Re: Casseroles and Crock-pot meals
 

Here is a very quick and easy meal to prepare if you like Mexican and mildly spicy.

1/2 bag of Santitas tortilla chips
1 can of Campbell's Chicken Verde soup (whisk with one can milk in a saucepan till warm)
2 cups of shredded cheese (more if you are a chees-a-holic like DH)
1 small package of thinly sliced pork steaks....(very cheap...paid about 2.50)
kosher salt, and fajita seasoning

I just browned the meat in a pan with the seasonings and then cut them into little pieces and set aside.
In a long baking dish, spray some pam, then put in the chips
toss the meat in with the chips
pour the soup over the chips, and add the shredded cheese on top

put in the oven at about 375 for about 15 min or so.

and serve! It tastes very similar to chicken enchiladas. serve with sour cream (optional) very cheap, and great for cold winter nights! enjoy!

Re: Casseroles and Crock-pot meals
 

Allison or anyone else who can answer this silly question :bag~

Are the kidney beans in the red beans & rice dried or canned?

I CAN'T wait to try this & the jambalaya!

:O Tina

Re: Casseroles and Crock-pot meals
 

I would think they would be canned. Dried beans take forever in the crockpot.

Fruity Chicken
 

This is yummmmy. Got it out of a slow-cooker magazine. The original calls for four drumsticks and four thighs, skin removed. I don't do bones :/, so I made it like this:

1 large onion, sliced
grated peel and juice of one orange (or a liberal sprinkling of dry orange peel and some OJ, LOL)
2 Tbsp each Worcestershire sauce, soy sauce, and Dijon mustard
1/2 tsp minced garlic (I used freeze-dried)
4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 cup dried fruit (they recommend and I used 1/2 c each of dried cranberries and snipped dried apricots)

Cover the bottom of your slow-cooker with the onion slices. Mix the orange peel, juice, W sauce, soy sauce, mustard, and garlic in a large bowl. Add the chicken and toss to coat. Dump chicken and sauce blend on top of the onion and arrange meat so it's in an even layer. Add fruit on top. Cover. Cook on low 8 hours.

I'm not a huge fan of onions, but after 8 hours they're so tender and caramelized...Mmmm. The one change I'll probably make next time I do this will be to add another 1/2 c of fruit. :)

Re: Casseroles and Crock-pot meals
 

Bonnie, that sounds so good!! I don't do bones either!! :grin

Re: Casseroles and Crock-pot meals
 

That sounds yummy! (I think I'll try it with bones, though, doesn't bother me and it's cheaper.)

What did you serve it with? Rice maybe? Green salad?

Re: Casseroles and Crock-pot meals
 

I put it over a 50/50 white/brown rice blend. And the pic in the magazine shows it with broccoli. :mrgreen

Re: Casseroles and Crock-pot meals
 

Oh, I cant wait to try some of these. Heres my easy stew.

2 cups of water
1 tsp salt
1 onion
stew meat or thin sliced steak.
cook until tender
drain

then add.
one can of V8 or veggie juice
one bag of frozen soup veggies
one potatoe
about 1/4 an onion for flavor
put the meat back in
cook on slow heat for about 4 or 5 hours.


cornbread for soup:

1 cup of corn meal
1 cup of self rising flour
one egg
1 can creamed corn
salt
pepper
sugar (only about 1/4 tsp of each)
mix.
preheat oven 300F
oil a cast iron skillet or baking pan
put in oven for ten minutes to heat
take it out and put your mixture in (this gives it a crunchy crust)
back into the oven. bake for one hour or until golden brown or cracked.

Re: Casseroles and Crock-pot meals
 

wanted to share this link...
http://www.a-crock-cook.com/slow-cooker-recipe.html

Re: Casseroles and Crock-pot meals
 

Thanks for the link! :tu

Yummy Crock Pot Chicken and Next Night Casserole
 

Two Recipes, Can be made back to back.

I originally got this recipe as a pork recipe from a menu mailer, but I modified it a lot and made it my own and use chicken instead of pork.
The best part is that my favorite Chicken Tortilla Casserole can be made in no time the next night or so!

Green Chile Chicken
Cooking Oil
A couple pounds of Chicken Breast
1 small Green Pepper
1 small Onion
1/2 cup of chicken broth
1/4 tsp Garlic Powder or can use fresh
1 small can of Green Chile Salsa (Salsa Verde)

Heat a little oil in pan. Season chicken with salt/pepper and
Brown chicken on both sides in hot pan.
Put chicken in crock pot.
In same pan, saute green peppers and onions until kind of soft, add garlic.
Add peppers, onions and garlic to crock pot, and pour chicken broth and salsa verde over it.
Cook on low for 6 hours.
I shred it when it is done.
We love this chicken! You can eat it plain, with beans and rice on the side, use it for tortilla filling, DH likes it with cheese and tortilla chips. Enchiladas, whatever. You could probably use it with white beans and a little more broth and make white chili, too.
It is really good. My DH eats seconds and thirds and he usually does not like white meat chicken especially in a crock pot!

