I really enjoy cooking, but the dinner hour isn't exactly a serene and pleasant experience at our house all the time. The kids are often on the downhill side of their moods and behavior for the day and requiring attention. It isn't always best time to be devoting a lot of time and energy to creating a wonderful meal we can all enjoy together. And yet the budget and the waistline don't allow for dining out multiple nights a week. So what's a mom to do? Use the Slow Cooker!!!
Truly, I ♥ my crock pot. It has made my life so much easier. I often use it one or more times per week to simplify our meal planning and dinner preparations. My favorite recipe to cook is one that I have modified from a recipe for Turkey Burritos from my favorite Southern Living at HOME cookbook Fix-It and Forget-It slow-cooker magic. This recipe is perfect for my family. It helps us to stretch 4 chicken breasts for 4 meals that feed our family of 4. It's even allergen-friendly for my little one.
Chile Chicken
4 large chicken breasts
8 oz. tomato sauce
4.5 oz can chopped green chiles
1 cup chopped onion
2 T. Worcestershire sauce
1 T. chili powder
Place chicken in slow cooker. Combine remaining ingredients and pour over chicken. Cover and cook on low 6-8 hours. Remove chicken from cooker and shred with a fork. Return to cooker and mix well.
●I usually use this to make chicken enchiladas for our first meal with flour tortillas, canned enchilada sauce and monterey jack cheese.
●I take the rest of the meat and freeze half of what is left in two separate bags to make chicken quesadillas later in the week or in the following weeks.
●The last half of the meat I refrigerate for another night of chicken tacos. I serve these on flour tortillas with cheese, lettuce and tomato.
It may sound too simple, but it truly stretches 4 chicken breasts to feed us 4 nights! And it keeps me from spending all afternoon in the kitchen - saving both time AND money!
Do you use your slow cooker to save time? What is your favorite recipe?
What would we do with out great Tex-Mex recipes? It sounds really quick and easy. Thanks!
ReplyDeleteGreat idea, Alicia. Thank you!
ReplyDeleteI used my slow cooker yesterday to cook pork ribs. It was soo good and my mouth watered EVERYTIME that I came into the house. :)
ReplyDeleteSounds delicious! I'm making Beef Stroganoff in my crock pot right now!
ReplyDeleteI like to do something similar with a rotisserie chicken. We eat it as-is the first night, make chicken salad another night, and make chicken & noodles a third night. We can usually get at least 3 meals, often 4, out of one rotisserie chicken. In fact, last time we ate two meals and froze the remaining meat for future use. It tasted great when we thawed it and cooked with it. The best part is that the chicken is already cooked!
ReplyDeleteGood idea and simple! Love it!
ReplyDeleteThis looks like a great idea. I buy whole chickens from a local farm and cook one in the crock pot to use for three meals for my family of six... but I could use the sauce for a new twist on our chicken. Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteAmy Ellen at Health Begins With Mom
I tried this recipe last night and it was delicious! I'm so excited to have two containers of the chicken left in my freezer. Thanks!
ReplyDeleteWow!! Thanks for the recipe!! WE had it tonight and it was GREAT!! used turkey breast and a 7.5 ounce can of chiles... we like spicy :) Turned it into enchiladas the way you suggested. YUM-O!! Will go into regular meal rotation!
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