Crock-Pot Chicken with Black Beans

I saw this on a blog this evening and thought it looked simple and yummy. Think I'll try it this week.

Ingredients:

4-5 boneless chicken breasts
1 (15 1/2 oz) can black beans, rinsed and drained
1 (15 oz) can corn, drained
1 (15 oz) jar salsa, any kind
1 (8 oz) package cream cheese

Direction:

Take 4-5 FROZEN boneless chicken breasts and put into crock pot. Add black beans, salsa and corn.

Keep in crock pot on high for about 4-5 hours or until chicken is cooked. (My crockpot is always super hot, so I actually just put it on “Keep Warm” and leave the chicken in for 6-7 hours)

Add package of cream cheese (just throw it on top!) and let sit for about 1/2 hour.

Dinner This Week

Since we're going to Idaho next week, my mission is to save as much grocery money as possible for gas/etc. and eat what's in the cupboards. So this week may be interesting...

Sun - Grilled ham and cheese sandwiches
Mon - Taco salad
Tues - Chicken enchiladas and refried beans (I found a recipe to make the beans in the crock pot)
Wed - Homemade chili (all they way from dried beans)
Thurs - Probably some kind of pasta
Fri - OG or RR (A girl can't cook on her birthday, right?)
Sat - Porcupine meatballs from the freezer

Next week we'll be having leftovers and it'll really start the mystery dinners....

Cashew Chicken

Courtesy of the lovely Brenda Milton

Marinate Chicken at least 30 minutes prior to cooking.
2 Chicken breasts - cut into bite size pieces
1 Tbsp vegetable oil
2 Tbsp cornstarch
2 tsp sugar
2 tsp soy sauce
1/4 tsp garlic salt
1/3c water
Mix the above ingredients, pour over chicken and set aside for at least 30 minutes.

Served with rice - begin cooking rice while preparing

2 Tbsp Olive or Vegetable oil
2 tsp salt
2 inches of ginger root - peeled and sliced
1 Tbsp dry white wine or cooking sherry
2 Tbsp soy sauce
1/2 medium onion - chopped
1-2c carrots - chopped
1-2c celery - chopped
Handful of snow peas
1 can water chestnuts - sliced
1 Tbsp cornstarch
3/4c chicken broth or water
3 green onions - sliced
1/2c cashews
1c chow mein noodles - crispy

Put oil, salt and ginger root in a hot skillet or wok. Cook 2 minutes and remove ginger root. Drain chicken and add to skillet. Brown chicken, add sherry/wine, soy sauce and onion/ Stir fry 1 minute, add carrots and stir fry 1 minute, add celery and stir fry 1 minute, add snow peas and stir fry 1 minute, add 1/4c broth or water, cover, turn heat down and simmer for 2 minutes. Add water chestnuts and then thicken with cornstarch and remaining broth or water. Put on a platter and top with green onions and cashews. Serve with rice and crispy chow mein noodles.

Serves 4

BBQ Pork-on-a-stick

Got this from my friend Katrina Stewart back in college. It stinks up the fridge, but is worth it! Feeds a crowd well ;)

Slice 8-10 lbs of pork butt into thin slices

Marinade overnight:

1 Tbs pepper

1 thinly sliced fresh lemon

3 Tbs. Worchestershire

3/4 c sugar

2 c soy sauce

5 cloves finely minced garlic

Grill on skewers. just before cooked, generously dab with BBQ sauce:

3/4 c ketchup

1 tsp worchestire

dash of tobasco

1 1/4c sugar

1/4 c melted butter

Stire over medium heat until sugar is completely dissolved and sauce is well-blended.

Donut Muffins

These are my new favorite thing. Like a snickerdoodle all wrapped up in a muffin. I didn't have nutmeg so I sprinkled some cinnamon into the batter which tasted great. Also, maybe my muffin tins are small, but I made 12 instead of 10 easily. I think they'd be super fun as mini-muffins. Enjoy!

3/4 cup sugar
1 large egg
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
2 tsp baking power
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
1/4 cup vegetable oil
3/4 cup milk (low fat is fine)
1 tsp vanilla extract

2 tbsp butter, melted
1/2 cup sugar, for rolling

Preheat oven to 350F. Lightly grease a muffin tin with cooking spray or vegetable oil.
In a large bowl, beat together sugar and egg until light in color.
In a small bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, salt and nutmeg. Pour into egg mixture and stir to combine. Pour in vegetable oil, milk and vanilla extract.
Divide batter evenly into 10 muffin cups, filling each about 3/4 full.
Bake for 15-18 minutes, until a tester inserted into the center comes out clean.

While muffins are baking, melt butter and pour remaining sugar into a small bowl.
When muffins are done, lightly brush the top of each with some melted butter, remove from the pan and roll in sugar. Cool on a wire rack.

Makes 10 muffins.

