crockpot chicken tacos and enchiladas

Crockpot chicken tacos have become a staple in our house.  They are simply too easy to make, and in general a taco always sounds good :o).

Now a lot of people usually will make crockpot tacos with just chicken and a jar of salsa I believe, but I rarely ever had salsa on hand (we aren't big chips and salsa eaters on a regular basis).  Canned diced tomatoes though, have become a regular pantry staple.  So my recipe looked a little something like this (which I believe could also resemble crock pot fajitas, but whatever)...

Crockpot Chicken Tacos

Ingredients

• 16 ounce can low sodium corn, drained
• 4 ounce can mushroom pieces, drained
• 2 bell peppers
• 1-2 pounds boneless skinless chicken breasts
• 1 tablespoon lime juice
• 1/2 a packet of taco seasoning
• 10-16 ounce can diced tomatoes with mild green chilies

Directions

1. Add corn, mushrooms and bell peppers to your crockpot.
2. Lay chicken on top of your veggies.  Pour lime juice into the crockpot.  Season chicken breasts with taco seasoning.  Pour can of tomatoes over the chicken.
3. Cook on high for 2-3 hours, or low for 4-6 hours.  Shred chicken with two forks, return to crockpot and mix everything together.
4. Serve with your favorite taco accompaniments.

They taste good, nothing crazy, but good.  And I usually have the taco version the first night, and then heat up some of the mix and toss it with some lettuce in a bowl for a taco salad for lunch the next few days.  Relatively light and oh so easy.

But you know how I said I don't usually keep salsa on hand?  I'm thinking of changing my tune thanks to these skinny chicken enchiladas.

My friend Katelynn had pinned the recipe a couple days before she was coming over for dinner, so I suggested we make it.  I love avocados and overall the recipe sounded delicious and easy.  The enchilada mix goes in the crock pot, and then you just have to roll up your enchiladas, bake for 15 minutes, and throw on the toppings.  Not hard at all.  So we did just that.

Christopher had bought a 2 pound package of chicken, and I used the whole thing, so we had a TON of the chicken mixture left.  Later that week I tried rolling it in some flour tortillas, throwing cheese on top, and microwaving it for a couple minutes.  Ummm, delicious.  I prefer a flour tortilla and microwaving it didn't seem to be all that different from baking it.  Instead of rolling his leftovers like an enchilada, Christopher microwaved the mix, and put it together with lettuce, guac and cheese like he would a taco.  Also great.  So now my chicken taco recipe looks a little bit like this...

Crockpot Chicken Tacos or Enchiladas
adapted from Pinch of Yum

Ingredients

• 1-2 pounds boneless skinless chicken breasts
• 1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 can corn, drained
• 16 ounces chunky salsa
• 3 tablespoons taco seasoning
• 1/4 cup water (optional, if your salsa doesn't have much liquid factor)

Directions (for Tacos)

1. Place all ingredients in the crockpot.  Cook on high for 2-3 hours or low for 4-6 hours. Shred chicken with two forks, return to crockpot and mix everything together.  Serve with your favorite taco accompinaments.

Directions (for Enchiladas)

1. Prepare chicken mixture as directed for tacos.
2. Preheat your oven to 400 degrees.  Fill tortillas with a few tablespoons of filling, roll once and place seam-side down in a large baking dish.  Continue until all tortillas have been filled, rolled and placed in dish.  Be sure to pack them in tightly next to each other so that they don't come apart.
3. Sprinkle evenly  with one cup of shredded cheddar cheese and bake for 15 minute, until cheese is melted and bubbly and everything is heated through.
4. Remove from oven and top with fat free sour cream, diced avocado and fresh cilantro.  Or whatever your little enchilada hear desires :o).

For the record I would suggest using cheese with some fat in it.  I used fat free cheese when baking the enchiladas and it didn't get melty.  So sad.

My favorite flour tortillas are the low carb ones by Mama Lupe's.  They taste great and will only set you back 60 calories per tortilla, not too shabby.  When we made the enchiladas the first time we used Mission corn tortillas.  They were only 45 calories each, but I personally prefer flour tortillas.

