients. Cook 4-6 more hours on low.

– Shred pork and serve with tortillas, rice or whatever you’d like.

Crockpot Rotisserie Chicken

As a winner of Equal Opportunity Kitchen’s Random Acts of Kindness giveaway, I received a book written by fellow blogger, Stephanie, who used her crockpot for 365 days straight (god bless her. LOL)

I also did a giveaway of my own — winners, don’t worry — I am just finalizing my plans of what to send each of you before sending it! I didn’t forget about you!

Anyway, enclosed in that book are some seriously delicious crockpot recipes.  I love having crockpot recipes in my arsenal because sometimes, I just don’t want to come home from the gym and cook…especially when it’s cold and dark and dreary, like right now.

I don’t know if this tastes like rotisserie chicken or not. I realized today that I probably haven’t had a rotisserie chicken in 10 years. LOL

But it was a tasty chicken recipe, nonetheless!

Awesome!

Crockpot Rotisserie Chicken

(Make It Fast, Cook It Slow, or Stephanie’s Blog, A Year of Crockpotting)

1 whole chicken, skinned (4-5 pounds)
2 tsp kosher salt (if you’d like it as salty as the ones in the store, add another 1 tsp.)
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp onion powder
1/2 tsp dried thyme
1 tsp Italian seasoning
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
1/2 tsp black pepper
pinch of chili pepper (probably not necessary)
4 whole garlic cloves (optional)
1 yellow onion, quartered (optional)

Directions

(Stephanie used a 6 quart crockpot for a 5 pound bird)

– Skin the chicken and get rid of the neck and other stuff from the cavity (This takes a while, and is gross) — You could leave it on, but skin on chicken looks nasty in a crockpot…and then all that fat is sitting in with your meat all day. Gross.

– In a bowl, combine all of dried spices. Rub the spice mixture all over the bird, inside and out. Plop the bird breast-side down into the crockpot.

– If desired, shove 4 whole garlic cloves and a quartered onion inside the bird.

– Do not add water.

– Cover and cook on high for 4-5 hours, or on low for 8.

– The meat is done when it is fully cooked and has reached desired tenderness.

– The longer you cook it, the more tender the meat.

Crockpot Kahlua Pork

I was curious about this Kahlua pork I’d seen on the cooking blogs — I actually had two recipes bookmarked for it.

Okay, so maybe at first I was curious because I thought they meant Kahlua, the alcohol…not kahlua, the cooking-pig-in-a-pit method. But still.

So in the interest of ramping up my arsenal of crockpot recipes (I love having enough on hand we don’t get sick of them!) I thought I’d try it out.

Problem was, I couldn’t decide between the two recipes. So I read both, took from each what I liked, and made it my own.

The one kahlua pork recipe is oven-only, but I liked those ingredients better than the other, which was crockpot, but in a complicated change-the-heat-after-a-period-of-time sort of way.

Well, I leave at 7:30 am and I don’t get home until 6:30 pm — there will be no changing heat halfway through cooking! LOL

So I made it my way, and it was DELICIOUS. I served it with a baked pineapple side dish (to keep with the hawaiian theme), and rice to soak up the delicious pork/liquid smoke juices. DH loved loved loved it, and begged that we have it again!

My only change is that next time, I’ll make slits in the pork roast and put pieces of garlic into the meat…rather than mincing the garlic and just adding it to the pot!

Kahlua Pork

(Adapted by me from here and here)

2-3 lb. pork roast/butt/shoulder/whatever

1 tsp kosher or sea salt

1 tsp garlic powder

1/2 tsp black pepper

3 cloves minced garlic

1/4 cup liquid smoke (you can find this near the ketchup in the grocery store)

1/2 cup chicken broth

 

Directions

– Mix the kosher/sea salt, garlic powder, and black pepper together to make a spice rub

– Rinse the pork roast, pat dry, and then rub the spices all over it

– Place in the crockpot, fat side up

– Sprinkle minced garlic over roast in crockpot, add liquid smoke and chicken broth to the pot

– Cook on low, 8 hours

– Remove from crockpot and let rest 5 minutes, then shred pork

– Return to crockpot and let sit long enough to absorb some of the juices

– Serve over rice 😉

Crockpot 20-Clove Garlic Chicken

This is very similar to the 40-clove garlic chicken, except it’s half the amount of garlic, and a few other delicious spices!