Taco Seasoning

I got this recipe from here. Another great help if you run out or if you're making a huge batch of taco meat. :)

1/4 cup chili powder

1 1/2 tsp onion powder

1 1/2 tsp garlic powder

1 1/2 tsp cumin

1 1/2 oregano

1/2 tsp paprika

1 tsp salt

1 tsp pepper

Mix all the ingredients above in a small bowl. Keep fresh in an air tight container for up to 6 months.

Double or triple recipe as needed.

To use: substitute 2 rounded Tablespoons for 1 packet of taco seasoning.

**You can also kick up the heat a notch by adding in 1 teaspoon of red pepper flakes!!**

Dinner This Week

I have been really slacking on trying new recipes and posting things on here, but here's my menu for the week in case anyone is needing inspiration. It's not super exciting, but at least I have it planned out more than 10 minutes before I need dinner on the table. For me lately, that's success.

Mon - Hot wing pizza
Tues - Grilled chicken salads
Wed - Hamburger soup
Thurs - Grilled pork chops and Parmesan potatoes
Fri - Porcupine meatballs (from the freezer)
Sat - Chicken enchiladas (from the freezer)

Also, I'm starting to get smarter about how I prepare meals. Like last night, instead of just making the chicken and hot wing sauce I needed I made 4 times as much chicken and twice as much sauce. I have another pizzas worth of chicken and sauce frozen and some more chicken breasts cooked, chopped and frozen. These little things are helping me get ahead more since I am not really getting any major freezer cooking done. I'm just trying to double or triple anything I am already making (quickly) that will freeze well.

Homemade Baking Mix

I saw this tonight on a blog I was reading and thought it looked interesting. She is posting some recipes for a freezer meal day to go with it later. You're supposed to use it in place of Bisquick. Might be handy in a pinch. You can see the post here.

• 10 cups flour (I used freshly-ground whole-wheat. Doreen suggested doing half white and half whole-wheat.)
• 8 Tablespoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon cream of tartar
• 1 1/4 cup powdered milk
• 1 Tablespoon salt
• 1/4 cup sugar or turbinado
• 2 1/4 cup coconut oil or shortening

Mix all dry ingredients together in a large bowl. Cut in shortening or cold coconut oil until you have fine crumbs. Store in a tightly covered container in a cool place (if you use freshly-ground flour, store in the freezer). Use in place of Bisquick.

Hot Bean Dip!

Hey there, I feel so special contributing a recipe to Dinner Tonight!! This is a recipe I originally found on Allrecipes. I needed something to feed my girls at lunch time other than mac n cheese and peanut butter! (ya know, the lunch rut=) ...Bonus that it is beans since meat doesn't go over too well in our house.

FYI, I usually half it and bake it in an 8x8 dish, and I rarely fix it as it is written. I will add either sour cream OR cream cheese- whichever one I have- and never the full amount called for! Thankfully it is always eaten... so I hope you enjoy!

Hot Bean Dip

1 8 oz pkg cream cheese, softened

1 C sour cream

2 16 oz cans refried beans

1/2 pkg taco seasoning

5 drops hot pepper sauce

2 T dried parsley

1/4 C green onions, chopped

1 8 oz pkg shredded cheddar cheese

1 8oz pkg shredded monterey jack cheese

Preheat oven to 350. Blend cream cheese and sour cream. Mix in beans, taco seasoning, hot sauce, parsley, green onion and 1/2 of cheeses. Spread in a 9x13 baking dish. Top with remaining cheeses. Bake 20-30 minutes, until cheese is slightly browned.

Creamy Chicken Taquitos

I got this recipe from Our Best Bites if you want to see their instructions with pretty pictures. :) These have been a big hit at my house. I've already made a second batch for my freezer.

1/3 C (3 oz) cream cheese
1/4 C green salsa
1T fresh lime juice
1/2 t cumin
1 t chili powder
1/2 t onion powder
1/4 t granulated garlic
3 T chopped cilantro
2 T sliced green onions

2 C shredded cooked chicken
1 C grated pepperjack cheese

small corn tortillas
kosher salt
cooking spray


Heat oven to 425. Line a baking sheet with foil and lightly coat with cooking spray.

Heat cream cheese in the microwave for about 20-30 seconds so it's soft and easy to stir. Add green salsa, lime juice, cumin, chili powder, onion powder and granulated garlic. Stir to combine and then add cilantro and green onions. Add chicken and cheese and combine well.

You can prepare up to this step ahead of time. Just keep the mixture in the fridge.

Work with a few tortillas at a time and heat in the microwave until they are soft enough to roll without cracking. It helps to place them between damp paper towels. Usually 20-30 seconds will do it. If you find yours are cracking when you roll them or come unrolled right away, just try heating them longer and try the paper towel thing.

Place 2-3 T of chicken mixture on the lower third of a tortilla, keeping it about 1/2 inch from the edges.

Then roll it up as tight as you can.

Place seam side down on the baking sheet. Lay all of the taquitos on the baking sheet and make sure they are not touching each other. Spray the tops lightly with cooking spray or an oil mister and sprinkle some kosher salt on top.

Place pan in oven and bake for 15-20 minutes or until crisp and the ends start to get golden brown.