Enjoy!

crock pot hawiian bbq chicken

If you're on pinterest, I am certain you've seen this crock pot dish floating around (I saw it here and here).  I've mentioned it on the blog before as well.  The one problem I had with it, is that it didn't really seem like a complete meal to me, unless I made a vegetable side.  Also for some reason Ryann has something against chicken once it has been shredded.  Which led me to this...

Basically I diced the chicken before adding it and threw in some chopped bell peppers, making it more of a one pot meal to serve over rice.  It makes great leftovers for lunch the next day.  If you have any ideas of other vegetables that would be good in the mix, definitely share in the comment section!

Oh, and obviously this is no longer the worlds simplest crockpot recipe, since you would actually have to cut up the chicken and chop the bell peppers (GASP!) but I swear, it was easy.  So easy I think I'll make that for dinner this week, it sounds good... and I did just buy frozen bell peppers from Trader Joes...

Crock Pot Hawiian BBQ Chicken

Ingredients

• 1 package boneless skinless chicken breasts (mine had 3), cut into bite size pieces
• 20 ounce can pineapple tidbits, drained
• 2-3 bell peppers, chopped
• 16 ounce bottle BBQ sauce

Directions

1. Combine everything in your crockpot, cover and cook on low for 4-5 hours.  Serve over rice (we used brown).

Ta da!  That was simple.  And tasty.

Enjoy!

crock pot turkey meatballs in italian sauce

Err...  More recipes.  I don't have a whole lot of other meaningful content prepared right now :o).  But I hope all of you lovelies had a wonderful Thanksgiving.  Christopher's aunt made an extremely delicious sweet potato casserole and now I should probably spend the rest of the day in the gym... moving on...

A couple weeks ago (I think) I mentioned that we managed to get Ryann to eat the same meal as us.  Well, this is it.  Minus the noodles, she acted like the noodles were the most disgusting thing she has ever tasted.  Seriously, she was freaking out about the stupid noodles.  BUT, this kid has CHOWED DOWN on meatballs lately.  She loves them.

I think this is a very family friendly recipe.  It is pretty much spaghetti and meatballs.  I've added LOTS of bell peppers to the mix because that is the one vegetable I can guarentee Ryann will eat.  So pretty much every meal we've had lately includes bell peppers...  I'm sure you could make this even easier (I used frozen meatballs) by just using a store bought spaghetti sauce, but I prefer it this way.  Oh and this filled my little crock pot to the brim.  I really thought the thing might explode.  Use a slightly larger one :o).


Crock Pot Turkey Meatballs in Italian Sauce
adapted from Healthy Eating Simplified

Ingredients

• 28 ounce can crushed tomatoes
• 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
• 1 medium onion, finely chopped
• 1 tablespoon minced garlic  (we um, love garlic...)
• 1 cup sliced mushrooms
• 3 bell peppers, chopped
• 2 ribs celery, finely chopped (sneaking in some more veggies)
• 1/2 teaspoon italian seasoning
• 1 teaspoon dried basil
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1 (28 ounce) bag frozen fully cooked turkey meatballs

Directions

1. Combine all ingredients except meatballs in crock pot.  Stir well.
2. Add (still frozen) meatballs and stir in.
3. Cover and cook on low for 6-8 hours (I've never gone longer than 6.5 hrs).

I boiled about 2.5 cups of whole wheat pasta to serve with this.

Enjoy!

crock pot chili

Sorry, no day in the life today.  But you finally get my chili recipe, so its ok right?  Because I know you all have been dying to know how I make chili... ha ha... ok anyway...

Christopher and I definitely like a hearty chili.  I don't want any soupy business going on, so I looked through a lot of recipes before I found one that looks just right.  It would be great if I could remember/find where I printed this from, but I totally forgot to bookmark it or pin it.  Oops...

