Crock Pot Chicken Taco Soup
Kim

Every Thursday Family Corner has recipes for Slow Cookers. She calls it Slow Cooking Thursdays and you can find some really good recipes to make in your Crock Pot. Check it out.

This is a family favorite. My family could eat this soup every single day. The chicken stays moist and the flavors blend together nicely, making leftovers almost better than the first serving. It can be made spicy and hot and beans and veggies can be switched to please even a picky eater.

I should just call this Multiple Can Soup due to the simplicity of this recipe, just open cans and dump. It really is that simple.


I use the following ingredients:
  • 3-4 frozen, boneless, skinless chicken breasts
  • 2 cans Cheddar Cheese soup
  • 1 can Mexican Corn
  • 1 can white beans
  • 1 can spicy beans, I used Ranch Style with jalepano peppers
  • 1 can Rotel, I used the Lime and Cilantro flavored and we loved it!
  • 1/2 can Chicken broth
  • Generous dashes of Taco Season, if using a packet the whole packet
  • Several dashes of Cumin
  • Several dashes of Garlic Salt

Dump all the canned ingredients into the Crock Pot. Stir and add the Taco Seasoning and Cumin. Before I put the white beans into the mix I rinse them over and over.

See all those bubbles? Uh-yea, if you don't want those bubbles inside your intestinal tract saying "Hello! Outside world!" I found that it really helps to rinse canned beans. Otherwise, enjoy this soup on a night when you are alone or wanting to be alone.


Lay the chiken breasts on top of the soup mixture. Generously sprinkle the Garlic Salt and again sprinkle the Taco Seasoning. Cook on high 4-6 hours or low for 8. After cooking take the chicken out and cut up into small bite size pieces or shred. Put chicken back into the crock pot and mix with the soup.

Serve with Fritos and cheddar cheese. I love to add a spoonful of sour cream too. TD sometimes adds more salsa adn cilantro, but the Lime and Cilantro Rotel was perfect.

Link to printable recipe here.

Originally posted 3/2/2008

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There is an 'I' in team
Kim
We went to Anna's first grade Alphabet Play last night. She was the letter I. It was really cute and each kid had a speaking part. Four first grade classes, 18-20 kids in each, so yea, it was not exactly a short play but it was pretty cool that they could pull it off.

Anna had been telling me everyday how she was the loudest one (remember) and that the whole gym could hear her. Believe me I had no doubt she was right.

However, I was not prepared for the ear piercing, bone crunching, sound that came when she grabbed the microphone, rammed it into her mouth and yelled, "Wait, I have something I need to get straight!!" At once, the entire audience sucked all the air out of the gym. The shock of having their breath knocked out through their eardrums was more than some infants and toddlers in the audience could bear.

One of the parents turned back to look at me and I just smiled and said, "She is ALL mine and and I love her! Hasn't your baby ever heard a police siren? Gosh!" Well, I didn't say that but I sure was thinking it. We loud ones have to stick together.

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Tulsa Area Sleeps a Total of TWO Hours Last Night
Kim
We are all recovering from the storms last night. Tornado sirens went off a little after 2 a.m. and there were several thunderstorms throughout the night and morning. We are all walking zombies in my office. Some people had to wait a few hours to come in due to flash flooding a.k.a. sleeping in. (I kid)

The kids knocked on our door a few hundred times last night, just in case we didn't hear the thunder that turned our house into a Sub-Woofer. When the tornado sirens went off we had them all go downstairs to wait it out and watch the news. At 3 a.m. the tornado warning was over for our area and we had the kids go back upstairs to bed. We let them all sleep together with the lights on thinking at least we could get some sleep. The last time they knocked on our bedroom door (#101), the girls told TD that their 4 year old brother was scared. TD said yea that's because it's loud and closed the door. My immense capacity for sensitivity and compassion is rubbing off on him. LOL! The pink elixer benadryl will be flowing tonight.

Have you seen this? So incredible even if their country makes poison tainted consumables.

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Were you a Greaser or a Soc?
Kim
We had a great time Saturday night. TD and I went to a fundraiser for Street School, a private, non-profit alternative school of choice. Their theme was The Outsiders, written by Tulsa native S.E. Hinton. They had great food from different restaurants and caterers located in the tulsa area.

You could choose to dress up or not and we decided to try and dress for the occasion. It was easy for me; white shirt, neck scarf from the '90s and rolled up jeans. TD was a greaser, so not what he would have been in high school. I don't think TD ever did anything wrong growing up much less in High School. He tells me that he got straightened out in 2nd grade by a nun that hit him so hard with a ruler he never again misbehaved. He never once spent a day inside of an In-School-Suspension room. I don't think he even skipped a class. I married a perfect one didn't I?


