Chicken Enchiladas for the Slow Cooker

This is really more of a casserole than strict chicken enchiladas. It's still yummy! I doubled this recipe because I have the huge-sized Crock-Pot. This recipe is intended for the smaller, 3-quart Crock-Pot.

Chicken Enchiladas

Ingredients:

2 10-3/4 ounce cans cream of chicken or mushroom soup (I used mushroom.)
4-1/2 ounce can diced green chilies
2-3 boneless, skinless whole chicken breasts, cut into pieces
2 C shredded cheddar cheese
5 6-inch flour tortillas (I used corn because they're lowfat and I like them better!)

Directions:

1. In a mixing bowl, combine soups, chilies, and chicken.
2. Spray the interior of the cooker with nonstick cooking spray.
3. Spoon in 1/5 of the sauce on the bottom. Top with 1/5 of the cheese and then 1 tortilla (for the big slow cooker I used 3). Continue layering in that order, and with those amounts, 4 more times, ending with cheese on top.
4. Cover cooker and cook on Low 4 hours.

Low-Fat Crock-Pot Roast

Made this today. It was so easy and made the house smell wonderful!! I made a few changes which I'll note...

Low-Fat Crock-Pot Roast

Ingredients:
3-pound boneless beef roast (I used a cross-rib roast, I believe it was called.)
4 carrots, cut into 2" pieces (My kids *love* carrots, so next time I'll use more.)
4 potatoes, cut into quarters
2 onions, quartered (I used one large yellow onion and it was sufficient.)
1 C fat-free, low sodium beef broth (I didn't have beef so I used vegetable broth and it was still yummy!)
1 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp Mrs. Dash seasoning (I don't have this so I used extra of the other spices.)
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper

Directions:

1. Place roast in slow cooker.
2. Add carrots around edges, pushing them down so they reach the bottom of the cooker.
3. Add potatoes and onions.
4. Mix together broth and seasonings and pour over roast.
5. Cover. Cook on low 10 hours or on high 6 hours.

Note: You may brown the roast in a nonstick skillet on all sides before placing in cooker for added flavor.

Recipe from: Fix-It and Forget-It Lightly

Becky's Slow Cooker Chili

That's right! A recipe by yours truly! And it's super easy. Let me know what you think!

Becky's Slow Cooker Chili

Ingredients:
1 pound ground beef (or ground turkey, if you prefer)
1-2 cloves garlic, to taste, minced
1 packet of taco seasoning or 1-2 Tbsp chili powder, to taste
1 can chili beans, undrained
1 can pinto beans, undrained
1 can Ro*Tel tomatoes with chiles, undrained
2/3 C salsa of your choice

Choose one or more of the following garnishes, if you like:
shredded cheddar or jack cheese
sour cream
sliced green onions
salsa of your choice

Directions:

1. Brown the ground beef with the garlic.

2. Add ground beef, contents of seasoning packet or chili powder, both types of beans, tomatoes, and salsa to the slow cooker and mix well.

3. Cook on low setting for 8-10 hours.

4. Serve hot and garnish with any desired garnishes.

5. Enjoy!

Simple Penne Casserole

This is a recipe I made up myself, using ingredients I had on hand. It was very easy and the family liked it. :)



Simple Penne Casserole

Ingredients:
1 lb. hamburger
2 tsp Italian seasoning
2 tsp minced garlic
1 lb package penne pasta (I used Barilla whole grain, 13.5 oz package)
1 jar of your favorite pasta sauce
3 C shredded mozzarella cheese

Directions:
1. Brown the hamburger with half of the Italian seasoning and all of the minced garlic mixed in.
2. Meanwhile, cook the pasta according to the package directions. Drain.
3. Mix hamburger mixture with pasta. Add pasta sauce, the rest of the Italian seasoning, and then mozzarella cheese.
4. Top with more mozzarella cheese if desired.
5. Cook in preheated 375° oven for 25 minutes or until cheese is melted and sauce is hot. Serve with garlic bread and salad. Enjoy!

Chicken Soup with Lentils and Barley

Okay, I'll admit it on this one... I started making it and then realized that I had no barley. So I made it without barley and added another half cup of lentils instead. And it was fine!

