Cheesy Chicken Tater Tot Casserole

Sorry I haven’t been posting lately, things have been a bit crazy and the budget is pretty limited so haven’t been being to adventurous. BUT… here is one recipe I ran across and had all the ingredients to… well almost. And it was for the crockpot. Kid friendly… enjoy!

Ingredients

1 (32 oz.) bag frozen tater tots
1 (3 oz.) bag bacon pieces
1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts, diced
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
3/4 cup milk
salt & pepper, to taste

Directions

- Spray the bottom of your crock pot.

- Do the following layers in crockpot: tater tots, cheese, bacon, chicken (seasoned with salt and pepper), cheese, bacon, tater tots, cheese, bacon.

- Pour milk over the top.

- Cook on low for 4 hours—might need additional time if you started with frozen chicken pieces.

Tips from a Kitchen of Reality:

- Seriously?! The layer chart gave me a headache so I dumped everything in the crockpot—reserved out a handful of cheese for the top—and gave it a big stir. Really… is all that layering necessary… I think not.

- I didn’t have tater tots so used a bag of shredded hashbrowns instead… pretty sure my version was healthier.

- Needed more salt and pepper. (Probably b/c I used the hashbrowns instead of tater tots.)

 

** Original recipe from: www.thecountrycook.net **

Creamy Chicken and Noodles

I'm a big fan of classic dishes, especially now that I have moved away from home.  I love cooking things like this on Sundays...

Creamy Chicken and Noodles
-3-4 boneless chicken breasts
-2 cans of cream of chicken soup
-1/2 cup of butter in slices
-42 oz. of chicken broth

Put all of these items in your slow cooker for 8 hours.  Remove chicken at this time and shred (or dice) and return to the cooker.

-One bag of egg noodles (I prefer the medium size, but you can do whatever makes you happy)

Put the noodles in the cooker for another hour or so and dinner is served!  Adjust the times and amount of broth for how your family likes their noodles - soupy, mushy, firm, or casserole like.

Kitchen of Reality Tips:
- I have never actually made this in a slow cooker.  I think this is perfect for when you forget to take the chicken out of the freezer.
- I put the frozen chicken (literally like in a block) in the broth and soup and poach it for about 20-25 minutes.
- Then I take it out and dice it.  I put it and the noodles back in the pot and let it go for about 8 minutes until it is the consistency I like.  I add more broth at this point if it needs it.
- I use way less butter, if any.
- This is great frozen and reheated, especially if you put it in a casserole dish with a little Parmesan and breadcrumbs on top.

Slow Cooker Ham and White Beans

Super easy, super cheap, and GREAT for a cold day of no cooking!

Ingredients

1 lb package dried northern beans
ham bone, hocks, shanks or diced ham (about 1 pound)
2 tsp onion powder
6 cups water
salt & pepper to taste

Directions

Rinse and sort the beans for any pebbles. Add the the rinsed beans, onion powder, salt, pepper, and ham to the crock pot. Add water. Cover and cook on low about 8 hours, until beans are tender. Remove ham bone, shanks or hocks and pull off the meat. Add meat to the crock pot and mix. Serve with cornbread.

Tips from a Kitchen of Reality

- Won’t lie… ham bones, hocks, etc just gross me out. I bought a small package of country ham pieces at the grocery store.

- I soaked my beans in water overnight and then only had to cook for about 3 hours—we had this for Sunday lunch. Didn’t have all day to let it sit.

Crockpot Beef Stroganoff

Always on the lookout for good crockpot recipes, I came across this recipe for Beef Stroganoff, which is a dish I generally don't like. We had it all the time when I was a kid, and it wasn't one of my favorites even back then. This piqued my interest because it had some different ingredients from the normal recipe I am used to so I thought I would give it a try.

2 pounds cubed stew meat
2 cans Condensed Golden Mushroom Soup
1 large onion diced
4 T of Worcestershire
1/2c water
couple of dashes of Garlic Salt
couple dashes of Hot Paprika
8 oz of cream cheese

Combine all the ingredients in the crockpot except the meat and cream cheese. Once they are combined add in the meat and mix again. Cook on Low for 8 hours.

Cube the cream cheese and add to the crockpot. Turn on high and cook for 10 minutes or until the cream cheese "melts" into the sauce.

Serve over egg noodles or maybe mashed potatoes.

Kitchen of Reality Tips:
- I didn't have Hot Paprika so I used some regular Paprika and a little cayenne. I could probably use more of both next time.
- I think I accidentally cooked it on High instead of Low - oops! My meat definitely fell apart in the sauce as I stirred in the cream cheese.
- Mine was a tad runny but this could have to do with the wrong cooking temperature.
- Doesn't call for salt and pepper, you can add to taste.

What a delicious meal! It makes enough for some leftovers which will be great reheated. I really preferred the cream cheese to the normal sour cream recipe.

