Crock Pot White Chicken Chili

My family loved this! Even the kids ate it up! It is super easy to put together and perfect for these cold winter days.

1 1/4 lbs. boneless skinless chicken
2 (15 oz) cans great northern beans or navy beans
1 (15 oz) can hominy or white corn
1 (1 1/4 oz) envelope taco seasoning
1 (4 1/2 oz) can of chopped green chilies
1 (10 3/4 oz) can condensed cream of chicken soup
1 (14 oz) can chicken broth
1/2 cup sour cream
chopped green onion (optional)
monterrey jack cheese (optional)

1. Place chicken in a 4 quart slow cooker.
2. Add beans and hominy.
3. In a medium bowl, combine taco seasoning, chilies, condensed soup, and chicken broth. Pour over top of ingredients in crock pot.
4. Cover and cook on low for 8-10 hours.
5. Before serving, take out the chicken and shred it, then return to pot and add in the sour cream.
6. Serve topped with green onions and cheese.

Cafe Rio Pork Barbacoa

I made this a while ago and it was a huge hit! If you've had the Cafe Rio Barbacoa, you know what I'm talking about. My version was a bit spicier, but very close to the original Cafe Rio recipe. You just have to add less chile chipotle to make it less spicy. We ate this in flour tortillas and toppings (taco style) or you can add it to a salad.
Here goes, let me know if you try it and how it goes, Please!


5-6 lb. pork roast
21 oz. Dr. Pepper (or Coke, do NOT use diet soda)
1 cup brown sugar
3/4 cup white sugar
1 clove garlic, minced
7 oz. can chipotle chilies in adobo sauce
6-ish oz. red taco sauce (I used hot)
1 tsp dry mustard
1 tsp cumin
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

Place roast in crock-pot, cover half-way with water and cook on low for 12 hours. After 12 hours, drain pork.

Mix remaining ingredients until sugar dissolves. I added 4 chipotle chiles (Add less if you don't want it too spicy), then blend everything in the blender. (Also, the adobo sauce tends to stain plastic, using a glass or metal mixing bowl will make your clean-up of adobo sauce considerably less frustrating).

Add Dr. Pepper mixture to the roast and cook on low an additional 4 hours.
Take out roast and shred, add back into sauce and cook for 2 more hours.

Hello???

I can't believe it's been so long since I posted any recipes. I guess life gets busy and for us it doesn't seem to be slowing down any time soon. Anyways, I apologize. I honestly meant to keep this up. I guess the biggest problem has been the pictures. I wanted to have a picture with each recipe and if I didn't have one, then I haven't been posting it. So I will either have to remember to take pictures or else you're gonna get recipes sans pictures. (boring!) Anyways, here's the latest recipe I've made which was a hit.

Oatmeal Chocolate Chunk Bars

from My Kitchen Cafe
1 3/4 cup flour

3/4 tsp soda

1/4 tsp salt

1 cup oatmeal

3/4 cup butter

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup brown sugar

1 egg

1 tsp vanilla

12 ounces semi sweet chocolate chunks

1 cup chopped walnuts (optional)

Preheat oven to 375. Whisk together dry ingredients and set aside. Beat butter, sugars, egg and vanilla till fluffy and add dry ingredients. Stir in chocolate chunks and walnuts. Press into a greased 9x13 inch pan and bake for 18-20 minutes until light golden brown.

Chocolate Mint Brownies

Have you ever had BYU Mint brownies? These are just like them. I love them! They are to die for! I got this recipe from "My Kitchen Cafe" blog. I made them on Sunday and everyone loved them. My husband even asked me to make some for the youth's fundraising activity next week. This recipe is definitely a keeper!

Bottom layer:

1 cup all-purpose flour (about 4 1/2 ounces)

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup granulated sugar

4 large eggs, beaten

1/4 cup butter, melted

2 tablespoons water

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 (16-ounce) can chocolate syrup

Mint layer:

2 cups powdered sugar

1/4 cup butter, melted

2 tablespoons milk

1/2 teaspoon peppermint extract

2 drops green food coloring

Glaze:

3/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips

3 tablespoons butter

1. Preheat oven to 350°.
2. To prepare bottom layer, lightly spoon flour into a dry measuring cup; level with a knife. Combine flour and salt; stir with a whisk. Combine granulated sugar, 1/4 cup melted butter, 2 tablespoons water, vanilla, eggs, and chocolate syrup in a medium bowl; stir until smooth. Add flour mixture to chocolate mixture, stirring until blended. BATTER WILL BE VERY THIN! Pour batter into a 13 x 9–inch baking pan coated with cooking spray. Bake at 350° for 23 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out almost clean. Cool completely in pan on a wire rack.
3. To prepare mint layer, combine powdered sugar, 1/4 cup melted butter, and next 3 ingredients (through food coloring) in a medium bowl; beat with a mixer until smooth. Spread mint mixture over cooled cake. (Kylie prefers the non-mint version: she substitutes vanilla extract for the mint extract.)
4. To prepare the glaze, combine the chocolate chips and 3 tablespoons butter in a medium microwave-safe bowl. Microwave at HIGH 1 minute or until melted, stirring after 30 seconds. Let stand 2 minutes. Spread chocolate mixture evenly over top. Cover and refrigerate until ready to serve.

