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.

Pinspiration! Recipe Find - Goat Cheese, Lemon, Arugula & Pea Pasta

Pinterest is becoming my new go to spot for recipes.

I think it might be easier to find stuff there than doing a Google search.

Really.

Here is one I came across the other day - 

Goat Cheese, Lemon, Arugula & Pea Pasta

 

Yum, right?

I grabbed what I needed and decided to try it out.

The Scoop - This was super easy to make.  It will definitely be a go-to recipe for when I want to make something tasty in a little bit of time.  I also have never thought of throwing peas into the pasta water so this is another idea I'm sure to copy in other recipes.

The Verdict - The pasta was rich and creamy with a nice lemon flavor; the arugula and peas added a nice contrast.  The goat cheese makes a really thick coating on the pasta - I tasted it and immediately said "it's like adult mac and cheese".

The Fix - Not that it really needs fixing, but.  If you're a goat cheese eater you know how thick and creamy it is.  Both The Cyclist & I agreed that this dish would be nicely balanced with the addition of something salty - he said prosciutto, I said spicy turkey sausage; either one will do. Also, I might add a bit of milk to the mix, just to cut the thickness quality of the melted goat cheese.

Mentionables - I'm not sure if adding more lemon might also cut the goat cheese thickness.  I'm also not sure if the lemon flavor would be lost by adding prosciutto or spicy turkey sausage (that would be a shame, the lemon flavor is really good).  A dry white wine would be really good with this.

Here is my finished product...

Bon Appetite!

Recipe Find - Pan Seared Cod Over Vegetable Ragout

The Cyclist and I are trying to add more fish to our diet.  I am not an experienced fish chef, but I do OK with cod.  (At some point I will share my fish taco recipe.) So, I went in search of a cod recipe that looked healthy and easy.  Key word being "easy".  I know better than to try and get crazy in the kitchen when the ultimate goal is to make dinner after work.  This behavior only results in late night meals that aren't that great.  "Easy" as defined by me = not a ton of ingredients, nothing I can't buy in a regular grocery and no cooking words that I do not understand.

Anyway, in looking for my healthy and easy cod recipe I went straight to Cooking Light.  This is one of my favorite places to find recipes, I have yet to be steered wrong.  My search found:

Pan-Seared Cod Over Vegetable Ragout

Ta-Da!

This recipe was really, really good, like seriously good.  The Cyclist did most of the prep work, which was super helpful.  I don't know what the deal is with prep-time on recipes (this one did not list any), but it always takes me way longer than it says.  Part of the issue are my crappy knife skills and continued attempts at not cutting my finger off, but...I swear, some of those recipe prep-times are just silly!

OK, moving on. 

So, with the Cyclist's help, we put this dish together (together!).  Here is our version:

and an up-close:

It was very, very good and not totally difficult to make.  More importantly, our 7 year old nephew (DD), who can be a bit of a Mr. Picky McPickerson devoured his entire plate and declared that I should make this for him every time he comes over.  The Munchkin slapped his plate up too, as did the Cyclist and I.  There was nothing left, anywhere.

I give this recipe 5 stars for being super good, easy (as defined by me) and healthy!  It also gets an honorable mention for being a fish and veggie dish that kids love. 

Coming soon: Pizza Night! And Ginger People Eats (I'm really excited about this one!)