Crock Pot Chicken Tacos

Ohmygosh!  I'm finally bringing you this recipe!


This dish came about last year when Nicholas was feverishly finishing his last semester of school.  This left lots of nights and weekends where the Munchkin and I were just a two-some.  I always like to cook a nice healthy meal and usually they boy's play while I cook, but with no Nick I was trying too hard to multi-task.  I didn't realize it until one night the Munchkin said "you need to come in here and play with me or I'm giving you a time-out!".  Say whoa!  The kid was talking to me for sure.

I found a similar version of this recipe shortly after and modified it to fit our needs.  Dinner that can be made before breakfast is a great thing.  Thursday Night Crock Pot Chicken Tacos is now a tradition in our house.  By the time we get home dinner is already done and we are free to play all we want.

What's your favorite quick and easy dish?

Here's the skivvy -

Ingredients:
1 large frozen chicken breast
1/2 jar of your favorite salsa
1/2 cup frozen corn
1 tbsp cumin
1 tsp onion powder
1 tsp garlic powder
1/4-1/2 tsp red cayenne pepper
Your favorite taco fixins (tortillas, cheese, sour cream onions, avocado, lettuce, more salsa, the possibilities are endless!)

How to:

Cover the bottom of your crock with the salsa.
Add in seasonings and stir.
Throw in your frozen chicken breast, flip it over once or twice to get it coated in salsa.
Add in your corn.
Put on the lid and set it to low for 6.5 hours.
Once it's done, use two forks to shred the chicken breast and stir it around with the salsa.
Serve the chicken in your taco carrying device as chosen by you.
Enjoy!

Notes:

This recipe is basically un-screw-up-able.  I used to do 2 chicken breasts but we never got through the left-overs, so one works for us.  If you add two to this mix it will work also.  My new crock pot has a nifty setting where once the time is done it automatically switches to warm.  If yours doesn't, just put it on for however long you'll be gone and you'll still be good (I've set it on low up to 8 hours).  My mom made this once with a green chili sauce and it was delicious.  I've added tomatillos, tomatoes, onion....like I said, unscrewupable, do what you like and it will be good.  Unless you add peanut butter or something, but hey, maybe that's your thing.

Pinsipiration! Recipe Find - Spanish Roast Chicken with Romesco and Grilled Onions

Hello Everyone!  I continue to be Pinspired.  I spotted this on Pinterest awhile back and thought it looked sooo good....I also assumed it would be difficult so it sat on my Food! board for awhile looking pretty but not being made.

Photo via Serious Eats

Then, as I walked the aisles at Trader Joe's, those little chickens would taunt me from the cold case.  "Roast me, roast me!"

I finally gave in.  Boy am I glad I did!  I had never roasted a chicken before (what the what?!), but it was much easier than I anticipated.  Although, I did need The Cyclist's help "tucking wing tips behind shoulder of the bird".  Yeah, what the heck does that mean?  The Cyclist knew thankfully.

It turns out roasting a chicken is not so difficult, but a little time consuming.  The author explains this recipe as being made for a Sunday dinner, so I did just that, made it on a Sunday when I had some time to put in.

Now that you are convinced you too must roast a chicken on Sunday, let me share with you my process (in photos)...

 

 

The Scoop - A yummy Spanish roast chicken with interesting seasoning and sauce.  Great for a Sunday, weekend or dinner party dinner.

The Verdict - As tasty as it looked and something I would definitely make again.

The Fix - There is no fix to this recipe.  The only thing I would have changed is we don't have a meat thermometer, so we were guessing.  Luckily The Cyclist guessed right (he's really good at cooking meat), so ours was perfect, but you could easily dry this birdie out if you don't have a meat thermometer or skilz like The Cyclist.

Mentionables - The Romesco was so freaking good!  The recipe makes a lot, but that's good because you will want these left-overs.  I used the rest of the Romesco the following day in black bean & chicken tacos, topped with some cilantro - the Romesco made those babies without a doubt.  Others:  I couldn't find hazelnuts so I didn't use them; I don't have a v-rack so I used our regular roasting pan and it seemed to work just fine; I didn't buy my chicken at Trader Joe's after all, instead I opted for an organic brand at our local co-op.

You can find the whole recipe here:

Spanish Roast Chicken with Romesco and Grilled Onions

Enjoy!

♥

TCW

Pinspiration! Recipe Finds

Photo via Pinterest

Slow Cooker Coconut Ginger Chicken & Vegetables

The Scoop - I was excited when I found this recipe because it looked so much tastier (and healthier) than most crock-pot dishes.  Also, I thought it would be a great meal for the night I do my FIT track workout.  I made it and I was dying to come home and eat it.

The Verdict - Dare I say it was a little bit....bland?!  Seems weird right?!  With such savory and colorful spices like turmeric I didn't think bland was possible.  But it was hearty and tasty after a long workout.

The Fix - If you make this, add more of the spice blend and more salt and some pepper.

Mentionables - I did not use thighs, because I only had boneless skinless breasts; this switch worked fine and the chicken was nice and juicy.  I didn't use the canned corn cobs, instead I got a frozen veggie blend from Trader Joe's that already had the corncobs and some other good stuff

Photo via Pinterest

Cookin' Canuck - Vegetarian Naan Pizza with Eggplant and Cilantro Jalepeno Pesto

The Scoop - Wow was this good!  I can't wait to make this pesto for a bunch of other stuff.  The flavor of it really made the pizza.  I've also never roasted eggplant and I like this method a lot for a quick cook.  

The Verdict - YUM!  I will totally make this again. 

Mentionables - I didn't use naan, instead I made this on a fresh (not pre-cooked) pizza crust and made one big pizza instead of individuals.  I also didn't use fresh mozzarella (although that would have been amazing), instead I used what I had which was basic shredded mozzarella.  Last, we had some prosciutto, so I topped it with a bit of that.  We thought the salty-ness of the prosciutto added to the overall flavor.  

Disclaimer - I didn't find this on Pinterest.  I found it on the blog and pinned it to Pinterest myself.

                                              

Photo via Pinterest

Lemon & Dill Chicken                  

The Scoop - I bought dill at the farmer's market and I had a bunch of tasty Meyer lemons in my fridge, so I was looking for something to make.  I searched "lemon, dill" on Pinterest and this popped up.    The Verdict - This was a healthy recipe and it was tasty.  The Cyclist is not a fan of dill, but he liked this a lot.  Mine did not look like the picture, but still tasted good.
The Fix - You may not need this fix but.....my sauce wasn't thickening as I thought it should, so I added a few sprinkles of Wondra.

Mentionables - Pinterest wasn't the first place I looked.  I searched the same thing on the Whole Food's recipe app and all I was coming up with were seafood dishes.  I knew I wanted to use chicken and I thought it was weird I couldn't find any "chicken, lemon, dill" recipes.....but there on Pinterest it popped right up. 

More Pinspiration coming soon!