Crockpot Chicken Tacos (With leftovers for Tortilla Soup)

This is the easiest way that I know to do flavorful shredded chicken for tacos, enchiladas, nachos, and quesadillas. You can drain the liquid off for serving to picky children!
Ingredients:
1 envelope taco seasoning
6 boneless frozen chicken breasts
1 16oz jar of salsa (I like to use Pace Salsa Verde)


Dump everything into a crock pot and give it a little stir to blend the seasoning with the salsa. Cook on high for 4 to 6 hours or on low for 6 to 8 hours. When done, the chicken should shred easily when stirred with a fork.
For tacos, serve the chicken with soft flour tortillas, lettuce, shredded cheese and sour cream. This is very versatile and can be used for enchiladas, nachos, tostadas, etc. Any leftover chicken can then be used for tortilla soup (make it the next day or freeze the chicken to use at a later time). It is fun to put the ingredients for the soup in a basket and take it as a "soup kit" to give to a friend.

Tortilla Soup Ingredients:
approximately 1 cup of leftover chicken taco meat
1 32. oz box of chicken broth
1 can of Milder Ro-Tel (tomatoes with chilies)
1 can of corn
2 tablespoons fresh chopped cilantro
1 tablespoon lime juice
Dump everything in a pot and simmer for about 30 minutes. Garnish with crumbled tortilla chips and shredded cheese (Mexican blend).

Ham-and-Bean Soup

Making this recipe was a real victory for me! Jared loved it and that was my main goal. I had a leftover ham bone from a Honeybake Ham from our dinner group the week before. For super bowl weekend I made 5 different kinds of soups ("souper bowl") and had a bunch of people for dinner. I made this one and it was a big hit. I ended up simmering it longer, because I needed it to- then put it in the crock pot on warm to serve. You can freeze a ham bone and leftover ham until you are ready to make the soup. It is great to serve this with corn bread of corn muffins.

Ingredients

• 1 (16-ounce) package dried great Northern beans
• 3 cups chopped cooked ham
• 1 large sweet onion, diced
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 ham bone
• 2 (32-ounce) containers chicken broth
• 1/2 teaspoon dried crushed red pepper

Preparation

Sort and wash beans. Place beans in a 6-quart Dutch oven; add water 2 inches above beans, and soak 8 hours. Drain.
Sauté ham, onion, and garlic in hot oil in a Dutch oven over medium-high heat 5 minutes or until onion is tender.
Add beans, ham bone, chicken broth, and red pepper. Bring to a boil; cover, reduce heat, and simmer, stirring occasionally, 1 1/2 hours or until beans are tender and soup has thickened. 

Chicken and Pasta with Basil Cream Sauce

This is an Emeril Lagasse recipe. I checked out his new book from the library "Sizzling Skillets," and this is from the casserole section. It seemed really basic, but turned out really nice. It would be a great to take to a potluck or to bring to someone. I used jarred pesto rather than making my own. I also used asiago cheese on the top-mmmm.

