"BALS OUT" Chicken in a Crockpot

6-8 Chicken breasts
Pepper
Salt
Garlic Powder
3 cloves Garlic
1 can diced tomatoes
2/3 c. Balsamic Vinegar
1/4 c. chicken broth
1 t. dried basil
1 t. dried oregano
1 t. dried rosemary
1/2 t. dried thyme
Brown sugar
1 Large Onion, sliced
1 pkg. Mushrooms, quartered
Mozzarella
Parmesan cheese.

First season your chicken breasts (or tenderloins) with pepper, salt and garlic powder. Heat oil in saucepan and brown both sides of chicken. Put Chicken into crockpot and add garlic, tomatoes, vinegar, chicken broth, basil, oregano, rosemary, thyme and 3-4 T. brown sugar. Let chicken cook on low for 4-5 hours, until done.

While chicken is cooking in the pot, boil your favorite noodles. I used bowtie pasta and some corkscrew together....this was not on purpose, but turned out just fine.

When chicken is almost done, saute onion and mushrooms in 1 T. oil, til onions are transparent. Add about 1/2 t. of salt. Add 1-2 T. brown sugar to caramelize, stir. Then turn off heat and add a couple splashes of balsamic vinegar. Let onions and mushrooms mellow in the vinegar.
***If you want to skip this step, you can put the onions and mushrooms in the crockpot with everything else....but doing it separately REALLY makes a difference.

TO SERVE:

Place chicken and juices over pasta. Add sauteed mushrooms and onions. Then top with Parmesan and Mozzarella cheeses. Try not to make sounds as you eat, its just embarrassing. Serve with Roasted Asparagus. (last time I did the roasted asparagus I did not use olive oil, but coconut oil....it was good)

Smoked Gouda Spinich Stuffed Chicken

Boneless chicken fillets

raw fresh spinach ( optional )

Cream of Chicken soup

Smoked Gouda Cheese ( any smoked cheese will work )

Grated paremsean cheese , flour, Seasoned bread crumbs

Ground Cumin , Poultry Seasoning , and salt and pepper

Put the chicken in a plastic zip bag or wrap in saran wrap and pound it thin. Dont pound it so hard it turns into ground chicken, just pound it thin enough to roll up. Lay a few pieces of spinach on the flattened chicken. Put a thin piece of smoked Gouda cheese on top, as much as you want. Roll the chicken up and secure it with a couple of toothpicks. Mix 1/2 c. grated parmesean cheese with 1/4 c. flour and 1 c fine bread crumbs and all the seasonings in a bowl.

Dip the chicken in the bread crumb/flour mixture (use pam spray, or beaten egg white to moisten the chicken first so that the flour mixture sticks to it real good ) Fry the prepared chicken rolls in some oil in a pan till lightly browned on both sides. Mix a can or two of cream of chicken soup and 1 tsp cumin and place in the bottom of the crock pot.

Lay the chicken rolls on top of the soup, as many as you can fit. Place a few more slices of smoked cheese on top. Cover and let cook in crock pot for about 3-4 hours. It is great served with long grain and brown rice.

Shortcut - Just roll some boneless chick breasts with the smoked cheese and roll it in the same seasoned cheese/flour/mixture , then fry in a little oil. ( with or without spinach, your choice ) Put in a 9X13 pan and pour the soup mixture over top. Cover with a few pieces of smoked cheese on top and bake for 30 mins. I can have it on the table after church in no time this way and you still have the great taste of smoked cheese with the chicken. It's the cumin and smoked cheese that make this dish so great .

Crockpot Chicken Tacos---We had them tonight. They are sooooo good.

Crockpot Chicken Tacos

6 Chicken boneless breasts or your choice.

1 teaspoon Cumin

3 tablespoons Chili powder

3 Garlic cloves or 1+ teaspoon garlic powder

1 Green pepper, diced
1 Onion chopped

1 Can diced tomatoes
2 cups chicken broth

Put all ingredients in Crockpot and cook on high for 2 hours.When chicken is done shred chicken. Blend Pineapple and a little bit of juice.

Cook the corn tortilla with cheese on it.  Top with Sour Cream, Avacado slices, and Pineapple sauce.