With the leftovers, I can make my favorite chicken tortilla casserole, but with shortcuts.
Chicken Tortilla Casserole

2 cups cooked chicken breast, shredded or chopped
1/2 cup each onion and celery, chopped
1/2 cup chicken broth
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 can green chilis
1 - 1 1/2 cup each monterey jack and chedder cheeses, shredded
1/2 bag tortilla chips or 1 pkg corn tortillas, cut into thin strips
favorite salsa (red)

Put chicken in large bowl. In pan, saute onion and celery in broth until tender. ( I have been skipping this and just omitting the celery if I am using the chicken from before, I also omitted the chilis for cost reasons, but you could add them if you want)
Add to chicken. Add can of soup, chilis and half the cheeses.
Add tortilla chips or strips. If it is too dry, add more broth. If it is too wet/soggy, add more chips. This is really, really easy to stretch by just using more chips and more broth until you get as much as you need. With the leftover crock pot chicken there is usually enough broth I don't have to add more unless I want to stretch it with a lot of chips.

Spread in pan. Top with salsa and remaining cheeses. Bake at 350 until bubbly.

Re: Casseroles and Crock-pot meals
 

I just made the Red Beans and Rice w/ Sausage recipe and dh really liked it! I modified the recipe a bit. It says to use 3 qts of water, but that seemed like too much so I only used 1 1/2 qts. I also cooked the rice in the stew instead of seperately.

Re: Casseroles and Crock-pot meals
 

Here is a healthful Cassorole I made up one day.

Chicken/Millet Cassorole

My kids love this and have no idea how healthy it is for them.


Chicken breast
Broccoli 1-bag frozen or 1 pound fresh
Noodles (whole wheat is healthier)
Millet
Alfredo Sauce either buy a package or Make your own.
Fresh Garlic 3 cloves or as to your prefrence
Fresh Onion chopped 1 medium will do
Pepper and Salt to taste
butter
Cheese


In a big sauce pan with a lid.
Start Cooking Millet it takes 30 min to cook. 20 min into cooking Millet add broccoli and let it cook. This step can be adjusted according to your prefrence for doneness on broccoli.
Then after you get the millet on get your chicken going. Chop into little pieces. Add to the millet and broccoli mixture. By this time you probably can turn the mixture to low or warm.
Cook some noodles up and then add that to the mixture.
Make your sauce or packet and add it too the mixture. This is the time to saute your onions and garlic if using a packet just add it to it. If homemade sauce then your onions and garlic will be sauted first.*see below.
Stir it all up and add cheese. Put the lid back on it and let the cheese melt a bit.
Serve with Salt and Pepper to taste. And Garlic Bread to go.


*Home made Sauce. Saute Onions and Garlic, when they carmalize good and are just right add a bit of flour, then add milk or cream which ever you prefer. Stir it tell its thickned a bit add it to the mixture. In a pinch you can use powdered milk just make it up ahead of time. When it's time to add the milk just add it instead.


Another good classic I make

Shepards Pie

Ingredients:

2 -3 lbs Hamburger Meat (lean) Or Ground Turkey

1 med Onion

2 stalks Celery

1/2 Green Pepper (1 whole pepper if small.

5 cups Mashed Potatoes

1 can 12 oz Tomato Paste

12 oz Cheddar/ or American Cheese

1 tsp Garlic

1 tsp Onion Powder

1-1/2 tsp Oregano

Salt and Pepper to taste

1/4 cup water

Preparation Time:Appox 45 min
Directions:

Step 1 ...Cut up your celery and onion in bite size pieces, saute in a little oil, until onion is translucent. Remove vegetables, add hamburger and cook until done. (If you are using Ground Turkey add directly to the pan of celery and onion and pepper, cook until done, no need to drain).

Drain grease and return hamburger to pan with the celery and onion. Add all your spices and 1/4 cup water. Let simmer 10 minutes. Add your tomato paste mixing well.

Step 2 ..Instant potato's work best with this recipe since it is a quick meal for an entire family. Make your potato's according to the directions, approximate 5 cups. (For added flavor to your potatoes, add some onion powder, salt and pepper, or what ever spices you like. (A TBL of mayonaise will make them rich in flavor and very few know why your potato's are so great!)

In a casserole dish place the meat mixture on the bottom, cover with potatoes and top with the cheese.

Bake on 350 degree's for 20 minutes. Or you may put in microwave to a few minutes to melt the cheese!

Careful: will be hot!!

Hint: Better made the day before or make and freeze for another night.

Re: Casseroles and Crock-pot meals
 

Joy, those sound wonderful! :yum
Question - with the homemade alfredo sauce, do you add parmesan cheese? And is the cheese referred to in that recipe parmesan or cheddar? Just wondering. I will probably actually try these so I wanted to know! :)

Re: Casseroles and Crock-pot meals
 

You can use what ever cheese you want I think Parmesan fresh grated is the best but in a pinch about any thing will work. You can even use non dairy cheese too I done that before. Hope that helps you out. I love making homeade sauces they go further and taste so good to me.