Ingredients:
1 lb. cavatappi pasta
Salt and black pepper
3/4 cup EVOO
1 lb. boneless, skinless chicken breast, cut into bite-size pieces
1 cup diced onion
2 tsp minced garlic
9 oz. spinach, tough stems removed, roughly chopped
1/2 cup toasted pine nuts
1/4 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
1 1/4 tsp lemon zest
1 cup packed fresh basil leaves
3 tbs unsalted butter
3 tbs all-purpose flour
3 1/2 cups whole milk
8 oz. grated Parmesan cheese
Directions:
Cook the pasta in a large pot of salted boiling water according to package directions, but undercook it by about 2 minutes. Drain, drizzle with 1 tbs EVOO, toss to coat, and set aside.
Grease a 9×13″ baking dish and set aside.
Heat 1 tbs EVOO in a large saute pan over medium heat. Add the chicken, season with salt and pepper, and cook, stirring, until the chicken is opaque, about 2 minutes. Remove from the pan and set aside.
Add another tbs of oil to the pan and add the onion. Cook until tender, about 4 minutes, then add 1 tsp garlic and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Now add the spinach and season again with salt and pepper. Cook for a couple minutes, until the spinach begins to wilt. Turn off the heat and add the chicken back in. Set aside.
Make the pesto: combine the pine nuts, crushed red pepper, 1/4 tsp lemon zest, and remaining 1 tsp garlic in your food processor. Pulse until blended. Use a rubber spatula and scrape down the sides of the bowl. Add the basil leaves, salt and pepper and turn the processor on. Stream in 1/2 cup EVOO through the feed tube until it’s well blended. Set aside.
Preheat the oven to broil.
In a medium stock pot over medium heat, melt the butter. Add in the flour and whisk for a minute. Don’t burn it. Whisk in the milk, a little at a time, and cook until thickened. Remove from the heat and stir in the pesto, 3/4 of the Parmesan, and season with salt and pepper.
In a large mixing bowl, or in your saute pan, combine the pasta, chicken-spinach mixture, pesto cream sauce, and remaining 1 tsp lemon zest. Toss to mix well. Pour into the prepared baking dish. Sprinkle with the remaining Parmesan cheese and broil until the top is bubbly and browning.

Oven-Roasted Chicken with Garlic Marjoram Butter

I have been watching (late at night) old episodes of Curtis Stone's "Take Home Chef," where Chef Curtis meets someone in a grocery store who is cooking for someone. He buys their groceries then goes home and cooks a delicious meal for them (really surprising their spouse/kids/dinner guests). It's a great little cooking show since he never knows what he's going to get himself into. The result is always an awesome meal. I tried this recipe for roast chicken- it was really easy to do and really flavorful. I served it with a salad and a new taste- steamed indigo blue potatoes.

Take Home Chef, Episode 3: Mary's Menu

INGREDIENTS

2 carrots, peeled and coarsely chopped

2 celery stalks, coarsely chopped

1 large onion, coarsely chopped

1/2 head garlic

1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature

1/2 bunch of fresh marjoram, leaves finely chopped (about 2 tablespoons)

3 garlic cloves, crushed

Two 4 1/2 to 5 pound whole organic frying chickens, giblet sacks from cavities removed and discarded

PREPARATION:

1. Preheat the oven to 400°F/205°C.  Place the carrots, celery, onion and ½ head of garlic into a large roasting pan (these vegetables will be the bed for the chickens to roast on and discarded after).
2. Mix the butter, marjoram, and crushed garlic cloves in a small bowl to blend. Rinse the chickens with cold water and pat dry with paper towels. Sprinkle the chicken cavities with salt and pepper.
3. Using your thumb and index finger, separate the skin from the chicken breasts. Place the butter under the skin on the breast meat. Pat the top of the skin to spread the butter over the breast meat. Truss the chickens (tie the legs together with kitchen twine).  Place the chickens on top of the vegetables in the roasting pan. Sprinkle the chickens and vegetables with salt and pepper and roast for 1 ¼ - 1 ½ hours, basting occasionally. 
4. When the chickens are done, their skin will be crisp and golden and an instant-read meat thermometer will register 180°F/ 82°C when inserted into the thickest part of the thighs.  Remove the chickens from the roasting pan and place on your favorite platter.  Pour the pan drippings into a 2-cup measuring cup. Spoon off the fat that accumulates atop the pan juices.  Serve the chicken with the pan juices.

Ultimate Cheese Fondue

For New Year's Eve we did the fondue meal- all three courses including this ultimate cheese fondue. We had some awesome pretzel bread to dip into the cheese, along with Italian bread, veggies and apples.

Cheese Fondue
submitted by Brittany

2 cups grated Swiss cheese (I used baby Swiss which was very mild)
2 cups grated Monterey Jack cheese
1 3/4 cups chicken broth
1 clove garlic, minced
3 Tb cornstarch
Dash of pepper
3/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
1/4 cup chicken broth
French bread, cubed

Melt Swiss cheese and Monterey Jack cheese in 1 3/4 cups chicken broth with garlic added.  Keep broth barely under a boil, stirring until cheese is completely melted (it will be stringy).

