Crock Pot Chicken w/Black Beans and Cream Cheese

I like to search recipezaar when I'm in the mood to try something new. I always search by rating. If 900 people give a recipe and average of 4 1/2 out of 5 stars it must be pretty good. I was looking for something easy because I had a busy Saturday ahead of me and the missionaries coming over for dinner at 5:00. Enter Crock Pot Chicken w/Black Beans and Salsa.
It's not the most appetizing to look at, but you won't care once you taste it. And it's so easy!

4-5 frozen boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 (15.5 oz.) can black beans, drained
1 (15 oz.) can corn, drained
1 (15 oz.) jar salsa, any kind
1 (8 oz. ) package cream cheese

Place FROZEN chicken breasts in crock pot.
Add beans, corn and salsa.
Cook on high for 4-5 hours or until chicken in cooked.
Add cream cheese (just throw it on top) and let sit until melted.
Stir & enjoy!

This is excellent with sweet corn bread.


***Note: Someone on recipezaar commented that using hot salsa would give this more flavor. I used wal-mart's Great Value brand of hot salsa and it was excellent. The next time I made it, I used Pace's Picante Hot Salsa. It was SO HOT that we couldn't eat it. We tried. We really hate to throw away food, but we simply couldn't eat it. So, if you're sensitive to heat, be careful of the salsa you choose.

nothing new....

.....but still delicious! My favorite way to do potatoes is roasting them with the lipton onion soup mix. I love it this way, I especially love using the leftovers as hashbrowns the next morning!

Oh, one other thing I like to do with potatoes is to do "baked" potatoes in my crockpot. I wash them off, pile them in the crockpot, sprinkle with a little salt (it helps the skins get a little crunchy) and cook them on low until they are nice and soft. This is a great way to have baked potatoes in summer, you don't heat up your whole house! I make a whole bunch and then I can use them in other stuff for a few days, once again, they make awesome hashbrowns the next morning!! Just dice them up, put them in a fry pan with a little olive oil, or butter, and salt. Then let them get brown and crispy! This is the only way my three year old will eat potatoes, and it is SO SO easy!!

Roast and Salsa Chicken

I love my crock pot. For some reason it's so much easier to throw some things into the pot sometime in the morning or early afternoon (or nap time!!) and have it be ready by the time my husband comes home then it is to try and cook something the hour before he comes home. In that hour it seems like the kids are trying everything they can to make getting dinner cooked a nightmare! And I also love crock pot meals when we have the late church time because it's ready right when you get home.
Anyway... here are a couple easy things I make in my crock pot.

Roast:

Beef roast (I usually use Round or Chuck and for my family I get about 3lbs)
1 envelope dry Lipton onion soup mix
Potatoes- chopped into big chunks (I usually use about 3)
Onion- chopped into big chunks (I only use one)
About a cup of water or a whole can of Coke

Put roast in crock pot. Put potatoes and onions around/on top of the roast. Sprinkle soup mix on top of roast and then pour in water or coke. Cook on low for at least 6 hours (or high for at 3-4 hours). Cut up (or spoon out) and serve. Put the potatoes and onions in a bowl and have as a side dish.
When I do this in the morning I just use water and let it cook for 6-8 hours on low. But sometimes I'll do it the night before and use the coke and let it cook overnight and all day on low. The longer it cooks the more tender it will be and the coke makes it even more tender. And I've been told that the caffeine cooks out. So for tender roast- low for 6-8 hours. For super tender roast- overnight with the coke! Yum! It sounds weird, but I promise you can't taste the coke!

OK and this is the easiest thing I make!

Salsa Chicken:

Put as much chicken as you want into a crock pot. Pour a jar (or just enough to cover the chicken) of salsa over the chicken. Cook on high for about 4 hours or low for about 6 hours. Serve over rice! EASY!

Chalupa

I remember this recipe from when I was little. It's fun for kids to dress up with toppings.


3 # pork loin roast
1 # raw pinto beans
2 cloves garlic, chopped
½ small onion, chopped
2 Tbsp chili powder
1 Tbsp cumin
1 Tbsp oregano
4-7 oz diced green chili
3 tsp salt


1. Soak beans in water overnight.
2. Place all ingredients in crock pot. Add enough water to cover beans and cook on low 6 hours, or till meat falls apart. Add water as needed.
3. Remove meat from pan, shred and discard any fat. Put meat back into pan and cook without a lid for 1 more hour.
4. Serve hot with tortilla chips, shredded cheese, olives, tomatoes, sour cream, etc.

Serves 8-10

I love crock pot meals!

I was excited to see that the "ingredient" of the week is crock pot meals. They are so great, and so easy! I have so many crock pot recipes that I love. I will put some of my favorites.

Shredded French Dip

3 lb boneless beef chuck roast
1 can French onion soup
1 can beef consomme
1 can beef broth (all cans 10 1/2 oz)
1 tsp beef bouillon granules
8-10 French or Italian rolls, split
shredded parmesan (or any kind of cheese you like)

1. Halve the roast and place it in slow cooker. Combine the soup, comsomme, broth and bouillon; pour over roast. Cover and cook on low 6-8 hours.
2. Remove meat and shred with 2 forks. Serve on rolls.
This is not only sooo good, but super easy. Also, Rob and I love cheese, so we split the rolls, put shredded cheese on them, and broiled them for about 45 seconds. (For those of you who are nervous about broil, just try it once, and keep an eye on it until the cheese is melted to your liking. Also, use the leftover juice in the crock pot for your dipping sauce. So good!