Really, this stuff is so good.  We eat all the leftovers every time we make it, and it makes a LOT of chili.  Not to mention Ryann won't eat it (I'll give her some credit, she tried it!).  The original recipe called for pork and beans in molasses.  Of course I accidentally stocked up on pork and beans in tomato sauce.  To compensate I add some brown sugar to the mix.  Honestly I kind of like it that way, I add some while I'm cooking, and then you can add a little bit to your bowl if you want, allowing it to be as spicy or sweet as you want it.  Because we all know I hate spicy.

Crock Pot Chili

 Ingredients

• 1 (15 ounce) can red kidney beans, drained
• 1 (15 ounce) can black beans, drained and rinsed
• 2 (14.4 ounce) cans diced tomatoes with green chilies, mild
• 1 (6 ounce) can tomato paste
• 2 pounds lean ground beef, browned and drained
• 2 medium onions, coarsely chopped
• 2 ribs celery, coarsely chopped
• 1 (4 ounce) can mushroom pieces, drained
• 2 bell peppers, coarsely chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 med size can baked pork and beans with tomato sauce
• 2 to 3 tablespoons chili powder
• 1 teaspoon pepper
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• salt to taste
• brown sugar to taste (I used at least 1/4 cup)

 Directions

1. Combine ingredients in slow cooker.  Cover and cook on low for 10 to 12 hours, or 4.5 to 6 hours on high.

I didn't specify the color of bell pepper, but thought I should mention the original recipe only calls for one green bell pepper.  I've always added two and just used whatever we've had on hand.  I prefer a green and a red!  The original recipe also didn't use tomatoes with green chilies.  Again, it is what I had on hand, and have just continued to make it that way.

I repeat, this makes a LOT!  Don't try and cook it in a little crock pot.  I believe we comfortably served 8 adults with it one night.

*I wanted to add that I have made this chili with ground turkey as well, and it turned out equally wonderful!

Enjoy!

crock pot chicken taco chili

I've developed a pretty good bond with my crock pot these days.  Really it is the best way for me to cook dinner for both Christopher and I.  I can eat at a normal time, he can eat whenever he manages to make it home, and we both get a hot meal.  Of course I'm terrible at finding crock pot recipes, because, well, I'm picky and I want them to be healthy.  Not always the most fun search.  Thankfully I'm slowly but surely expanding the things I'll try.  This week we enjoyed some chicken taco chili that I found on skinnytaste.com.

I opted to serve it over rice, and we decided personally, we felt it would be strange to just eat it like chili.  I have no idea why but I felt like it needed the rice.  Nonetheless it was pretty good.  Chris wasn't wowed, he said it wasn't a meal he would request for dinner.  But he said he would definitely eat it again and would most likely eat the leftovers.  Because quite frankly that is the real test, a lot of times he will eat stuff I make, but won't touch the leftovers.

I'll include the recipe exactly as she has written it, but we didn't use cilantro, cheese, chilis or sour cream.  And it tasted just fine.  I am curious as to how it would taste with cheese and cilantro.  Maybe if I make it again...  Oh, and I think my cans of beans were only 15 ounces, but does that really matter?

If you're on the hunt for some healthy recipes you should definitely check out Gina's Skinny Recipes (skinnytaste.com).  She has a slew of healthy ones and includes the weight watchers points if that is a bonus to you.

Crock Pot Chicken Taco Chili
from Gina's Skinny Recipes

Ingredients

• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 16-oz can black beans
• 1 16-oz can kidney beans
• 1 8-oz can tomato sauce
• 10 oz package frozen corn kernels
• 2 14.5-oz cans diced tomatoes w/ chilies
• 1 packet taco seasoning
• 1 tablespoon cumin
• 1 tablespoon chili powder
• 24 oz (3-4) boneless skinless chicken breasts
• chili peppers, chopped (optional)
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro

Directions

1. Combine beans, onion, chili peppers, corn, tomato sauce, cumin, chili powder and taco seasoning in a slow cooker.  Place chicken on top and cover.  Cook on low for 10 hours or on high for 6 hours.
2. Half hour before serving, remove chicken and shred.  Return chicken to slow cooker and stir in.  Top with fresh cilantro.  Also try it with low fat cheese and sour cream.

Enjoy!