Chicken & Potatoes Au Gratin

This is one of very few recipes I have tried from pure experimentation. I usually get my inspiration from my Crock Pot recipe book, foodgawker (most amazing food website ever, in my opinion), or allrecipes.com!

Also, just as an aside... I desperately want to get a recipe/photo onto foodgawker but they are so picky about the photos they choose, plus my lack of photography skills or equipment... I keep getting rejected! Any tips/hints/ideas? Or does someone want to be my food photographer? hehe. Also, if you go all the way back in their archives and click on the very first (or last) page...you will see such a huge difference in pictures - it's crazy how photography standards have changed!

My roomie made some delicious au gratin potatoes last weekend and that got me thinking...I should try to Gratin (is that even a verb?) a meal....and better yet, why not in my Crock Pot!

"CHICKEN & POTATOES" AU GRATIN

Ingredients:
4-5 medium Yukon potatoes, chopped into small 0.5-1" cubes
2-3 chicken breasts, chopped into 1" cubes
1 medium white onion, finely chopped
2 cups Colby & Monterey Jack Cheese (or whatever your favorite is!)
1 (12-16oz) can Cream of Chicken soup
1 cup Half & Half (or skim milk for a lower fat version)
1 tablespoon ground red pepper, optional
Pepper, to taste

Directions:
I tried to make this recipe with even parts potato and chicken, but you can alter that ratio to your liking!
1. Chop the potatoes into small 0.5"-1" cubes (they will cook faster if they're smaller).
2. Chop the chicken breasts into 1" cubes.

3. Finely chop the white onion.

4. Mix the potatoes, chicken, and onion in the Crock Pot.

5. In a large bowl, mix together cheese, soup, half & half, and ground red pepper.

6. Pour the liquid over top of the ingredients already in the slow cooker.
7. Make sure the liquid and cheese are evenly distributed throughout chicken and potatoes.

8. Cover and cook on HIGH for 4 hours.
At this point, my meal was very soup-y and liquidy. I scooped some of the excess juice out and then replaced the Crock Pot lid, but I left the lid cracked about 1". Cracking the lid will allow some of the extra moisture to evaporate! I learned that if any of your recipes are soupier that you'd like it to be, just take off the lid and let it cook for an hour or two; most of the liquid will evaporate.
9. Cook on LOW an additional 2-3 hours (after slightly opening the lid).

You'll be surprised to see a nice, crispy Au Gratin'd meal :)

Salsa Chicken - Only Four Ingredients!

I've been such a slacker and have been seriously neglecting my blog - sorry! I'm in the middle of finishing up college and studying for an insurance license, so that has been consuming pretty much ALL of my time. But on the bright side, I will soon be up in Vermont with J (hellllo June!), employed, and living the dream!

I spent all of this cold, gray Saturday at my desk studying (boo) but on the bright side, I had a delicious dinner cooking all day in the Crock Pot :) Cooking meat in the slow cooker is so amazing because it has hours to soak up all of the juices and it comes out so incredibly tender and juicy.

(SHREDDED) SALSA CHICKEN

Ingredients:
2 lb Chicken Breasts
1 bottle (16-24oz) Medium Salsa
1 can Diced Green Chiles
2 cloves garlic, minced

Directions:
Mix together salsa, green chiles, and garlic in the slow cooker.
Place chicken breasts in the Crock Pot. Make sure they are evenly distributed and completely covered by the salsa.
Cook on LOW 7-8 hours.

When it's done, you'll probably want to take out some of the liquid, but make sure you save some of it because you may want to put some back in after you shred it.



And then shred it (if you want)...



As you can see in the picture on the right, all of the liquid suddenly seems to vanish. Thankfully, you read my sentence above (about saving some liquid, which is probably full of chiles and other flavorful things). You can put in some more salsa juice so it is juicy to your liking :)

I bought some whole wheat tortillas to wrap the chicken in (can't get away from my obsession with Mexican food), or you can eat it with rice, veggies, or just plain!

You can garnish it with whatever "taco" toppings you like... shredded lettuce, tomatoes, salsa, jalapenos, avocados, onions, cheese (just giving you some ideas).

I hope you enjoy it! It's deliciously "melt-in-your-mouth" juicy, cheap & easy to make!

Couscous Turkey Tetrazzini (or something like it)

I'm cheating.

This isn't a Crock Pot recipe either (sorry!) but J and I made this the other night and we. are. obsessed. It all started with me pulling up my favorite All Recipes App on the iPad and browsing the slow cooker recipes (I had good intentions!) I saw one for Chicken Tetrazzini and showed it to J, who made me watch this hilarious video  (seriously, be prepared to laugh): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_RZxbKvD1YQ

Anyways, that brought me to researching other recipes for Turkey Tetrazzini (because we had ground turkey to use instead of chicken) and after reading a few, I was inspired to put together our very own :)

COUSCOUS TURKEY TETRAZZINI

Ingredients:
2 cups Couscous Grande
2 cups frozen peas
1.5 lb ground turkey
1 medium onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 cup olive oil
2 cups chicken broth, low sodium
2 cups skim milk
1/2 cup flour
1 cup Shaved Parmesan Cheese
Salt
Pepper

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 F and grease a 9x13" baking dish
2. Brown the ground turkey. Mix in chopped onion and garlic and let it simmer. Season with salt and pepper.
3. Fill a small pan halfway with water and boil the Couscous until it is partly cooked (all the water should be absorbed).
4. In a medium pan, mix olive oil, flour, chicken broth, and milk. Bring to a simmer. Mix in 1/2 cup of Parmesan Cheese.
5. Once soup mix is simmering, pour in peas and turn heat off.
6. In the baking dish, pour in the turkey meat. Mix in couscous and soup mix.
7. Stir all ingredients together well! Layer the remaining 1/2 cup of Parmesan Cheese evenly across the top.
8. Bake in oven for 40 minutes.

I hope you enjoy it! J and I are obsessed... we have made it twice this week already! Hehe.

The next post will be back to Crock Pot recipes...promise :)