Cherry Delight

21-oz can cherry pie filling (I would 1 1/2 this)
1 pkg yellow cake mix
1/2 c butter, melted
1/3 c walnuts, optional

Place pie filling in greased slow cooker
2. Combine dry cake mix and butter (mixture will be crumbly). Sprinkle over filling. Sprinkle with walnuts.
3. Cover and cook on low 4 hours, or high for 2 hours.
4. Allow to cool, then serve with vanilla ice cream.

Desserts in the crock pot are delish!

Country Scalloped Potatoes and Ham

8 potatoes, thinly sliced
1 onion, chopped
1 lb fully-cooked ham, cubed
1 oz pkg dry country-style gravy mix
10 3/4 oz can cream mushroom soup
2 c water
2 c shredded cheddar cheese

1. Combine potatoes, onion, and ham in lightly greased slow cooker
2. Combine gravy mix, mushroom soup, and water. whisk until combined. Pour over potatoes.
3. Cover. Cook on low 7-9 hours or high 3-4 hours
4. Top with cheese during last 30 minutes of cooking.

Hope you like them! These are so easy and yummy!

Cream Cheese Chicken

I got this recipe from my Blog friend Emily. She seriously has got the best recipe's. Everything that I have made from her blog is outstanding. Darian could not stop talking about how good it was and the kids wanted the leftovers for breakfast instead of cereal. I will definitely be making this in the future.

Cream Cheese Chicken

4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
1 package dry Italian dressing mix
1/2 cup water

Cook these ingredients for 4 hours on low in your crock pot.Then add:

8 oz. Cream Cheese
1 can Cream of Chicken soup

Cook one more hour on low or until sauce is bubbly. If sauce is too thick add more water!Serve over Rice, Mashed Potatoes, or Noodles

Crockpot Ribs

Okay, since I didn't get to the crockpot post I thought that I'd double the fun with a crockpot-pasta post. We love this easy recipe and it's great for Sundays (I make it in the crockpot on Saturday and stick it in the fridge until Sunday).

3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup soy sauce
1/2 cup ketchup
1/4 cup honey
2 Tbls cider or white wine vinegar (or whatever)
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 tsp. ground ginger
1 tsp. salt
5 lbs. country-style pork ribs (I usually cut this in half and keep the sauce the same)
1 medium onion, sliced (I use the dehydrated ones)
1 Tbls sesame seeds (optional)
2 Tbls chopped green onions (Also optional)

In a large bowl, combine the first 8 ingredients. Add ribs and turn to coat. Place ribs and sauce in slow cooker. Cover and cook on low for 5-6 hours. Place ribs on a serving platter; sprinkle with sesame seeds and green onions. We serve the ribs over egg noodles, but rice is also great.

1 Dish Chicken Supper

I got this recipe from my mom and we like it...and I LOVE that it is so easy...I usually double the recipe so that I have leftovers.

4 boneless chicken breasts (cut in half)
1 can cream of chicken soup
1/3 cup milk
1 pkg. stovetop stuffing mix and seasoning
1 2/3 cup water

Place chicken in slow cooker. Combine soup and milk and pour over chicken. Combine stuffing, seasoning, and water. Spoon over chicken. Cover and cook on low 6-8 hours.

Crock-Pot Stew

I love this recipe! But since I've been in Minnesota I have had bad luck buying stew meat. I can always find it but it's not the same as what I used to buy in Utah, it's way more fatty and hard to chew. So if it doesn't look like nice big chunks of cut up beef I would either find something that is just chunks of cut up beef instead of the "stew meat" or get a round roast and cut it up yourself. It really makes a difference.

Crock-Pot Stew

1lb stew meat
4 potatoes – cut into bite size chunks
4 carrots - bite size chunks
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 can tomato soup
1 pkg dry Lipton onion soup mix

Mix together and slow cook in crock pot until meat and potatoes are tender. About 6-8 hours on Low.

Creamy Italian Chicken

Here is my favorite recipe with chicken in it. If you don't like mushrooms you can leave them out.
Creamy Italian Chicken
4 chicken breasts
¾ pkg. of dry Good Seasonings Italian dressing
(Rub seasonings into chicken, reserve extra seasonings and add if needed later)
½ cup chicken broth

Add above to crock pot and cook 4 hours-high.
8oz cream cheese
1 can cream chicken soup
2 T. flour
10-16 oz. fresh sliced mushrooms

Add mushrooms to crockpot. In seperat bowl cream together cream cheese, soup and flour and pour over chicken. Cook 1 hour more. If you are in a hurry, you may add all ingredients at beginning. The fresh mushrooms will go dark if cooked that long, so switch to canned or add mushrooms later. Serve over hot rice or lightly buttered egg noodles.

Crock Pot Index

• 1 Dish Chicken Supper
• Apple Butter
• Chalupa
• Cherry Delight
• Country Scalloped Potatoes and Ham
• Cream Cheese Chicken
• Creamy Italian Chicken
• Crock Pot Chicken with Beans and Cream Chs
  
• Crock Pot Ribs
• Crock Pot Stew
• Salsa Chicken
• Shredded French Dip
• Roast
• Yummy Chicken (for tostadas, taco salad, or fajitas)