Swiss-Bacon BBQ Chicken

It's been a long time since any of us "cooks" have posted, so I thought I'd start us back up with an easy fall crock pot recipe.  We tried this one just a few days ago, and everyone ate it.  You have to like BBQ sauce, however.

Ingredients:
4-6 chicken breasts
1 (28 oz) bottle of your fave BBQ sauce
6 slices of swiss cheese
6 crispy cooked strips of bacon

What to do:
Put chicken in crock pot and cover with BBQ sauce.  Cook on low for 8 hours.  Top each chicken breast with a strip (or two) of bacon.  I broke each piece in half and placed them side-by-side on top.  Then top with a slice of swiss cheese.  Cook on high for 15-30 minutes until cheese is melted.  Serve with a side dish of rice or pasta and enjoy.

Hubby's addition: He would prefer more bacon and swiss.  I would have to agree on the bacon part, but of course, I could eat bacon for every meal...

Mandy's Creamy Chicken Tacos/Mexican Chicken Chili

I figured since this meal could be eaten as tacos with tortillas or in a bowl as chili, I'd name it both.  I got this recipe from my friend Mandy Boker (yes, I know she's married now, but all my sorority sisters will forever go by their maiden names in my head).  Anyway, she gave me this UBER easy and tres tasty crockpot meal and it was good!  Hubby loved it.  Beware--it makes a lot.

What you need:
4 chicken breasts
1 full can of salsa (I used almost 2)
1 can  corn, drained
1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 brick cream cheese

What you do:
Dump everything into the crockpot EXCEPT the cream cheese.  Cook on low for 8 hours, shredded chicken after about 6 or 7 hours.  After 8 hours, stir in cream cheese until melted.

Put desired amount into corn or flour tortillas, or place in a bowl and happily eat with a spoon.  Top with cilantro, tomato, and sour cream (or other desired toppings) and enjoy. 

crockpot chicken

4 cans of creamy soup such as cream of broc, celary, chicken, onion, ect
dash of salt, pepper, dyhydrated onion, or any other "season" you would like
chicken breast
refridgerated biscuits (large and flaky)

Mix soup and season together, place in crockpot. lay chicken on top. cook 6-8 hours on low. With 45 min remaining place uncooked biscuit on top.

Garlic and Chicken

What you need:
4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 garlic bulb; cloves separated and peeled
3/4 cup chicken broth
1/4 cup caesar dressing
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese

What to do:
Heat a large non-stick skillet on medium-high heat.  Make sure skillet is hot before adding the chicken and garlic.  Cook for 2 minutes and flip chicken, cook an additional 2 minutes.  Stir in broth and dressing.  Cover and cook for 8 more minutes, flipping chicken half way through.  Turn off heat and top with cheese.  Let stand for a minute or two before serving.

While the garlic might seem like it would be overwhelming due to how much you use, believe me...it's subtle and tasty.  I served this with onion roasted potatoes and ranch-slaw.  Pretty good (will upload a pic of our meal tomorrow).

Artichoke Chicken

1 10-13 oz can of artichokes

1 C Parm Cheese

3/4 C Mayo (not Miracle Whip)

Garlic Chopped (to taste)

Skinless, boneless chicken breasts

bread crumbs

Drain and chop the artichokes. Combine with cheese, mayo, and garlic. Spread on top of chicken breasts. Sprinkle with breadcrumbs. Cook in 350 degree oven for about 30 minutes (I used large chicken breasts so it took longer....I tested with a thermometer and it took about 40-45 minutes). The last few minutes you can put in broiler to crisp bread crumbs.

I served with a vegetable and rice pilaf. Enjoy!

Creamy Pasta with Chicken, Bacon, and Tomato

We just had this tonight and it was mmm, mmm, good!

3 cups (uncooked) bowtie pasta
3 chicken breasts, cubed
6 strips of bacon (cooked and crumbled)
1 can (14 oz) Italian diced tomato (undrained)
6 oz cream cheese (brick)
1/2 cup water
pepper (to taste)
grated or shredded Parmesan cheese

Cook bowtie pasta according to package.

