Julie's Ghost Chili (White Chicken Chili)

Ingredients:
Chicken (I use the pre-cooked rotisserie chicken from Costco, but you could cook your own)
1 large jar of green tomatillo salsa (I use the La Victoria Thick and Chunky Salsa Verde)
1 bag of dried white navy beans
1 onion
1 clove of garlic
1 small can of green chilis
1 block of cream cheese
chicken bouillon (I use the Knorr Caldo Con Sabor De Pollo)

Method:
Soak the beans overnight (per directions on the back of the bag). In the morning, drain the beans and put them in the crockpot along with the onion (diced), garlic (minced), and the can of green chilis. Add water (per directions on the bag - 6-8 cups) and 1 Tablespoon of chicken bullion. Cook on Low for 8-10 hours. Add the cooked chicken and the jar of green salsa and cook on high for 30 minutes. Microwave the cream cheese for 1 minute, then add to the soup and stir to combine.

Crockpot Spaghetti Sauce

1 package of Johnsonville Mild Italian sausage links
1 onion
2-3 cloves garlic
2 cans diced tomatoes
2 cans tomato sauce
1 can tomato paste
Italian Seasoning
1-2 T. Sugar
1-2 T. Balsamic Vinegar

using kitchen shears, cut the sausage links into "meatballs".  Brown them in a pan then add to the crockpot.  Dice the onion and mince the garlic and add that to the crockpot as well.  Add all the tomato products.  Add Italian seasoning (to taste). (I usually add at least one tablespoon). Add sugar and balsamic vinegar.

Cook on low for 8-10 hours.

Serve over pasta. 

(it makes a TON and is really yummy)

Crock Pot: Tomato-Basil Parmesan Soup

 

Crock Pot: Tomato-Basil Parmesan Soup
2 (14 oz) cans diced tomatoes, with juice
1 cup finely diced celery
1 cup finely diced carrots
1 cup finely diced onions
4 cups chicken broth
1/2 bay leaf

Combine above and cook on low for 5-7 hours (add herbs if using fresh)

1 tsp dried oregano (1 TBS fresh)
1 TBS dried basil (1/4 cup fresh)
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup flour
1 cup parmesan cheese
2 cups half and half (warmed)
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp black pepper

About an hour before serving make a roux. Melt butter over low heat in a skillet and add flour. stir constantly with a whisk for 5-7 minutes. Slowly stir in 1 cup of hot soup from the slow cooker. Add another 3 cups soup and stir until smooth. Add all back into slow cooker. Add spices.  Stir and add Parmesan cheese, warmed half and half, salt, and pepper. Cover and cook for another hour.

Shredded BBQ Chicken Sandwiches

Ingredients:

1 (4 pound) bag frozen boneless, skinless chicken breasts

1 (16 oz.) bottle BBQ sauce (we like Sweet Baby Ray's Honey BBQ)

1 cup water

2 dozen hamburger buns or French rolls

Directions:

In the morning, place chicken breasts in crock pot, frozen. Pour barbecue sauce and water over top and cook all day on low heat. Before serving, shred chicken with two forks to pull it apart and mix in sauce well. Spoon onto buns or rolls.

Italian Crockpot Chicken

James chowed this down tonight. That's always a good sign :)

Ingredients:

4 to 6 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

1 (10 3/4 oz.) can cream of chicken soup

1 (8 oz.) package cream cheese softened

1 packet Good Seasons Italian dressing mix

Directions:

Combine soup, cream cheese and dressing mix. Pour over chicken in crock pot and cook all day on low heat. Serve over noodles or rice.

Taco Salad

Ingredients:

1 lb. Hamburger

1 can Pork and Beans (I use Van Kamps)

1 can Kidney beans (optional)

1 can Tomato Soup (I use Campbell's)

1/2 Cup Brown Sugar

2 Tbsp. Yellow Mustard

Directions:

BROWN the hamburger. You can add onion if you want, I use onion powder to season since I have an onion allergy.

COMBINE beans, soup, brown sugar and mustard in a casserole dish and mix together. Add hamburger.

STIR well.

MICROWAVE for 6 minutes or until heated through. You can also bake in the oven at 350 F for 15 minutes.

CRUSH tortilla chips onto your dinner plate. ADD meat mixture. TOP with your favorites: tomato, lettuce, cheese, olives, sour cream, etc.

ENJOY!

Note: You can double the recipe for the meat mixture and let it sit in your crockpot on low throughout the day.