Combine cornstarch, pepper, salt, nutmeg, Worcestershire sauce in 1/4 cup chicken broth.  Add to cheese mixture, stirring until smooth.  Put fondue mixture into a preheated fondue pot and keep at temperature hot enough to maintain desired texture without scorching.

Cut French bread into chunks. Sourdough rolls are great too.  Cut so each bite size piece has a bit of crust on it. It is a good idea to cut the bread and leave it out in the open for awhile before dipping into the fondue.  The fresher the bread, the more difficult it is to successfully dunk in the cheese fondue.  All that is left to do is eat and enjoy!

Homemade Oreos

I have made these a few other times, but made them again just last night. Love these- and I just used vanilla butter cream frosting for the filling since I always have some in the fridge. They are super sweet and yummy. I also make them a little smaller than called for since they are so rich and delicious. This particular recipe is from mycupofcake.com, but I also just recently saw it in a Paula Deen Christmas cookbook, but her recipe is doubled for a large crowd.

Homemade Oreos

      Cookies:                                                Filling:
        1 Devils Food Cake mix                         4 oz cream cheese
        2 eggs                                                       ¼ cup butter
        1/3 cup oil                                                 1 ½ cups powder sugar*
                                                                          ½ teaspoon vanilla 
       Yield: 24 cookies, 12 sandwiches

        Directions:
            1.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
            2.    Mix Devil’s food cake mix, eggs, and oil together.  The dough will be very thick.
            3.    On a greased cookie sheet or on parchment paper, place dough balls about the size of a golf ball.  You will 
            need to make sure they are round and then pat them down with your fingers.
            4.    Bake for 7-10 minutes.  Wait until just after they start to “crack” on the top. 
            5.    Let cool on sheet for 2-3 minutes and then remove.
            6.   Filling: Beat cream cheese and butter together until smooth.  Add vanilla. Add as much powdered sugar as 
            desired. 
            7.    Refrigerate filling in Tupperware or in a piping bag until firm and cookies are cooled.
            8.   Frost cookies and make into sandwiches. 
            9.   Refrigerate cookies for at least 2 hours and serve chilled.  Trust me, this makes them much better. 

Crispy Butterfinger Cookies

These cookies from the blog "Two Peas and Their Pod" are packed full of good stuff including Rice Krispies, chopped Butterfinger candy bars, and oats and chocolate chips. They spread thin and bake up crispy- true to their name. If you like the flavor of Butterfingers, you will like these!

Crispy Butterfinger Cookies

Yield: 2 1/2 dozen cookies

Cook Time: 10-12 minutes

Ingredients:

1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup light brown sugar
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup old fashioned oats
1 ¼ cups Rice Krispies cereal
1 cup chocolate chips
1 cup chopped Butterfinger candy bars

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat and set aside.
2. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside. Combine butter and sugars in the bowl of a stand mixer. Beat until smooth and creamy, about two minutes. On low, add in egg and vanilla extract. Beat until combined.
3. Slowly add in the dry ingredients. Stir in the oats, cereal, chocolate chips, and Butterfinger chunks. Don’t over mix. You don’t want to crush the cereal too much.
4. Scoop dough into balls, about a tablespoon each, and place on prepared baking sheet. Bake cookies for 10-12 minutes, or until edges are slightly brown, the centers should still be soft. Allow cookies to cool for 2-3 minutes on the baking sheet. Move cookies to a cooling rack and cool completely.

• Chocolate Fudge Butterfinger Cookies from Picky Palate
• Butterfinger Cookies from Confessions of a Cookbook Queen
• Homemade Butterfingers from In Katrina’s Kitchen

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This delicious recipe brought to you by Two Peas & Their Pod
http://www.twopeasandtheirpod.com/crispy-butterfinger-cookies/