Cook chicken over medium-high heat until cooked through. Add next five ingredients and mix together until melted and cooked well. Drain pasta and add to sauce. Top with Parm cheese and ENJOY!

I think I'd like to use more bacon, honestly.

**This is a little different version from a kraftfoods.com recipe**

Creamy Chicken Bacon with Penne Pasta

I made this last night, and it was pretty good.

3 chicken breasts
3 pieces of bacon (I used 6--as I love bacon)
2 cups (uncooked) penne pasta
1/2 cup chive onion cream cheese spread
3/4 cup chicken broth
1/2 cup cherry tomato, halved
2 green onion, diced

Wrap chicken in bacon, and cook on medium-high heat for 5-7 minutes on each side. Meanwhile, boil water and cook pasta according to directions. Remove chicken from skillet, set aside, and keep warm. Add chicken broth and cream cheese in skillet (wipe out chicken/bacon juices) and wisk until mixed and heated evenly. Add onion and tomato and cook additional two minutes. Drain pasta and add cream cheese sauce. Serve on a plate and top with chicken. Enjoy.

**This recipe is from kraftfoods.com**

Cilantro-Peanut Chicken and Rice

Pete made this dish a couple nights ago, and we really liked it. It's definitely different, but had a good flavor, and a bit of a kick (so don't make it if you don't like spicy).

Ingredients:
1/2 C chicken broth
1/2 C Italian dressing
1/2 C chopped (fresh) cilantro
1/2 C peanuts
1 serrano pepper (remove stem)
1 onion (chopped)
4 chicken breasts
2 C cooked white rice
Sour Cream

In blender combine chicken broth, 1/4 Cup Italian dressing, cilantro, peanuts, and serrano. Blend well.

In skillet, heat over medium-high heat. Add remainder of dressing (1/4 Cup) and heat. Then add onions and cook for about 5 minutes. Add chicken and cook 5-7 minutes on each side. Add in blender mix, cover, and continue to cook for additional 10 minutes, or until chicken is cooked through.

Serve over white rice and with sour cream. Enjoy.

**This recipe was found at kraftfoods.com**

Cream Chicken and Noodles in the CP

I made this meal today and I liked it. So did Rowena. Delaney and Kate didn't go for it much, and PJ wasn't around for dinner. It's very simple and ends up being like a cream of chicken-noodle soup. It makes a LOT so, if I were to make it again, I will cut it in half. Here is the full recipe.

2 cans cream of chicken soup
4 chicken breasts
40 oz chicken broth
1/2 cup butter (sliced)
24 oz. frozen egg noodles.

Place first four ingredients in the Crock Pot and cook on LOW for 8 hours. Remove chicken and shred, then place back in CP. Add in noodles and cook for another hour. ENJOY!

Lemon Chicken

Flour

Black Pepper

Paprika

Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts

Chicken Broth

1 Tbs lemon juice

On a place add paprika and pepper to flour and mix evenly. Coat chicken in the flour mixture and shake off excess. Add chicken to hot oil in pan. Cook about 3 minutes on each side. Don't overcook. Transfer chicken to a plate. Add chicken broth (1-2 cups depending on amount of chicken and lemon juice (to taste) to pan and heat ( to thicken add cornstarch -mix cornstarch with water to make a paste and add to broth and lemon juice). Pour over chicken. Serve over rice or noodles.

Roasted Chicken Tenders w/ Peppers and Onions

3 Tbs lemon juice

2 Tbs chopped garlic

2 Tbs chopped fresh oregano (1tsp if dried)

2 Tbs chopped pickled jalapeno peppers

1 Yellow, red, and orange bell peppers sliced thin

1/2 medium onion sliced thin

2 Tbs extra virgin olive oil

1/2 tsp salt

1 lb boneless skinless chicken cut into tenders

Preheat oven to 425. Whisk lemon juice, garlic, oregano, oil, and salt in a 9 x13 glass/ceramic baking dish. Add chicken, bell peppers, and onion; toss to coat. Spread mixture evenly; cover w/foil. Bake until chicken is cooked through. (25-30 minutes)

Chicken Tortellini

4 boneless chicken breasts (marinate in Italian dressing)

Italian salad dressing

1 tsp olive oil

1 package fresh tortellini (any flavor) I use the tricolor, just to add some color to the meal.

