Crock Pot Chicken and Broccoli Over Rice

This recipe looked delicious because it was like a broccoli cheese soup but with even more ingredients and flavors.  Here it is:

Creamy Crock-pot Chicken and Broccoli Over Rice

3-4 boneless chicken breasts
1 10oz can cream of chicken soup
1 10 oz can cheddar soup
1 14 oz can chicken broth
½ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon garlic salt seasoning

1 cup sour cream
6 cups broccoli florets, just fork tender (I cooked it in boiling water for 3-4 minutes)
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

1. Place soups, chicken broth, salt, and garlic seasoning into a crock-pot over low heat. Whisk until smooth. Place chicken in, pressing to the bottom. Cover lid and cook on low for 6 hours or on high for 3 hours.

2. When chicken is cooked, use 2 forks to shred into bite size pieces. Stir in sour cream and broccoli.

3. Serve over steamed rice and sprinkle with cheese.  4-6 servings

My goodness - I loved this!  Even my husband said, "Wow, now this is a great way to eat broccoli!"  :-)  Agreed.  Very flavorful and very hearty.  We ate up all the leftovers within about 12 hours!  I will definitely be putting this into our regular dinner rotation.

Jalapeño Popper Chicken

This seriously looked so good to me.  I love stuffed chicken, jalapeños, and cream cheese, so I was excited to try it.

Jalapeño Popper Chicken

Serves 2
Highly adapted from Allrecipes, via Sunny Side Up in San Diego

1/2 cup panko
2 tsp. canola oil
1.5 – 2 tsp. taco seasoning or mixture in notes*
1 egg
2 oz. reduced fat cream cheese
1/4 cup shredded cheddar cheese (we used 2%)
1-2 jalapeño peppers, seeds and ribs removed, minced
2 chicken breasts

Preheat the oven to 375 and place an ovenproof rack onto a rimmed baking dish. Spray with cooking oil.

In a small skillet over medium heat, combine the panko with the canola oil. Cook, stirring often, until the panko is golden and crispy. Place in a shallow bowl or dish. To the panko, add the taco seasoning* and stir to combine.

In another shallow bowl or dish, lightly beat an egg. In a small bowl, combine the cream cheese, cheddar cheese, and jalapeños.

Using a small utility knife, cut a pocket into the side of each chicken breast, or horizontally slice the chicken through the center, until it is almost butterflied. Season the chicken lightly with salt and pepper, and then divide the cream cheese mixture evenly between each chicken breast’s pocket. Use toothpicks to secure, if necessary.

Dip the chicken pieces one at a time first into the egg, and then into the panko mixture, making sure to coat the chicken completely. Place the chicken on the prepared baking rack and cook for about 25-30 minutes, or until chicken is cooked through.

*Note: To make your own taco seasoning mixture, combine 1/2 tsp. chili powder, 1/4 tsp. cumin, 1/8 tsp. garlic powder, 1/8 tsp. onion powder, 1/8 tsp. cayenne pepper, 1/8 tsp. oregano, 1/8 tsp. paprika, and salt and black pepper to taste.

I used regular bread crumbs instead of panko, but I followed everything else pretty closely.  The verdict?  It was pretty good, and something I will probably even make again, but I was left just a little disappointed.  Maybe because I had such high hopes?  I actually think I might like it better with green chiles instead of the minced jalapeños - the flavor of them wasn't quite what I was hoping for.  Maybe even without chiles or jalapeños and just some extra pepperjack cheese for that kick!  I will probably try it again with chiles or pepperjack cheese and then update again.  I really do think it's a good recipe though- very creamy and lots of different flavors!  Don't be afraid to try it.

Brown Sugar & Garlic Chicken

*UPDATE!  The second recipe in this post is way better, in my opinion.  :-)  (See note at bottom)

I love easy chicken recipes, which is why I tried this one.  So simple:

Ingredients:

Servings:
4

4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
4 garlic cloves, minced
4 tablespoons brown sugar
1 tablespoon olive oil
additional herbs and spices, as desired

Directions:

1.  Preheat oven to 450°F Line a baking dish or cookie sheet with aluminum foil and lightly coat with cooking spray or lightly brush with oil.
2.  In small sauté pan, sauté garlic with the oil until tender.
3.  Remove from heat and stir in brown sugar. Add additional herbs and spices as desired.
4.  Place chicken breasts in a prepared baking dish and cover with the garlic and brown sugar mixture.
5.  Add salt and pepper to taste.
6.  Bake uncovered for 15-30 minutes, or until juices run clear. Cooking time will depend on the size and thickness of your chicken.


I really liked the flavor of this dish, but I really wasn't a fan of using whole chicken breasts - it was too much chicken and not enough of the garlic and brown sugar flavor.  