Angel Chicken

Another new crockpot favorite...

Ingredients:

4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves

1 pkg (8 oz) button mushrooms, quartered

1 pkg (6 oz) fresh shitake mushrooms, stems removed, caps slices

1 /4 cup butter

1 pkg Italian dry salad dressing mix

1 can cream of mushroom soup

1/2 cup dry white wine

1/2 8 oz tub of chives and onions cream cheese

Directions:

- Melt butter, add Italian dry salad dressing, stir in soup, wine and cream cheese.

- Place cut mushrooms in bottom of crock pot.

- Place chicken on top of mushrooms.

- Pour sauce over the top.

- Cook on low for 4 to 5 hours.

- Serve over pasta or rice.

Tips from a Kitchen of Reality:

- I used all button mushrooms. We are on a budget... sorry shitakes! :)

Heavenly Slow Cooker Chicken

I wanted something different for chicken in the crock pot so I came across this recipe on allrecipes.com. It has a really nice flavor - creamy and herby - very comforting. I started this after lunch on Sunday for dinner because it is nice and quick.

2 tablespoons butter
1 (.7 ounce) package dry Italian-style salad dressing mix
1 (10.75 ounce) can condensed golden mushroom soup
1 (8 ounce) container chive and onion cream cheese
1/2 cup dry white wine
4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves


Melt the butter in a saucepan over medium heat, and stir in the salad dressing mix, mushroom soup, cream cheese, and wine until the sauce mixture is hot, smooth and well combined. Place the chicken breasts into the bottom of a slow cooker, and pour the sauce mixture over the chicken. Cover and cook on Low setting until chicken is tender, about 4 hours.

Tips: I added a package of baby portabella mushrooms because we love mushrooms in our house. The recipe makes a lot of the sauce so you could up the number of chicken breasts to 6 or even 8. I served this with white rice and broccoli, but it would also be good with some bowtie pasta or asparagus. Also, it is a bit salty so you may want to use a reduced sodium cream of mushroom soup if that is a concern.

Coq au Vin

Julia Child would be most unhappy that her recipe is being made in a CROCK POT!! But it was good and I am sharing. Enjoy!

Ingredients
-6 to 8 frozen chicken thighs
-6 slices cooked and crumbled bacon
-8 oz sliced baby portabella mushrooms
-1 cup baby carrots
-1 chopped yellow onion
-3 cloves chopped or minced garlic
-1/2 t black pepper
-1/2 t kosher salt
-1/2 cup chicken broth
-1 1/2 cup cheap red wine (I used $2.97 Merlot from Wal-Mart)
-2 large fresh thyme sprigs


Directions
- Cook bacon and crumble.
- Place thawed or frozen chicken into your crock pot and start layering in the rest of the ingredients.
- Cover and cook on low for 8 hours.
- Serve with mashed potatoes or your favorite pasta.

Tips from a Kitchen of Reality
- I didn't have any fresh thyme so used this as my excuse to go buy my first herb plant of the season! It's growing safely in my sun room for a few more weeks until it hits the herb garden outside.
- I don't believe in chicken with bones, so I of course used boneless chicken breasts. Worked fine.
- Baby portabello mushrooms weren't on sale so I bought plain old button mushrooms.
- Easy and super yummy, although next time I think it could use more thyme and salt. But that is a personal preference, see what you think!

Bleu Cheese Steak Rolls

I am again on a crock pot kick! These were delicious served with homemade mashed potatoes, asparagus and a Charleston sunset. Enjoy!

Ingredients
1 1/2 lbs of flat beef (I used round tip)

1/2 cup red wine

1/4 cup soy sauce

2 T Worcestershire sauce

4 cloves garlic

1 package of blue cheese

Directions

- Make marinade out of the wine, soy sauce, worcestershire sauce and garlic. Soak your meat in it overnight.

- In the morning, dump everything into the crockpot.

- Slice your blue cheese into strips.

- One at a time, take the meat out of the marinade mixture and place strips of the cheese all over it.

- Roll it up.

- Place back into the crockpot, and repeat with the remaining slabs of meat.

- Cover and cook 4-5 hours on low.

Tips from a Kitchen of Reality
- I used a container of bleu cheese crumbles. Cheaper and worked great.
- If you have someone who doesn't like bleu cheese just roll it without the cheese-- the marinade is great regardless.

Crock Pot Brown Sugar Chicken

Just make it... it's fabulous.


Ingredients:
4-6 boneless chicken breasts
1 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup lemon-lime soda
2/3 cup vinegar
1 Tbsp minced garlic
2 Tbsp soy sauce
1 tsp ground black pepper

Directions:

Place the chicken into your crockpot. Cover with the brown sugar, pepper, chopped garlic, and soy sauce. Add the vinegar, and pour in the soda. It will bubble!