Chicken Soup with Lentils and Barley

Ingredients:
1 C sliced leeks or chopped onion (I used the latter)
1/2 C chopped green or red sweet pepper (I used green)
1 clove garlic, minced
2 Tbsp margarine or butter
2 14-1/2-ounce cans chicken broth
1-1/2 C water
1/2 C dry lentils, rinsed and drained
1/2 tsp dried basil, crushed
1/4 tsp dried oregano, crushed
1/4 tsp dried rosemary, crushed
1-1/2 C chopped cooked chicken or turkey (I poached chicken on the stove for this recipe)
1-1/2 C sliced carrots (3 medium)
1/2 C quick-cooking barley
1 14-1/2-ounce can tomatoes, cut up (I bought the ones that were already cut up)

Directions:
1. In a large saucepan cook leeks or onion, sweet pepper, and garlic in margarine or butter until tender. Carefully stir in broth, water, lentils, basil, oregano, rosemary, and 1/4 tsp pepper. Bring to boiling; reduce heat. Cover and simmer for 20 minutes.

2. Stir in the chicken, carrots, and uncooked barley. Cover and simmer about 20 minutes more or just until carrots are tender. Add the undrained tomatoes; heat through. Makes about 8 cups (6 main-dish servings). (I doubled it.)

Slow Cooker Pot Roast

This one actually comes out more like a beef stew, but a good beef stew to be sure! The kids loved it. I prepared the vegetables the night before, and then before work I threw everything into the Crock-Pot and started it up. The house was filled with amazing aromas when we got home!

Also... You know how there are some slow cooker recipes that just don't seem to come out right? (Vegetables mushy, meat not the right texture, etc...) This is NOT one of those recipes!

Slow Cooker Pot Roast

Ingredients:
4 medium potatoes, cubed (I cut them into smaller pieces because in my experience, potatoes frequently do not cook through in the slow cooker)
4 carrots, sliced
1 onion, sliced
3-4 pound rump roast, or pot roast, cut into serving size pieces (I used a round roast that I got on sale and it was perfect)
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1 bouillon cube (I used Better than Bouillon, which I prefer the flavor of)
1/2 C boiling water

Directions:
1. Put vegetables and meat in slow cooker. Stir in salt and pepper.
2. Dissolve bouillon cube in water, then pour over other ingredients.
3. Cover. Cook on Low 10-12 hours.

Saucy Stroganoff-Style Meatballs

We tried this one last week and it got rave reviews from two of my three kids. The third one doesn't like mushrooms. Well, you can't please everyone!

Saucy Stroganoff-Style Meatballs

Ingredients:
1 10-1/4-ounce can condensed golden mushroom soup
1/2 C dairy sour cream
1/2 C milk
1/4 C dry white wine or beef broth (I used the latter)
2 Tbsp all-purpose flour
32 to 36 frozen cooked meatballs (I used turkey meatballs)
1 4-ounce can (drained weight) sliced mushrooms, drained
hot cooked noodles

Directions:
1. In a large saucepan combing golden mushroom soup, sour cream, milk, white wine or beef broth, and flour. Add meatballs and mushrooms.

2. Bring to boiling; reduce heat. Simmer, covered, about 20 minutes or until meatballs are heated through, stirring occasionally. Serve over noodles.

Tater Tot Casserole

So, the Duggar family has a famous tater tot casserole recipe, but I lacked a couple of the ingredients, so I went onto the web and found another recipe... On Cooks.com. We just finished eating it and it was tasty! The only thing I might change would be to add a little milk with the soup to make it a big creamier, but it was basically terrific.



A certain little person helped me make this one!

Tater Tot Casserole

Ingredients:
1 pound ground hamburger meat
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 bag tater tots (we ended up running out of room for all of them, so the rest of the bag is waiting in the freezer to be a snack)
shredded cheese (I used sharp cheddar but I am thinking that Monterey jack might also be good)

Directions:
Brown hamburger meat (I added some garlic powder to give it a bit of flavor, and it was yummy!). Drain fat. Add cream of mushroom soup and stir together. Let simmer on low heat for 15 minutes. Place mixture in the bottom of a casserole dish. Layer tater tots neatly on top of the mixture. Place in oven on 350º and let the tater tots brown (I found it to take about 15 minutes). Sprinkle with cheese (be generous; I used about 2 cups); melt it in the oven and ENJOY.

Homemade Beef Casserole

I'm pretty sure I got this one from my BFF Kat. It's super easy to make, and it's a real kid pleaser.

Homemade Beef Casserole

Ingredients:
1 pound elbow macaroni, cooked
1.5 pounds ground beef
8 ounces or more of shredded cheddar cheese (I use closer to 3 cups)
2 15-ounce cans tomato sauce
1-1/8 zesty Italian spices (or use a mixture of oregano and basil if you don't have this)

Directions:
1. In a large bowl, place macaroni, beef, all but 1 C of cheese, 1-1/2 cans tomato sauce, and one teaspoon Italian spices and mix well.

2. Pour into 13x9 baking dish. Top with remaining 1/2 can tomato sauce and then the rest of the cheese. Sprinkle with remaining spices. Cover with foil and bake at 350° for 30-45 minutes.