And – crockpot friendly. The best part!

Sadly, I don’t have a picture for you — I completely forgot! I haven’t done that in ages.

Just know it’s a delicious chicken recipe (thanks Chera!), and its quick and easy and versatile. We ate it as actual chicken pieces the first night, then used it to make a delicious homemade chicken noodle soup for a leftovers meal.

Yum!

Crockpot 20-Clove Garlic Chicken

(Chera)
1/2 large onion, sliced
1 5-7 lb. whole frying chicken**
1 medium bulb garlic (about 16-20 cloves)
1 t. Salt
1 t. Paprika
1/2 t. Pepper
1 T. Olive Oil

Directions

–  Place onion slices in 3 1/2 to 4 qt. crockpot.

– Remove giblets from chicken, rinse, drain, & pat dry. Place chicken breast side up in the crockpot (on top of the onions). Separate garlic in to cloves; do not peel cloves. Place garlic in, around, and under chicken.

– In a small bowl, combine salt, paprika, pepper & olive oil. Mix to form paste. Spread evenly over top of chicken. **(If I use a 7 lb chicken, I make a DOUBLE batch of this paste.)

– Cover and cook on LOW setting for 7+ hours.

–  With a slotted spoon, remove chicken, onion and garlic from slow cooker. Cut chicken into pieces and serve.

**Reserve cooked garlic cloves to spread on bread or in mashed potatoes!

Crockpot Smothered Chicken

Success! A crockpot chicken recipe (besides chicken noodle soup) that DH and I actually like!

For some reason, we have problems finding chicken recipes we actually enjoy in the crockpot…no idea why.

This one was super-tasty — DH even emailed me at work on his lunchbreak (at home) and said “What’s in the crockpot? It smells amazing!”

Smothered Chicken

(The Novice Chef)

4 whole boneless skinless chicken breasts
12 ounces Mushrooms — fresh (I used 8 oz)
1 can 98% fat-free Cream of mushroom soup
1 can 98% fat-free Cream of chicken soup
1 can French Onion Soup
1/2 large onion
1 clove garlic

salt and pepper to taste

Directions

–You can make this on the stovetop – for those instructions, see the novice chef link above

– For the crockpot: place your chicken breasts in the bottom of the crockpot, layer your onions and mushrooms on top of the chicken, then both cream-based soups, and the french onion on top

– Cook on low 8 hours.

– Serve over rice, noodles, bread — whatever! 🙂

Cafe Rio Pork

*Ignore the pot it’s in — I had DH remove it from the crockpot early, and was just heating it up on the stovetop!

I’ve never been to Utah. I’d never even heard of Cafe Rio until I started reading LeighAnne’s blog.

But she talked about how delicious their food was so often, that when she finally posted a recipe for the pork they serve at the restaurant, I decided I had to try it (and the fact that it was a crockpot meal with only 3 ingredients didn’t hurt either!)

This pork is the most amazing and delicious pork I think I’ve ever eaten. It’s good plain, on salads, in quesedillas, in tacos, in burritos, on nachos — just about anything you can think of.

This pork is THAT good.

Now, admittedly, I’m not really a pork-in-my-mexican-food kind of girl. I know its relatively common in REAL mexican, but I tend to stick to chicken and beef in my kind.

No longer. Now, it’s this pork or nothing!

I honestly can’t wait to make it again!!

Cafe Rio Pork

(your home based mom)

1-2 lb. pork tenderloin (I used just a standard pork roast. Really, it doesn’t matter what you use — the crockpot will make the meat juicy and tender anyway)
1 cup brown sugar
2 cups fresh salsa

Directions
– Mix sugar and salsa, pour over pork.

– Cook in crock pot for 8 hrs. on low.

– When done shred with two forks and return to juice in crock pot and allow liquid to absorb.

– Serve with tortillas and all the fixins!