Mexican Hot Dogs

Plain hot dogs are ok. But if you want to take it up a notch, this is the way to go! These are street vendor style hot dogs--very common in Mexico. They are wrapped in bacon and topped with any of these favorites: chopped tomatoes, onions, jalapenos, pickles, guacamole, beans, ketchup, mustard. Another favorite for the kids!

Ingredients:
bacon
hot dogs
mayonnaise
any of the above toppings

Wrap the bacon around the hot dog and cook it in a skillet until the bacon is cooked. Spread mayo on the bun and add the hot dog and toppings. Delicious!

Salsa

This is my mom's salsa recipe. You will totally be surprised at how simple it is! I made some yesterday and it's all gone now! It is so good!

1 28 oz can of whole tomatoes
1 can of "El Pato" Sauce
4-5 chopped green onions
1 handful of cilantro, chopped
1/2 lime
salt, to taste


Chop tomatoes in blender until desired consistency. Pour into a bowl and add the El Pato sauce. (This is found in the Latin Section of the grocery store, and most grocery stores carry it. I'll add a picture to the bottom of this post.) Add green onions and cilantro. Squeeze 1/2 lime into it. Add salt to taste and stir.

See! Extremely easy! Even my little brother makes this. I think I'm going to make some more tomorrow. We still have lots of chips left. : )

Salsa Chicken

This chicken is super easy and the kids love it! We had this with flour tortillas in a burrito or on top of tostadas. My hubby was gracious enough to hold it for the picture before he devoured it. : ) A squeeze of lime and some hot sauce make this perfect! I also use the leftover chicken on my salad for lunch the next day.

Ingredients:

5-6 frozen chicken breasts

1 bottle of salsa

Spray slow cooker before adding chicken. Pour salsa over top. Cook on low for 6-8 hours. Shred the chicken using two forks.

Broccoli Cheese Soup

Just when I thought the cold winter days were over, I woke up this morning to find snow covering everything in sight. Makes me want to stay home and make some delicious broccoli cheese soup!

Ingredients:
1 ½ lbs fresh broccoli or 2 10 oz. packages frozen chopped broccoli
6 Tb. margarine
½ c. chopped onion
6 Tb. flour
2 c. chicken broth (or 2 c. water and 2 Tb. chicken base)
2 c. light cream or 2 c. half and half for low cal version
1 tsp. salt
¼ tsp. nutmeg
1 c. grated Cheddar cheese

Wash and chop broccoli. Peel and chop stem ends also. Cook in a small amount of water until tender. Meanwhile, melt margarine in heavy saucepan, add onion and cook until clear and starting to brown. Stir in flour to make a roux. Slowly add broth and cream or half and half. Stir and cook over medium heat until thickened. Add salt, nutmeg and cooked broccoli, can also add cooking water if not too much. Just before serving, stir in cheese. Makes 6- 8 servings

*Note: I omit the nutmeg. And I always double this recipe!

Sugar Cookies

Ok, this pictures didn't turn out very well, but these cookies are my favorite! We made some easter sugar cookies, but didn't find our easter cookies cutters. No matter, the children don't really care what shape they are in! This makes a huge batch!

2 cups sugar

2 cups butter

6 eggs

6 tsp baking powder

7 cups flower

4 tsp vanilla

Cream sugar and butter; add eggs and vanilla. Mix in sifted dry ingredients. Mix thoroughly. Chill and roll for shaped cookies. Bake at 375 degrees for 8 minutes.

Welcome to my new blog

I've been spending way too much time blog jumping. I could do this for hours and hours without end, so I really need to stop. But anyways, I have come across several food/recipe blogs and decided to start my own.

I love food! My whole family does! I collect recipe books and I love to try new recipes! I figured this would be a fun way to share my collection of tried and true fabulous recipes as well as collect some of yours. It would be wonderful if you all contributed and shared your favorites. Let me know if you would like to and I can add you on as a contributor.

I think you will agree that cooking is a lot more enjoyable when you have great recipes! So here's to great food and great friends!