Julie's Cafe Rio Style Black Beans

First, soak your dried beans overnight.
Put them into a bowl and cover them with water, to a level that is probably about 2 inches above the beans.
The next day, begin by dicing an onion. You want to have about 1/2 cup of diced onions. So, if it is a larger onion, then you will only use half, smaller onion, the entire thing.
Put the diced onion into your crockpot.
Next mince 1-2 cloves of garlic.
Add one can of green chiles (mild)
drain the beans and add them to the crockpot.
next add water (depending on the amount of beans add the appropriate amount -
it's on the packaging).
add chicken bouillon to the water (I like to use the mexican chicken bouillon made by Knorr)
place the lid on the crockpot and cook on low until the beans are tender.
(usually this takes about 8 hours)

Bajio Chicken

5 chicken breasts
1/2 cup salsa
1 Tbsp cumin
1/2 cup brown sugar (more to taste)
1 4 oz. can diced green chilies
6 oz. Sprite (1/2 can)

Combine all ingredients in a crock pot. Cook on low for 5-6 hours. Remove chicken and shred. Return to crock pot and cook 1 more hour. Thicken the juices with a little cornstarch mixed in water.

Serve with flour tortillas, lettuce, cheese, black beans and any other taco fixings.

If you want it spicer rather than sweeter add a hotter salsa and more green chilies.

Slow-cooker Taco Soup

1 package of ranch dressing mix
1 can black beans, undrained
1 can pinto beans, undrained
1 can tomato sauce
1 can of corn, undrained
1 small can chopped green chili’s
1 can diced tomatoes, undrained
1 lb ground beef, browned
1/2 onion, diced, cooked/softened with beef
1 package of dry taco seasoning mix

Brown ground beef and onions.

Put everything into a crock pot and cook for at least 4 hours on high or 6-8 hours on low.

Serve with corn chips, sour cream, and grated cheese.

Sweet Meatballs

Sweet Meatballs

1 lg can diced tomatoes
1 cup brown sugar
1 medium onion diced
18-20 ginger snap cookies crushed
1/2 package prepared meatballs

Place in crockpot and cook on low for 4 hours. Serve over rice.

Crockpot Breakfast Casserole

Ingredients:
32 oz bag Southern Style hash browns (these are the little square kind - not the shredded ones)
1 lb bacon, fried, drained and torn or cut into pieces
1/2 C diced onion
3/4 lb cheddar cheese, diced
1 dozen eggs
1 C milk
1/2 tsp dry mustard
salt and pepper, to taste


Directions:
Layer frozen potatoes, bacon, onion and cheese in 2-3 layers. Finish with cheese.
Beat eggs, milk, mustard, salt and pepper. Pour on top.
Cook on low for 10-12 hours.

Cafe Rio Pork Barbacoa

5 - 6 pounds pork tenderloin (or roast)
21 ounces Dr. Pepper
1 cup brown sugar
3/4 cup white sugar
2 cloves garlic
1 (7 ounce) can chipotle chilies in adobo sauce
6 ounces medium red taco sauce
1 teaspoon dry mustard
1 teaspoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper

Place pork in the crock pot and make sauce.

Here's the trick with the sauce: Remove chipotle chilies from the can and put in the measuring cup that you'll measure your Dr. Pepper with. Pour Dr. Pepper over them and remove the chilies (and throw away) just to get the sauce off and then continue pouring Dr. Pepper into the measuring cup until you reach the full 21 ounces. You'll also need to rinse out the chipotle can with the Dr. Pepper to get all the adobo sauce out. Do NOT use the chipotle peppers (I did this and it was killer hot). You can add 1 or 2 for a kick if you want.

Blend all ingredients together in either a blender or with an immersion blender until combined and pour over the pork. Cook on high for 5 hours or on low for 8 hours until the pork is easily shreddable. If you've never had a Cafe Rio Pork Salad, what you'll want to do to make this is take a flour tortilla and melt some cheese on it. From there, here's the layers:

White Rice (I'll post my recipe later for Cilantro Lime Rice)
Black Beans (I just used canned that I heat up on the stove and add seasoned salt and pepper with some garlic powder)
Romaine Lettuce, chopped
Pico de Gallo
Guacamole
Cilantro Ranch Tomatillo Dressing

Cafe Rio Pork

1 cup Pace salsa
1 cup brown sugar
3-4 lbs pork sirloin roast (very lean)

Mix salsa and brown sugar together and pour over a pork roast. Cook in a crockpot all day and shred right before serving.

Cafe Rio Chicken

1 8 oz bottle Kraft Zesty Italian Dressing
1 T chili powder
1 T cumin
3 cloves garlic - minced
5 lbs chicken breast

Cook all together in a crock pot for 4 hours. Shred meat and cook 1 additional hour.