My friend Sonja and me? I am pretty sure we would have lived on the "right" side of the tracks with the Soc's but we would have been all about Ponyboy and his crew, there is not a doubt in my mind.

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Crock Pot Hungarian Goulash
Kim
I love love love this meal. I love all the flavors the sour cream, the tomatoes, the spice. So incredibly good and it happens to be my dad's favorite homemade dish. Not that knowing it is my dad's favorite had anything to do with me making it. Just some extraneous info in case you happen to run into my dad and ask him over for dinner. He would tell you some great Civil War battlefield stories. But I would wait until after the elections are over, he is a little tense right now.

Back to the Goulash. Here are the main ingredients and this recipe will serve 8 and it makes the best leftovers. Yum!

Ingredients:
  • 2 1/2 pounds of beef round steak, cut in 1/2-inch cubes (veal can be used as well)
  • 1/4 cup of vegetable oil
  • 1 large onion, chopped
  • 3 cloves of garlic, minced
  • 1/4 cup of flour
  • 2 tablespoons paprika
  • 1/2 teaspoon powdered thyme
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
  • 1 teaspoon of pepper
  • 3 bay leaves
  • 1 28oz can of whole peeled tomatoes
  • 16 oz sour cream
  • Noodles (egg, no yolk, wide, whatever anyone likes)
Heat the oil in a large saute pan. Season the meat with salt and pepper and brown it in the oil. After the meat is almost brown add the onion and garlic. Cook until onion and garlic are tender.

In a small bowl mix together the flour, paprika, and thyme. Slowly add to the meat until it is incorporated into the mixture. Transfer to your Crock Pot.

In a mixing bowl dump in the tomatoes. With a potato masher or fork break up the tomatoes. I also cut off the top with the core but that is optional. Pour all of this into the Crock Pot, add the bay leaves, and stir.

Cook on low for 8 hours or high for 4. Before serving stir in sour cream and ladle over noodles.

Like I said I love Hungarian Goulash just wish I didn't have to do all the meat browning, onion tenderizing, flour mixing before hand. But I have tried it without doing all that prep work, just throwing it in the Crock Pot--not as good. I haven't served this to my step kids, they may or may not like it since it is different and has tomatoes, but I loved it as a kid and my daughter really likes it. And my dad, well you already know he does. German Chocolate is his favorite dessert, just so you know.

(Can be made on the stove top just simmer covered for one hour, stirring frequently)
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Go Fix Me a Chicken Pot Pie!
Kim
I got this in an email the other day. I think it is hilarious. When I sent it to my husband he replied, "You eye ballin me?"
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Crock Pot Chicken Burritos
Kim
Every Thursday Family Corner has recipes for Slow Cookers. She calls it Slow Cooking Thursdays and you can find some really good recipes to make in your Crock Pot. Check it out.

The kids absolutely love these burritos! The reviews were fantastic. The four year old ate two!! The nine year old said, "I love these. This is the best night". The seven year old was overheard saying to her sister, "The chicken was the best tonight, the juicest, moistest, yummiest that we have had".

If only I could get this praise for the meals I actually work on. I made the chicken when I went home for lunch in less than FIVE minutes. Let me show you how.

Take 2-4 frozen, boneless, skinless, chicken breast, Rotel, and Taco Seasoning. That is it!! Easy peasey.

Pour a can of Rotel over the chicken and generously sprinkle taco seasoning over all. Normally I use McCormick or Pace Taco Seasoning but we went to Sam's this weekend and I got this. I noticed no difference.

***If using more than 3 chicken breast add a half cup of water to keep moist.



Set your Crock Pot on Low to cook for 5 hours. Yes, most slow cookers will say 4 hours is high so I set mine to 8 or 10 hours so I get a low setting. You could also start this in the mroning just put it on the lowest and longest setting. Today I only used 2 breasts because I didn't want leftovers.

After coming home put the kids to work. Get the table set and get out the next ingredients: Refried Beans, Tortilla (burrito size for adults, taco size for kids), sour cream, shredded cheese, salsa, lettuce, and any other condiment your family likes or you have on hand.

Refried Beans can be optional but our family likes them and I tend to think it makes the burritos/tacos more filling. I added Taco seasoning to the beans as the seven year old was cooking them.

If you do not own a comal then wrap your tortillas in foil and put in the oven at 300degrees for 10 minutes to warm them up. (My friend Carol would call me a guera if I put tortillas in the microwave)

Shred the chicken, there should be just enough liquid to make it perfect. Take the tortillas out, put all the condiments out and call them to the table!!

Did I mention he ate TWO??!!

Their burrito folding skills do not stand in the way of devouring these chicken burritos!

Yes, the nine year old was right, this was a pretty perfect night.


Originally posted on 2/12/2008
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