Nacho-Style Casserole

This one was a moderate success with the kids. I had a little problem in that nacho cheese soup can no longer be found at either of my local grocery stores; instead I used a jar of salsa con queso. I think it made the casserole a little runnier than it was supposed to be, so if you have the option, I'd recommend the nacho cheese soup!

Nacho-Style Casserole

Ingredients:
1 pound lean ground beef
1 C chopped onion
1 11-ounce can condensed nacho cheese soup
1 C milk
1 4-ounce can diced green chile peppers
6 medium potatoes, cut into wedges (about 2 pounds)
1/4 tsp garlic salt
dairy sour cream (optional)
bottled salsa (optional)
sliced green onions (optional)
shredded cheddar cheese (optional)

Directions:
1. In a large skillet cook ground beef and onion until meat is brown. Drain off fat. In a medium bowl stir together nacho cheese soup, milk, and chile peppers. Add beef mixture.

2. Place potato wedges in a 3-1/2 or 4 quart slow cooker. Sprinkle with garlic salt. Spoon beef mixture over potatoes.

3. Cover and cook on low-heat setting for 7 to 8 hours or on high-heat setting for 3-1/2 to 4 hours or until potatoes are tender.

4. Gently stir potato mixture just before serving. If desired, serve with sour cream, salsa, green onions, and/or shredded cheese.

Creamy Meatball Casserole

This one was another hit with the kids!

Creamy Meatball Casserole

Ingredients:
1 10-3/4-ounce can condensed cream of mushroom or cream of onion soup (my store doesn't carry cream of onion soup so you can guess which one I used!)
1 C milk
1/2 C dairy sour cream
1/2 tsp salt
1/8 tsp black pepper
32 frozen cooked meatballs (I used turkey ones. Also, I suppose you could make your own and freeze them ahead of time -- they do need to be frozen for the recipe.)
1 20-ounce package refrigerated red-skinned potato wedges (I couldn't find these anywhere so I bought fresh red-skinned potatoes and wedged them.)
1 16-ounce package frozen loose-pack stir-fry vegetables (any combination -- I used the Chinese variety)

Directions:
1. In a large bowl stir together cream of mushroom soup, milk, sour cream, salt, and pepper. Stir in meatballs, potato wedges, and vegetables. Transfer to an ungreased 3-quart rectangular baking dish.

2. Bake, covered, in a 350°F oven about 1 hour or until heated through.

Cheese Enchilada Chowder

Hi all! Long time no see! I guess the holidays kept me busy -- sorry about that! I've been trying a lot of new recipes recently, so I'll probably be posting more often.

Cheese Enchilada Chowder

I made this one tonight, and the kids LOVED it. I didn't have tortilla chips but we did put dollops of guacamole and sour cream on top of each serving as suggested.

Ingredients:
1 15-ounce can black beans, rinsed and drained
1 14-1/2-ounce can diced tomatoes, drained (I used the Ro*Tel kind with chiles)
1 10-ounce package frozen whole kernel corn (I used a 12-ounce package of SteamFresh)
1/2 C chopped onion
1/2 C chopped yellow, green, or red sweet pepper (I used one whole green bell pepper)
1 small fresh jalapeño chile pepper (seeded, if desired), finely chopped
1 19-ounce can enchilada sauce (I used medium, which combined with the jalapeños was pretty darned spicy, so maybe for kids the mild type is better.)
1 10-3/4-ounce can condensed cream of chicken soup (or cream of mushroom or onion if you want to make this a vegetarian meal)
2 C milk
1 C shredded Monterey Jack cheese (4 ounces)
1 C shredded cheddar cheese (4 ounces) (I used medium but I bed sharp would be good too!)
dairy sour cream (optional)
guacamole (optional)
tortilla chips, coarsely broken (optional)

Directions:
1. In a 3-1/2 to 5-quart slow cooker combine black beans, tomatoes, corn, onion, sweet pepper, and jalapeño chile pepper. In a large bowl whisk together enchilada sauce and cream of chicken (or mushroom or onion) soup. Gradually whisk in milk until smooth. Pour sauce mixture over bean mixture in slow cooker.

2. Cover and cook on low-heat setting for 6 to 8 hours or on high-heat setting for 3 to 4 hours.

3. Stir in both cheeses until melted. If desired, top servings with sour cream, guacamole, and tortilla chips.

NOTE: Because chile peppers contain volatile oils that can burn your skin and eyes, avoid direct contact with them as much as possible. When working with chile peppers, wear plastic or rubber gloves. If your bare hands do touch the peppers, wash your hands and nails well with soap and warm water.