Crock Pot Chicken Bowtie Pasta

I have had this recipe in my binder for a long time, so I have no clue where I got it from.

Combine the following in a crockpot:

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (I always cook with thighs instead of breasts)

1 jar four cheese alfredo sauce

1 can cream of chicken soup

3/4 pkg real bacon pieces (I couldn't find a pkg, so I bought a jar of real bacon pieces in the salad dressing section instead)

1 pkg fresh sliced mushroom (looking at the picture, I think I forgot those!)

1/2 pkg dry Italian Dressing mix

1 cup cubed swiss cheese

1/4 stick of butter, melted

Salt and pepper

Cook on low 6-7 hours, shredding the chicken breasts about 1 hour before finished cooking.

Serve over bow tie pasta (as you can see we didn't have bow tie, so we used shell instead)

This was really good and made the house smell so yummy all day.  It was really good leftovers the next day too.  I just stored the chicken mixture seperate from the pasta in the refridgerator.

Crock Pot Pesto Chicken

Recipe adapted from A Year of Slow Cooking

The recipe originally had you make your own pesto, but I have fallen in love with this pesto (pictured below) so I thought I would just buy it instead.  It is in the refrigerated section, (at WinCo it is on the top shelf near the salsa by the tortellini).  At my house any time the kids hear us say pesto, they say "pesto is the besto".  This is so yummy on hoagie sandwiches too.  It really is the besto!

4 chicken thighs

sliced mozzarella cheese (I just layered one or two slices on each thigh)

Pesto

In the bottom of a large slow cooker, arrange your chicken pieces. Mine were still frozen. Layer on slices of mozzarella cheese. Pour pesto evenly on top.  Cover and cook on low for 6-7 hours, or on high for 4-5. If your chicken is frozen it will take a bit longer.

This was so good.  It had a lot of flavor to it.  We just served it with dutch oven style potatoes (cooked in a frying pan this time of year). 

French Dip Subs

This recipes is actually from mom.  It is the best one I have tried and all of us love it (kids included).

1 beef chuck roast (about 3lbs.)
1/2 c. soy sauce
1 tsp. dreid thyme
1 bay leaf
2 c. water
1 tsp. dired rosemary
1 tsp. garlic powder
3-4 whole peppercorns*
8 French rolls

Place roast in a slow cooker.  Add water, soy sauce and seasonings.  Cover and cook on high for 5-6 hours or until beef is tender.  Remove meat from broth; shred with fork.  Pour broth into small cups for dipping.  Serve beef on rolls.

When we did this, Bridger got all the peppercorns, and we heard about it every time he got one.  He wasn't a fan of the peppercorns, but loved the sandwich.  Next time I think I will make sure to fish out all the peppercorns before serving...resulting in less noise (from Bridger) at dinner time.

I also thought that there wasn't enough broth, so I would also increase the broth ingrediants--probably one and a half of everything.  That way if we have left over meat, we will also have some left over broth to dip it in.

Slow Cooker Southwest Chicken Stacks

Slow Cooker Southwest Chicken Stacks

2 cups frozen corn
1 can black beans, rinsed and drained
2 large frozen boneless, skinless chicken breasts (about 1 pound)
1 1/2 cups salsa

1 bag of Fritos chips

Lightly grease the bottom and sides of the slow cooker. Pour frozen corn into the bottom of the slow cooker and place the frozen chicken breasts on top. Cover with beans and salsa. Cover slow cooker and cook on low for 6 hours. Remove chicken from slow cooker and shred with forks. Return to the slow cooker and stir until the chicken, corn, beans and salsa are combined.

Serve on a bed of chips and top with additional garnishes: lettuce, tomato, avocado, sour cream, cheese, etc.

Recipe Source: from My Kitchen Cafe