Good old Chili

Chili
1 Tbsp oil
1 small onion, chopped
1 green pepper, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced (I use refrigerated garlic, it's easier)
1 lb hamburger
1 can kidney beans
1 can black beans
1 can diced tomatoes (puree if you don't like chunks)
1 can tomato paste
1 can diced green chilies
2 Tbsp red wine vinegar
1/2 tsp celery salt
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1/4 tsp dried basil
1/4 tsp pepper
1 bay leaf

Saute onion, green pepper and garlic in oil until soft. Add hamburger and cook until browned. Add the rest of the ingredients (leaving in the juices from the cans) and simmer with lid cracked (or put in a crockpot) for 1 hour or so. Stir occasionally. Serve with desired toppings (cheese, sour cream, crackers, etc). Makes about 4 servings.

This recipe is very forgiving. It's not too spicy and is even a little sweet. Add or take out ingredients as desired. I have been waiting for a good "normal tasting" chili recipe. I finally found it! If you disagree, I will try yours out next time. Try it with my corn bread and honey butter recipe. Amazing!

Crockpot - Honey Rosemary Chicken

**Disclaimer...this is Jenny's recipe. Many of us make it a lot. It is yummy! But the disclaimer part is this. I can't seem to follow recipes exactly and I end up changing things. So since it is me posting this I will let you know what I do vs. original recipe. The original is great, I just didn't have some of the ingredients and I was in a hurry.

Honey-Rosemary Chicken
Jenny Peterson

12 skinles bone-in chicken thighs
2 medium onions, cut into thin wedges
4 cloves of garlic
1/4 t. freshly ground pepper
1/4 c. honey
2 T. fresh lemon juice
2T. cornstarch
1 T. coursely chopped fresh rosemary OR 1 t. dried
1 t. salt

Rinse chicken and pat dry. (In original recipe it said to brown all sides of chicken before placing in the crockpot, I skipped this last time cuz of lack of time and it still turned out great.) Place onions, garlic and chicken in crockpot. Stir together remaining ingredients and cook 6-8 hrs. on low or 3-4 hours on high.
This recipe normally calls for yukon gold potatoes, but last time I made it I didn't miss them. I served the chicken over rice with steamed broccoli and spagetti squash as sides. Yummy and easy.

Favorite Crock Pot Roast Beef and Gravy

1 boneless beef roast (3 lbs. rump, pot roast, whatever)
2 cans (10 3/4 oz. each) condensed cream of mushroom soup, undiluted
1/3 c. beef broth
1 envelope Lipton onion soup mix

Lightly salt and pepper the roast. Brown roast in a little bit of oil in skillet on all sides. Place in crock pot. In a bowl, combine the remaining ingredients. Pour over roast. Cover and cook on low for 9 hours or until meat is tender.

I usually add cut up potatoes, carrots and onions to the crock pot which means I don't have to think of any side dishes other than warm rolls with butter and jam, of course!

French Dip Sandwiches

French Dip

Rump, Round or chuck roast
1/2 cup soy sauce
1 beef bouillon cube
3 whole black peppercorns/ or lots of crushed pepper
1 teaspoon dried rosemary, crushed
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1 teaspoon garlic powder

3 cloves garlic

I threw the roast into the crock pot completely frozen. Then mix all other ingredients except garlic cloves. Pour over the top of the roast and then fill the crock pot with water to cover roast. Cut cloves of garlic in half and toss into the pot. Cook for 8-10 hours on low.

When meat is falling apart, shred and put on hoagie rolls or whatever bread you want. Cover each sandwich with a slice of swiss, provolone or monterey jack cheese and broil for 2 min. Serve with Au Jus.

Crockpot potato soup

Crockpot Potato Soup
Mandy Decker

6 Potatoes, peeled and diced
1 c. chopped onion
2 carrots, thinly sliced
2 ribs celery, thinly sliced
4 c. chicken broth
½ t. dried basil
1 t. dried parsley
1 t. salt
½ t. pepper
¼ c. flour
1 ¼ c. half and half
bacon bits

Combine potatoes, onions, carrots, celery, chicken broth, basil, parsley, salt and pepper in crockpot.
Cook on High for 3 hours – till veggies are tender.
Stir together flour and half/half, add to soup.
Cook 30 min more or until hot.
Top with bacon bits