While I was relatively happy with the meal, I really wanted to find a way to make it better, so I think that I'm going to try this recipe next:

Slow Cooker Garlic and Brown Sugar Chicken
Ingredients:
4-6 chicken breasts (or thighs would work great too!)
1 cup packed brown sugar
2/3 cup vinegar
1/4 cup lemon-lime soda
2-3 Tablespoons minced garlic
2 Tablespoons soy sauce
1 teaspoon fresh ground pepper
2 Tablespoons corn starch
2 Tablespoons water
Rice or noodles, cooked
Red pepper flakes (optional) 

Directions:
Spray slow cooker with non-stick cooking spray. Place chicken (I used frozen chicken, thawed chicken works great too) inside slow cooker. Mix together brown sugar, vinegar, soda, garlic, soy sauce, and pepper together. Pour over chicken. Cook on low for 6-8 hours or high for 4 hours. Take chicken pieces out of slow cooker (mine basically fell apart) and pour remaining sauce into saucepan. Place saucepan over high heat. Mix together corn starch and water, pour into saucepan, and mix well. Let sauce come to a boil and boil for 2-3 minutes, or until it starts to thicken and turns into a glaze. Remove from heat and let sit for a minute or two (it will continue to thicken as it cools down). 
Serve chicken over rice or noodles and top with glaze. Sprinkle red pepper flakes on top if desired.


I might even omit a couple ingredients, like the lemon-lime soda and the soy sauce.  (Though it would be interesting to try the recipe as-is!)   Because this recipe calls for you to shred the chicken, I think that there would be lots more flavor to it and I would probably like it better.  I will update when I try it!

*I tried this second recipe and liked it way better!  I actually made it exactly as it calls for and it was delicious!  And I recommend the red pepper flakes too - yum!

Tomato Basil Rigatoni

Tomato basil is one of my very favorite flavors, so this recipe looked amazing to me.  Here it is:

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup dry-packed sun-dried tomatoes (about 3 ounces)
• 1 box (16 ounces) rigatoni pasta
• 1 1/2 cups milk
• 1/4 cup tomato-basil- flavored cream cheese (such as Philadelphia)
• 4 ounce (4 to 6 slices) provolone cheese, chopped
• 1 cup shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese
• 2 teaspoons cornstarch mixed with 1 tablespoon water
• 1/2 cup fresh basil leaves, cut into thin strips
• Freshly ground black pepper
• Pinch of salt
• Shredded Parmesan (optional)

Directions

1. Heat a large pot of lightly salted water to boiling. Carefully scoop out 1 cup and pour over sun-dried tomatoes in a small heatproof bowl. Let stand 5 minutes.

2. Meanwhile, cook rigatoni as per package directions, 14 minutes. Drain.

3. While pasta cooks, heat milk over medium heat until bubbly. Remove from heat and whisk in cream cheese, provolone and mozzarella until melted (mixture will be a little stringy). Stir in cornstarch-water mixture and return pan to heat. Bring to a simmer, stirring until smooth.

4. Drain and finely chop sun-dried tomatoes. Stir into pasta, along with sauce and basil. Top with a little freshly ground black pepper, a pinch of salt, and Parmesan, if desired.

Okay, I went to FOUR different grocery stores looking for tomato-basil- flavored cream cheese, and NONE of them had it.  SO frustrating.  (They were big time grocery stores too!)  I ended up getting a thicker cheese in that flavor that is made for crackers because that's all I could find, so my recipe got a little messed up. (The sauce was super duper thick!) Still, I'm guessing it was kinda close to the real deal.

This dish was pretty good, but I also added fresh tomatoes instead of sun-dried tomatoes and didn't use FRESH basil.... combine that with not getting the right cream cheese and I'm pretty sure this probably tasted pretty different from how it was supposed to taste.  ;-)  Oops.  Still, I think I got the idea, and I liked it well enough.  However, I'd recommend it as a side dish or a lunch and not as a main dish for dinner.  

I'd also recommend not trying this unless your grocery store carries tomato-basil- flavored cream cheese.  I bet that would make it better.

Crock Pot Beef Stew

Before making this dish, the only stew that I had ever really had was the Dinty Moore stuff.  I actually like Dinty Moore, (for not being homemade) but I wanted to try a homemade version.... since homemade is usually better with this kind of stuff.  Here's the recipe I tried:

Crock Pot Beef Stew Recipe:

Ingredients:

1 (1 pound) package baby carrots

3 potatoes, peeled and cut

2 pounds of pre-cut stew meat

1 cup beef stock

1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 bay leaf

1 Tablespoon salt

1/2 teaspoon  pepper

1 teaspoon paprika

1 onion, diced

1 rib celery, cut up

1 can green peas

Directions:

Put all ingredients into crock pot in the order listed.  Stir just enough to mix spices.  Cover and cook on low 10-12 hours or high 5-6 hours.  Remove bay leaf, and serve.

This was pretty good, though it was very similar to just having a roast.... (with potatoes and carrots) except that it was maybe not quite as good as a roast?  My husband actually liked it better than a roast though, so we had kind of mixed opinions on this recipe.  I will probably make it again, though not super often.  

I changed it by adding corn instead of peas and not adding the celery or bay leaf.  We're not huge celery fans, and I didn't have a bay leaf.  :-)