Cover and cook on low for 6-9 hours, or on high for 4-5. The longer you cook it, the more tender it will be.

Serve over a bowl of white rice with a ladle full of the broth.

Tips from a Kitchen of Reality:
Make extra, you'll want some for leftovers!

French Dip Sandwiches

A couple of weeks ago I bought a chuck roast to make homemade beef and noodles. They were buy one get one free so I needed a recipe for the other roast, but one that wasn't "roasty." I found this on allrecipes.com and really liked it. I know some people say you should fix the recipe the written way the first time and then alter it on subsequent preparations, but I never follow that rule! So this is my version.

4 pounds beef chuck roast
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1 tablespoon dried rosemary
3 bay leaves
1/2 cup soy sauce
1/8 - 1/4 cup Worcestershire
2 cups beef broth (low sodium if you can)
3 cups water

Throw everything in the slow cooker and cook on low for 6 to 10 hours. Give time at the end to remove the meat from the liquid. Cool the liquid and skim off the fat so you can use the jus for dipping. Shred the meat and put it on a toasted sub bun. Really easy and quite inexpensive!

Potato Soup

Here is another easy crock pot soup, it is so easy and yummy!

4 cups diced potatoes
1/2 onion diced (or amount to your liking)
Combine potatoes and onions in saucepan, cover with water and cook until tender. Leave water on them.

In crock pot mix the following ingredients:
1 can cream of celery soup
2 cups skim milk (you can use any kind of milk, skim just makes it less fat)
1/4 lb. Velveeta cheese, cubed
1/2 tsp. garlic salt (I used minced garlic)
Tabasco sauce to taste
Salt and Pepper to taste

To this mixture add the cooked potatoes, onions and water.

I prefer thicker soups so I added about a tablespoon of cornstarch.

Taco Soup

1½-2 lbs ground beef
1 cup red onion, chopped
1 (1.25 oz) envelope. taco seasoning mix
1 (1 oz) envelope Ranch dressing mix
2 (11 oz) cans corn, undrained
1 (16 oz) can pinto beans, undrained
1 (15 oz) can black beans, undrained
2 (10 oz) cans Original Rotel (chili-style diced tomatoes with green chiles)
1 (12 oz) can light beer
1½ cups water

Cook beef and onion in a large skillet over medium-high heat, stirring until meat crumbles and is no longer pink; drain.
Combine meat mixture, taco seasoning mix, and next 7 ingredients in a 5½-quart slow cooker
Cover and cook on LOW 4 to 6 hours. Serve with desired toppings. Make 16 cups.

Toppings: shredded cheddar cheese, sour cream, tortilla chips, fritos, cilantro

Cowboy Beans

Another great potluck crock-pot recipe!
My Gastonia friends that have eaten these say they are called Cowboy Beans... whatever their true name... they sure are yummy!

Ingredients:
2 cans pork & beans
2 cans kidney beans
2 cans baby lima beans
2 cups brown sugar
1/2 cup vinegar
2 cups ketchup
2 tbsp mustard
2 tbsp Worcestershire Sauce
6 slices of bacon
1 small onion, chopped

Directions:
- Fry bacon and onions together until bacon is cooked and onions are tender. Drain off grease.
- Add the rest together in a crock-pot and leave all day.
- On high these are ready to go in about 3 hours, low probably 5.
- Leave lid off about 30 minutes before serving and the liquid should thicken.

Tips from a Kitchen of Reality:
- This recipe serves about 10-15. Can be cut in half to serve fewer.
- Same recipe can be made in the oven - cook for 45 minutes @ 350 degrees.
- I hate onion, so I've made it without and it is still yummy!

Crock-Pot Chicken Tetrazzini

I love easy crock pot cooking-- being able to come home in the late afternoon and know your dinner is almost ready-- woohoo! This was a recipe I tried this winter-- because it is hot-- but I kept forgetting to give it to Rachel, so here it is.

Ingredients:
3 cups chicken broth
1 jar mushrooms or 8 oz container of sliced fresh mushrooms
1 large jar of pimentos
1 can cream of chicken or mushroom soup (I use whatever is in the pantry!)
2 cups cubed cooked chicken
salt and pepper
8-10 oz cooked thin spaghetti

Directions:
- Put all ingredients EXCEPT the pasta noodles into the crock pot and turn on low
- 30 minutes before ready to eat, cook pasta noodles, and add to crock pot mixture
- Serve and enjoy!

Notes:
- You can used canned chicken for this to save you some more time.
- I like some spice in my food- so we have added hot sauce to the tetrazzini once before
- After adding the noodles if it doesn't thicken up enough for you-- use a little cornstarch (or flour) mixed in cold water-- and wisk it in
- This is also a great recipe for a potluck!