Slow-Cooker Chicken Taco Stew

Yet another recipe from Kmay's blog, Food alla Putanesca. This is easy to make, hearty, and we almost always have all the ingredients on hand. The only changes I made to the source recipe was to use our home canned tomatoes and a can of chile peppers in place of the canned tomatoes with chiles. The recipe below reflects the changes.

Slow-Cooker Chicken Taco Stew

• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 16 ounce can black beans (drained and rinsed)
• 1 16 ounce can red beans (drained and rinsed)
• 1 16 ounce can corn (drained)
• 1 8 ounce can tomato sauce
• 2 quarts canned stewed tomatoes (roughly 30 ounces)
• 1 8 ounce can chiles
• 1 packet taco seasoning
• 2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

Mix everything together in a slow cooker except chicken. Lay chicken on top and cover. Cook on low for 6-8 hours or on high for 3-4 hours. 30 minutes before serving, remove chicken and shred. Return chicken to slow cooker and stir in.

Frito Soup

This is a quick and easy meal to prepare, and is one that we usually will make on our camping trips (we're RV campers). My husband got the recipe from one of his coworkers, and after a couple of slight modifications this is the way we prepare it. For me, it's essentially an excuse to dump all sorts of Fritos on top of my dinner, and don't let the photo fool you - I added more Fritos after I took the picture.

Frito Soup

• 1 pound ground beef, browned
• 1 can corn
• 1 can great northern beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 jar salsa
• 1 package taco seasoning
• 1 bag Fritos

Combine all ingredients except Fritos in a saucepan and heat through. Depending on the consistency of the salsa you use and desired thickness, you may want to drain the corn or add water to the soup. Serve topped with Fritos.

Chicken and Sausage Jambalaya

My husband is allowing me to blog one of his meals tonight. This is a recipe that my husband got from a co-worker years ago. The original recipe was different and over the years it has morphed into what we make today. It's not your traditional jambalaya, but it is a very tasty one-pot meal. Here at home we usually serve it with tortilla chips, when my husband makes it at work he usually serves cornbread.

Chicken and Sausage Jambalaya

• 2 1/2 to 3 pounds chicken (can be a whole chicken or boneless, skinless breasts)
• 2 cups water
• 1 pound ground sausage
• 1 cup uncooked rice
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 1 large garlic clove, minced
• 2 16 ounce cans stewed tomatoes, undrained
• 1 green pepper, chopped
• 1 hot pepper, chopped
• 1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 can corn, drained
• salt and pepper to taste

Boil the chicken in the water along with salt and pepper. Reduce heat. Cover and simmer for 20 minutes. Remove chicken, strain broth. If using a whole chicken, remove meat from bones and skin. Cut chicken into bite-sized pieces. If using chicken breasts you may want to add some bouillon to the water to make a more flavorful broth.

In the same pot, brown the sausage. Drain fat. Add in the chicken, broth and all remaining ingredients. Bring to a boil, cover and simmer for 30 to 40 minutes.

For the best flavor, use the same pot for all steps of the recipe.

Tortilla Black Bean Soup

I found this recipe on Martha Stewart's webpage. We're currently trying to cut down on the meat we eat, so this seemed like a good soup to try. I made very few adjustments, but it would be good with some ground sausage or shredded chicken added in if you wanted a heartier meal.

I made tortilla strips instead of crushing tortilla chips to make it more like a restaurant soup.

Tortilla Black Bean Soup

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 4 cloves minced garlic
• 1 1/2 teaspoons chili powder
• 2 15 ounce cans black beans, drained and rinsed
• 2 14.5 ounce cans diced tomatoes, undrained
• 1 cup water
• 1 14.5 ounce can chicken broth
• 1 10 ounce package frozen corn
• salt and pepper to taste
• tortilla strips

In a large saucepan, heat oil over medium heat. Cook garlic and chili powder until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add beans, tomatoes (with juice), broth, corn, and water; season with salt and pepper. Bring soup to a boil; reduce to a simmer. Let simmer 10 to 15 minutes or until flavors are well blended. Serve topped with tortilla strips.

Semi-homemade Tortilla Strips

• corn tortillas
• olive oil in a mister or cooking spray
• seasonings of your choice (I use a combination of things like chili powder, cayenne, pepper, garlic powder, salt)

Cut tortillas into strips. Arrange in a single layer on a baking sheet. Spray tops of tortillas with olive oil or cooking spray and shake on seasoning. Bake at 400 degrees for approximately 8 minutes, chips will crisp some as they cool (if using a dark baking sheet you may need to cook less).

Spicy Crockpot Beans

Another hit from KMay's blog. Beans, rice, and spicy? How can that go wrong? This was easy to prepare and tasted great. I had never used peppers in adobo sauce before and I have to say the smell worried me a bit. I'm not sure what it was, maybe the vinegar (which I don't like). The cooking did lessen the strength of the smell quite a bit, but I was still leery of my first bite. I was worried for nothing, it was delicious. So if you've never used this ingredient before either, give it a shot even if the smell concerns you!

Spicy Crock Pot Beans

• 2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
• 2 15 ounce cans kidney beans, drained and rinsed
• 2 4 ounce cans diced green chiles
• 2 chipotle chiles from adobo sauce, minced
• 1 envelope chicken gravy mix
• 1/2 teaspoon sugar
• 2 tomatoes, chopped

Place chicken in the bottom of your slow cooker. Add all remaining ingredients except tomatoes and cook on low for 6 to 8 hours. Thirty minutes before serving remove chicken, shred, and return to slow cooker. Stir in tomatoes. Serve over white rice.

Sausage Bean Casserole

I found this recipe in KMay's blog and since we are big fans of beans and sausage we had to give it a try. I've made quite a few recipes from this blog and haven't been disappointed yet. I made a few adjustments to the recipe to suit our tastes. It's an extremely easy dish to make, only dirties one pot, and tastes great as leftovers.

Sausage Bean Casserole

• 1 cup chopped onion (about one medium onion)
• 1 lb ground sausage
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 14 ounce can chicken broth
• 2 tablespoons brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons tomato paste
• 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1/2 teaspoon pepper
• 3 16 ounce cans great northern beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 bay leaf
• 1/8 teaspoon ground red pepper
• 2 cups frozen chopped spinach

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Heat a Dutch oven over medium high heat. Brown sausage, add onion and saute until soft. Add garlic, saute 2 minutes. Stir in chicken broth, scraping pan to loosen brown bits. Stir in brown sugar, tomato paste, thyme, pepper, beans and bay leaf. Add red pepper and spinach. Bring to a boil, cover, reduce heat and simmer for 5 minutes. Remove from heat, remove lid and bake for 15 minutes.