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.

Chicken Fried Rice

I have made this recipe a few times now. I originally got it from Joelen's Culinary Adventures. If you haven't checked out her blog yet, you should, she is quite the busy foodie. I never thought that I could make a decent fried rice until I followed her instructions. The other night we were stuck on what to prepare for dinner, and we realized we had leftover chicken, rice from the Pork Chops in Tomatoes we'd just made, and veggies in the freezer. So we made up a quick Chicken Fried Rice that hubby says is better than at the restaraunts. I skipped a few ingredients from the original (because of an upset stomach from too much movie popcorn and laziness), which is listed above, and have the recipe we used below. Even with the limited seasonings in my version it is an incredibly flavorful dish. You could easily make this with any variety of meats and veggies.

Chicken Fried Rice

• 1 cup cooked chicken, chopped into bite-sized pieces
• 2 eggs
• 3 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 1 cup frozen mixed vegetables
• 2 tablespoons soy sauce
• 2 cups day old rice

Heat oil in a wok or large fry pan. Stir fry chicken until crispy, push to side of pan. Crack the eggs into the pan and scramble until cooked through. Add rice to the pan, crumbling it up as you do so to seperate the grains. Add soy sauce. Add frozen vegetables and heat through.

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.

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.

Easy Chicken Pot Pie

This is a meal that I put together last minute. I wasn't going to blog it originally, but it turned out really well so I figured I'd go ahead and throw it up here. There's nothing fancy about it, but it was easy to make and tasted really good. Definitely a cold-weather comfort food.

Easy Chicken Pot Pie

• 3 medium russet potatoes, mashed
• 1 1/2 cups frozen mixed veggies, brought to room temperature
• 1 can cream of chicken soup
• 1/2 cup milk
• 2 boneless skinless chicken breasts, boiled and shredded
• 1 package Pillsbury Crescent Recipe Creations
• salt, pepper and thyme to taste

Spread mashed potatoes on the bottom of a 9x13 glass baking dish. Spread mixed veggies and shredded chicken over top. In a small saucepan, combine soup and milk and mix over medium-high heat until smooth and warmed through. Pour over top of chicken. Season with salt, pepper and thyme to taste. Unroll Recipe Creations and lay it over top of pot pie ingredients. Bake according to package directions (I think it was 350, but I don't recall exactly. I'll update this next time I make it) until golden brown, approximately 17-20 minutes.