Creamy Chicken Chili

I always revert to this recipe when it gets cold because I always seem to have the ingredients on hand! When you're tired most days, there is a very fine line before you just throw up your hands and go run to a drive-thru. If I can think ahead, I can take the guesswork out of dinner for several days thanks to left-overs!

Creamy Chicken Chili
courtesy of Plain Chicken

2 chicken breasts
8 oz. of fat free cream cheese
1 pkg. dry ranch dressing
1 can black beans, drained and washed
1 can corn, drained
1 can Ro-Tel, undrained
1 tsp. onion powder
1 tsp. cumin
1/2 to 3/4 Tb. chili powder (add more if you wish, I think this spice can easily become very overwhelming!)

Place chicken on bottom of crock pot. Place black beans, corn, and ro-tel on top of the chicken. Put spices on top of the veggies. I also add the cream cheese at this point (on top of everything and let it melt), but you can wait until the chili has cooked to do so. I personally don't see much of a difference. Cook 6-8 hours on low.

Delish Spicy Queso!

This is another recipe from our ACC championship day, which included our version of PW's Spicy BBQ sliders and fruit pizza. We LOVED this dip! It was so easy to put together and tastes way better than Velveeta and Rotel by themselves! I say, pick up the couple of extra ingredients, it will be worth it! But this isn't for the faint of heart, it is pretty spicy!

Spicy Queso Dip
as adapted from the Pioneer Woman's Chile Con Queso, Revved Up

1 16 oz. block of 2% milk Velveeta
1 can of Rotel, original
1 4 oz. can of chopped green chilies
1 Tb. diced jalapenos (more or less to taste)
1 lb. spicy sausage
3/4 c. chopped onion

Brown sausage and onion together in a cast iron skillet. Drain and set aside.

Chop up Velveeta into small squares, toss into a slow cooker. Add in Rotel, with juice, green chilies, with juice, jalapenos, and sausage mixture. Stir all together. Let the mixture cook together on low for an hour before eating for best flavor!

Enjoy!

Italian Cream Chicken

This is a recipe I found from a friends food blog, Sweet as P.I.E. She is big into slow cooker recipes, and when she posted this new one, I decided to give it a shot. I adjusted it a tiny bit, and fixed it with regular angel hair pasta. I also made roasted brussel sprouts with this dish, and you can find that recipe here. The best thing about slow cooker recipes--you can put in frozen meat! No defrosting needed!

(all the ingredients--notice the box of slow cooker liners in the back--they are great!)

(the finished product!)

Italian Cream Chicken
as adapted from Sweet as P.I.E.

6 boneless, skinless chicken thighs
2 packets of zesty italian dressing dry mix
1 8oz. package of fat free cream cheese
1 can cream of chicken and mushroom soup

Put the cream cheese, soup, and mixes into a slow cooker. Allow the cream cheese to melt until all can be stirred and mixed together. Add in chicken and cook on low for 6-8 hours. Use a fork to shred chicken. Serve over pasta.

Hot Apple Cider (Crockpot version)

Recently I helped out with a post-wedding shower at church, and brought, among other things, hot apple cider. Since its fall-ish outside, I felt the need to bring something that went with the season. I ended up with this recipe from Tasty Kitchen, which I then adapted. It turned out very good, and everybody seemed pleased with the results!

Hot Apple Cider
adapted from a recipe by Tasty Kitchen user babskitchen


1 gallon apple cider
1/2 c. brown sugar
1 apple
1 orange
3 tsp whole cloves
4 cinammon sticks, each broken in half
1/4 tsp allspice
2 dashes nutmeg

Pour the apple cider into a Crockpot (mine was a 6 quart Crockpot and worked perfect). Add in brown sugar, cinnamon sticks, allspice, and nutmeg. Turn on low.

Cut up the orange into 4 slices. Drop into cider mixture. Cut the apple in half and stick cloves all over the apple, both sides. Drop apple halves into cider mixture.

Cook on low for 4-6 hours.