Crockpot Chicken Tacos

These are seriously so FANTASTIC!  My friend brought these over to share during a lunch date.  I could not get over the flavor!  So I had to immediately make them for my family.  The chicken is tender and moist as it's been sitting in the crockpot slow-cooking all day long.  And the salsa combined with the brown sugar is just the perfect amount of sweet to offset the tang of the salsa.  I took these to my parents to share on Monday and they agreed that they were amazingly delicious.  This will definitely be a staple on our menu!   I think they taste best paired with the uncooked tortillas (like you get at Costco) that you cook at home.  And the black beans are an amazingly compliment to the flavor of the meat.  Oh, and did I mention how easy it is??? You know that gets extra marks at our house!

Don't mind that crazy black bean that escaped just as I was taking the photo

Crockpot Chicken Tacos from Fantastic Family Favorites 


3 lbs. frozen chicken breasts
1 24oz jar salsa
2 cups brown sugar

1. Place the frozen chicken breasts into the slow cooker. Pour half the jar of salsa over the chicken. Sprinkle 1 cup brown sugar on top. Cover and cook on high for 6 hours.
2. Remove the chicken from the slow cooker and discard the liquid. Shred chicken and place back in slow cooker.
3. Cover chicken with remaining salsa and brown sugar. Cook on low 1 hour, then stir the chicken to coat the meat. Cook on low for 1 more hour.

Top with your favorite taco toppings--cheese, lettuce, tomatoes, black beans, etc.

Tips:  When my friend made hers she just used equal parts salsa and brown sugar on hers.  She didn't do the draining part and adding more salsa and brown sugar.  I, however, followed this recipe without draining it.  The meat seemed dry after I shred it so I added more brown sugar and salsa.  However, it was a little too juicy (dripping all over your hands) when eating the taco.  So.....the moral is---follow it exactly or just cook in 1 C salsa and 1 C brown sugar , shred, and return to former juices.  Are you thoroughly confused??? If so, leave me a comment :).

Lion House Taco Soup

Oh how we love Mexican food at our house.  One thing I  just can't resist when we go out for Mexican is the tortilla chips and salsa.  So this soup becomes irresistible for me when you add tortilla chips.  And don't forget the cheese (my kid's favorite addition) and sour cream. This is comfort food at it's greatest, in my opinion.  I grew up having this soup and now make it often for my own family. It is so delicious and SO easy.  

It's the perfect food to make on a cold, wintery day because it's hearty, filling, thick, and packed with flavor.  I love the combination of beans, corn, onions, tomatoes, and taco flavoring.  I also love that I always have the ingredients on hand and can whip it up in a pinch.  You could also throw it in the crock pot in the morning and let the flavors meld together all day.  It's always yummy the first day--but even better the second day as everything marries together.  I've modified the recipe a little bit and do two different kinds of beans for even more protein and fiber.  When my kid's were small and wouldn't eat soup, I'd buy the "scoop" type of tortilla chips and put little spoonfuls of it in each chip and they'd gobble their "boats" up with no complaining!

Lion House Taco Soup adapted from "The Lion House Cookbook"

Brown together:

1 lb ground beef

1 medium onion

Add:

1 16oz can black beans (drained)

1 16oz can pinto beans (drained)--or another kind you like better

1 16oz can cut corn (drained)

1 28oz can petite diced tomatoes

1 16oz can tomato sauce

1/2 pkg mild taco seasoning (more if desired)

Simmer 20 minutes.  Serve over tortilla chips and top with cheese and sour cream.

Tips: I throw the beans and corn into a colander to drain them and then I rinse them off with water.  I'm not sure if that makes it more nutritious but I feel better about it that way.  I often add the taco seasoning and then taste it to see if it needs a little bit more. 

Crockpot Lemon Herb Chicken

This is one of those easy recipes that I find myself making when I need to go grocery shopping.  I always have the ingredients on hand and my family always gobbles it up.  Double win! You can literally dump it into the crock pot in the morning and have a nice, hot meal at dinnertime. I try to not cook very much with "cream of" anything--but this is one of  those old standby recipes that we still love.  The chicken gets really moist as it simmers in the crock pot with a subtle lemon flavor.  You can modify the lemon herb seasoning to make it be as weak or as strong as you like.  The sauce is then served over rice. Also--make sure you use the "McCormick" brand of lemon herb seasoning.  We've tried different brands and it just doesn't turn out the same.

Lemon Herb Chicken from Melissa Bowen

4 chicken breasts (I like to use chicken tenders--they're extra moist)

1 can cream of chicken soup

1/2- 3/4 Tablespoon "McCormick" lemon herb seasoning

1/4 C butter

Melt butter and add to soup and seasoning mix.  Pour half into crock pot.  Add chicken and pour over remaining soup mixture.  Cook 5 hours on LOW in crock pot.  Serve over rice.  

Tips: I use the 98% fat free cream of chicken with no difference in taste.  I've also eliminated the butter for a lower fat version and still had it turn out great.  It might make the chicken slightly less moist but not too noticeably, though.  