Crockpot Orange-Apricot Pork Chops

I got this recipe from A Year of Crockpotting — I’m always looking for crockpot meals we actually like, because they’re super-convienent when DH or I have an evening work meeting or a busy schedule.

Unfortunately, I think I find more duds than recipes I like ;(

This recipe isn’t a dud, per se, which is why I’m still writing about it. If you really like cinnamon, cloves, and ginger, you’ll probably like this dish.

I, on the other hand, continually forget that I HATE cinnamon, cloves, and ginger, unless apple cider is involved.

Alas, we weren’t big fans of this — but I still think you should try it if you like the flavors above.

Crockpot Orange-Apricot Pork Chops

(A Year of Crockpotting)

6 pork chops (I used 4 large boneless ones)

1 cup apricot jam

3 tablespoons brown sugar

1 teaspoon kosher salt

1/2 teaspoon pepper

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon (I cut this down to 1/4 — felt 1/2 was too much)

1/4 teaspoon ginger

1/4 teaspoon cloves

1 (11-ounce) can mandarin oranges (and juice!)

Directions

– Put pork chops into your crockpot.

– In a small bowl, combine jam, brown sugar, and spices.

– Spoon over pork chops.

– Add the entire can of mandarin oranges evenly over the top.

– Cover and cook on low for about 8 hours, or on high for about 4.

– Serve with rice to soak up the yummy juice.

Crockpot Ranch Pork Chops

Apologies for no pictures! It isn’t a particularly photogenic, anyway…lol

These were actually really delicious. However, definately NOT low fat. I think you could tweak the recipe, though, to make it a little more figure friendly…

We’ll be making these again! It’s a great recipe when you’ve got that lonely set of pork chops in the fridge or freezer and can’t figure out what to do with them.

My only comments are that a)you really don’t NEED the full 8 ounces of cream cheese. My leftover 4 oz. was fine. and b) Even with thinning out the sauce before I cooked it, I found myself adding a little more milk at the end of cooking, because I thought the sauce was still a little thick.

Crockpot Ranch Pork Chops

(A mixture of Picky Palate and La Fuji Mama’s recipes)

1 can Cream of Chicken soup

3-8 ounces of cream cheese (this depends on your preference. I had 4 oz. left from a previous recipe, so I just added that instead of the full 8 oz)

1 packet (0.4-oz.) of Ranch dressing mix

4 Tbsp. butter

4-5 pork chops

Directions

– Put butter and cream cheese in a bowl, and microwave for 1-2 minutes to soften the cream cheese and melt the butter

– Add cream of chicken soup and Ranch dressing mix and mix until ingredients are somewhat blended together (it’s okay if it’s a bit chunky)

– At this point if you desire a thinner sauce, add 1/2 cup of milk and mix (I did this because I wanted more of a gravy consistency)

– Place pork chops in bottom of crockpot and pour mixture over the top

– Cook, covered, on high for 5 to 6 hours (or on low for 7 to 8 hours), until the meat is tender and easily pulls away from the bone or breaks apart

– (The edges may start to get very brown towards the end of cooking time–don’t worry, that’s normal!)

– Serve over rice.

Crockpot French Dip Sandwiches

I saw this recipe from a nestie a few weeks ago — if it was you, let me know! I didn’t write your name down!

It was so easy, I didn’t even write the recipe down — my kind of meal. Especially during the week!

DH and I really enjoyed these sandwiches and we’ll definately add them to our rotation. Especially since they’re crockpot-based — which means dinner is basically ready when I get home. Woohoo!

Again, though, we ate them and I totally forgot to take pictures. Next time!

French Dip Sandwiches

2 lb. beef roast
1 packet dry onion soup mix
1 can Progresso French Onion Soup
2 beef bullion cubes

Rolls
Sliced provolone cheese

Directions
– Place the beef roast, onion soup mix, can of soup, and beef bullion in a crockpot
– Cook on low for at least 6 hours
– Slice (or shred) the meat, reserving the juices in the bottom of the crockpot

– Toast the rolls, add meat and provolone, and slip under the broiler for a few seconds to melt the cheese
– Serve with juices for dipping.