1 red and yellow bell pepper

minced garlic

Italian seasonings

shredded parmesan cheese

Thinly slice bell peppers length-wise while the olive oil is heating in frying pan. Cut chicken into bite size chunks and brown in olive oil. Remove chicken from pan and boil water for tortellini. Toss bell peppers, garlic, Italian seasonings, and 1/3 cup of Italian dressing in frying pan- add chicken to heat through. Drain tortellini and add to chicken. Top with parmesan cheese and serve.

baked garlic chicken

This is a huge favorite of mine but is messy and a little time consuming.

Marinate chicken breasts over night in:
sour cream (recipe calls for 8oz but I use 16)
1-2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
1-2 tablespoons of paprika
fresh garlic cloves...or 1-2 tablespoons of chopped garlic from the jar
1-2 tablespoons of lemon juice


crush ritz crackers and roll chicken in them. Melt butter (1 stick)and drizzle over the top. You can use 4-8 chicken breasts.

Bake 1 hour on 350 (or until juices run clear)

Buffalo Chicken Sandwiches

Okay, so this recipe I am sharing even though Peter and I were disappointed. We're hoping to get suggestions from others as to how to improve. We're not sure if the chicken was too dry or the bread was too overwhelming, or if we were just missing something.

This is what we did:

4 chicken breasts
1 jar of your favorite hot wing sauce (we used Franks)

Cook in crockpot for 4 hours on high. Take off lid and shred chicken. Continue to cook for another 2 hours on low. The chicken will soak up the very watery crockpot.

We put the chicken on Turino rolls (used for Italian Beef) and put some blue cheese dressing on the bread, and had extra in a bowl to dip the sammie in. You can also use ranch if you are not a fan of blue cheese. We had our sandwiches with fries.

So--any suggestions on how to improve this meal? I'm really wanting to like it, and love buffalo chicken...there was just something missing here.

Creamy Salsa Stuffed Chicken Breasts

This recipe is SUPER easy and very tasty.

4 chicken breasts, pounded thin
1/2 to 1 cup salsa
1 pkg (8 oz) cream cheese, softened

Mix cream cheese and salsa, until creamy and smooth. Place part of mixture on each chicken breast, roll up and tuck in sides. Sprinkle with seasonings of your choice: garlic, taco, onion, etc. are good fits. Bake at 400 degrees for 20-30 minutes. Serve with rice or pasta. Makes an excellent dinner and not too spicy (depending on what kind of salsa you use).

I sometimes use toothpicks to hold the chicken in place--just remember to remove before eating.

Tasty Tacos

We're huge Mexican Food lovers here. Peter is always trying out tacos at new places and always gets one chicken, one steak, and one chorizo. Well, I decided to try some chorizo at home and it was Gooooooooooood! This is what we did...VERY EASY!

Chorizo Taco
Place chorizo in pan and cook up. Once cooked, keep warm and add chopped onion (just to warm not cook completely).

Chicken Taco
Place 1 jar salsa in crockpot. Add in three frozen chicken breasts seasoned with taco seasoning (or fajitia seasoning). Cook on high for 4 hours. The salsa will just about gone. Shredded up the chicken and stir.

Serve on warm corn (or flour) tortillas with sour cream, cheese, and taco sauce.

Mmmm, mmmm, good!

Chicken Stroganoff...ala crockpot

We just tried this one for dinner (tonight) and we both liked it. A little different, but tasty.

Get out your crockpot!

Add the following ingredients:
1 C. white wine (we used Riesling so we could finish the bottle with dinner)
1 can (condensed) cream of mushroom soup
1 8-oz brick of cream cheese
1 T. Italian seasoning
4-6 (frozen) chicken breasts

*hot noodles or rice*

Put first 4 ingredients in the crockpot and stir to mix/combine. Add chicken. Cook on high for 5-6 hours. The chicken will literally fall apart, and be like shredded chicken. Serve over/with hot noodles or rice.