BBQ Ribs

Hi! Hi! Hi! I am SO excited to be back on the blog--for real this time! We finally got all moved in to our new place and I went searching today in the depths of some unopened boxes (relegated to the basement) to find the cord to my camera. I was ecstatic when I finally found it. So do I have internet you ask? Yes and no. We closed on the house on Dec. 23rd and are still working on getting internet installed. I know--ludicrous, right? But luckily one of my kind neighbors is letting me use their unsecured wireless ("letting" being a very broad term....). I've asked any that we meet if they are that kind neighbor and I've yet to find the person to thank. Supposedly the internet people were coming out today (and yesterday and the day before that). I'm not holding my breath....but in the meantime I just had to post something.

I have many recipes to catch up on. The only bad thing is that as I was going through a couple months worth of pictures I can't remember exactly where some of the recipes came from. But that's obviously my problem and not yours. But here is one BBQ recipe that you HAVE to try. It is now my official "go to" recipe for BBQ sauce. I will never go back to just using the bottled version from the store again. And this is super easy to make! I tweaked the recipe and so I'll just post my adaptation. Enjoy! Did I already say how excited I am to be back into the foodie world?

BBQ Spareribs adapted from "The Essential Mormon Cookbook"

5 pounds country spareribs (meaty)
1 onion, chopped
2 T butter
1 1/4 C ketchup
1 C packed brown sugar
2 T Worcestershire sauce
1 C barbecue sauce

To make sauce, saute onion in butter until tender. Combine sauteed onion with remaining ingredients and pour over ribs in crock pot. If you like lots of sauce, double the sauce ingredients (but I found this amount perfectly adequate). Bake in crockpot for 6-7 hours. Would be amazing with chicken, too.

Beef Tacos

I know I probably get rather redundant in saying a lot of the recipes I post here are "the best"! Well, this one is certifiably, undeniabley, and truly THE BEST beef tacos you will ever make! They are amazing! The roast simmer all day long with the green chilies, onion, and spices and the flavors meld together perfectly. And then the salsa finishes it off so well. I posted this recipe a year or so ago and didn't have the picture--so here it is with a picture. We made these again this week and there were many ooohs and aaahs at how delicious, moist, and flavorful they are. My hubby says they even rival Cafe Rio's pork for those of you in the West (we aren't anymore and miss their pork so much).

Beef Tacos from Kristy C.

1 beef roast

1 onion

(2) 4oz cans diced green chilies

2 beef bouillion cubes

1 1/2 tsp. dry mustard

1/2 tsp. garlic powder

1 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. pepper

1 cup salsa

Cook on high for 5-6 hours in crock pot--adding all the ingredients but salsa. Take beef out of crockpot and shred. Reserve the liquid. Add enough liquid and the salsa for desired juiciness. Serve on tortillas with beans, lettuce, and any other things you like on tacos. They are extra moist...so have a napkin on hand :-).

Tips: This also works great if you have a lot of roast leftover from a previous meal. Just add the already cooked roast and the ingredients in the crockpot and cook as described. It still turns out awesome! Also, make sure you use a quality, good salsa. I bought the cheapest stuff from the store one time and it altered the flavor quite a bit. It wasn't a salsa we would've liked plain and so it just didn't taste very good in it---this time I used our favorite salsa and it was HEAVEN!

Italian Crockpot Chicken

 I've been in the mood to cook with the crockpot this week. I love the crockpot because it's so easy and you basically just have to dump everything in and let it do it's thing all day long. What can be bad about that? Especially during a particularly sluggish week. This is an old, delicious standby that I'm sure many of you know of--but it's always a good one.

Italian Crockpot Chicken

8 oz cream cheese
3-4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
1 cube of butter (I used 1/2 a cube)
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 package of dry Italian dressing mix
Salt and pepper to taste

Put the chicken breasts in a crockpot. Add the butter and the italian dressing mix. Cook on low for 4-5 hours, then cut up chicken breasts into small pieces. Add cream cheese (cut into cubes to melt faster). Also add the cream of chicken soup. Cook an additional half hour. Serve over rice or noodles.

**I usually dilute the sauce a little bit by adding milk--especially when serving over noodles.

Oven Baked Pork Chops

Today I was wanting a quick, easy, delicious dinner. So despite the name being "oven baked", you can still put these in the crockpot instead of the oven if you'd like. They have a great flavor and my husband said at least six times tonight, "These are SO good. They have the best flavor". I'm all about meals where you have most of the ingredients on hand and this is one of those.

Oven Baked Pork Chops

4 lean pork chops

3 T soy sauce

1/4 C sliced mushrooms (opt...I HATE mushrooms, so we don't do that at our house...but my mom loves them in it)

1/2 tsp pepper

1 T Worcestershire sauce

1 can cream of mushroom soup

1 medium onion, sliced

1/2 tsp garlic salt

1/2 tsp parsley

Place pork chops in baking dish (for oven) or crockpot. Lay onion slices (I like to chop mine instead...it's just a matter of preference) over pork chops. Pour soup and then rest of ingredients over pork chops. Cook on low in crock pot for 5-6 hours or in oven on 350 for 1 hour.