Tinga

This is an authentic dish from Mexico.  I had it at school a few weeks ago and it was prepared by a cute girl whose husband is from the area of Mexico where this dish is prepared (Northern Mexico City).  I am usually not a big fan of Mexican food, but this was really good!  This isn't her exact recipe (I need to get it from her), but I found this one online which got great reviews.

Servings: Plenty for 8 Adults and a handful of toddlers
Cook Time: 4 hrs
Prep Time: 10 min

Ingredients:

• 6 chicken breast halves (you can use beef or pork if you'd rather)
• 6 medium onions, 3 thinly sliced and 3 chopped
• 1 clove garlic, chopped
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• 6 medium tomatoes
• 1 (7 ounce) can chipotle peppers in adobo sauce
• 1 tablespoon chicken bouillon granules
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1 cinnamon stick or 1 tsp powder
• 1 Tbsp sugar

Optional:

• Cilantro
• Limes
• Avocado
• Shredded Lettuce
• Refried Beans
• Sour Cream
• Tostado Shells (or Tortilla Chips if you want to use chicken as a dip)
• Shredded Cheese

Preparation:

Place the chicken into crockpot. Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the 3 onions that were sliced and garlic, and sautee until transparent. Add to crockpot.

Place the tomatoes, 1-2  chipotle peppers and a little bit of the adobe sauce (SPICY! so add as many peppers and as much sauce as you think you can handle), 3 chopped onions, chicken bouillon into a blender or large food processor. Process until smooth. Season with salt, pepper, sugar, and cinnamon. Pour this mixture into crockpot.

Cook for 3.5 minutes.  Take out chicken and shred into fine pieces with fork.  Put back in crockpot for an additional 30 minutes.

To serve, each person spreads some refried beans on their tostada shell, and top with a spoonful of the chicken, sour cream, cheese, avocado, cilantro, shredded lettuce, cheese, and a squirt of lime.

It seems like there are a lot of onions and tomatoes, so we will probably have to mess around with this recipe until we get it right.

Picture Via
Recipe Via

Hawaiian Haystacks - Slow Cooker

This is one of those recipes you can quickly throw together in the morning, forget about it, and then have a yummy meal in the evening.  I like to make this when I have to bring someone dinner - people always say that they loved it and that it was nice not to get another lasagna.

Makes 4-6 servings

• 10 to 12 chicken tenders, cut in chunks
• 1 cup chicken broth
• 2 cans (10 3/4 ounces each) condensed cream of chicken soup
• 1 can (12 ounces) evaporated milk
• 6 cups cooked rice

1. Place chicken in greased 3 1/2 to 5-quart slow cooker.
2. Combine remaining ingredients and pour over chicken.
3. Cook on high heat 3-4 hours or on low heat 6-8 hours.
4. Serve over hot rice with a variety of cold toppings that could include grated cheese, peas, pineapple tidbits, shredded coconut, raisins, Chinese noodles, olives, diced tomatoes, diced green peppers, sliced green onions, and other family favorites.

Chicken Pot Pie - Crockpot Recipe

Makes: 8 Servings
Prep: 20 Min
Cook: 11 Min
Slow Cook: 7 Hours

Ingredients:
1/3 c all purpose flour
1 3/4 tsp poultry seasoning
1 3/4 tsp dried thyme
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
2 pounds chicken thighs and breasts cut into 1 inch pieces
2 tbsp vegetable oil
2 large carrots, peeled and cut into half moons
2 celery ribs, sliced
2 red skin potatoes, scrubbed and cut into 1/2 inch pieces
8 white mushrooms, thinly sliced
1 large onion, chopped
1 1/2 c. low sodium chicken broth
2 1/4 c biscuit mix
2/4 c. milk

Instructions:
Combine flour, pultry seasoning, 1 tsp thyme, salt and pepper in a large ziploc.  Add chicken pieces and toss to coat.
Heat 1 Tbsp oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium high heat.  Remove chicken from bag with slotted spoon and ahake off excess flour.  Set remaining flour mixture aside and add checken to skillet.  Cook for 4 minutes, stirring ocassionally until browned.  Place in slow cooker
Add remainin 1 Tbsp oil to skillet and stir in carrots, celery, potatoes, mushrooms and onion.  Cook, stirring often for 5 minutes.  Stir remaining flour mixture into skillet and cook 1 minutes.  Add broth to skillet and bring to a boil.  Pour skillet conents into slow cooker.  Cover and cook on HIGH for 4 hours or LOW for 7 hours.
When there is 1 hour cook time remaining, stir together biscuit mix, milk and remainging 3/5 tsp thyme.  Drop buscuit mx by the tabelspoonful over top of chicken mixture.  Cover slow cooker bowl with a cotton dish towel and place lid over top.  Continue cooking until biscuits are cooked through.

Slow Cooker Tacos

Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 8-10 hours or 3.5-4 hours
Serving: 8

Ingredients:

• 4 frozen chicken breasts
• 1 can black beans (rinsed and drained)
• 2 handfuls frozen corn
• 15 oz jar salsa
• 1 cube cream cheese (8 oz)
• tortillas
• shredded cheese (optional)

Preparation:

Put first 4 ingredients in crockpot.  Cook on high for 3.5hrs.  Take out chicken and shred with fork.  Put back in crockpot.  Turn crockpot to low and add 1 cube of cream cheese for remaining 30 minutes.  Serve in tortillas and top with shredded cheese (optional) and whatever else you like on tacos.

These tacos are amazing!

Slow Cooker Chili

I made this for the ward chili cook-off and it was the first time I've ever made chili.  Though I did not win the contest, this recipe was a winner to me!  Too bad Jack hates chili or I'd be making this all winter:

Ingredients

• 2 pounds ground beef
• 2 (16 ounce) cans kidney beans, rinsed and drained
• 2 (14.5 ounce) cans diced tomatoes, undrained
• 1 (8 ounce) can tomato sauce
• 2 medium onions, chopped
• 1 green pepper, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 tablespoons chili powder
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 1 teaspoon pepper
• Shredded Cheddar cheese

Directions

In a skillet, cook beef over medium heat until no longer pink; drain. Transfer to a slow cooker. Add the next nine ingredients. Cover and cook on low for 8-10 hours or on high for 4 hours. Garnish individual servings with cheese if desired.