King Ranch Chicken

We are in the process of moving so this week the crockpot has been a God send! It's been great to prep meals then not have to worry about dinner until much later in the day when I just have to work out what I'm serving with something. When we were packing the kitchen my husband asked what he could pack and I told him that he could pack all the pans except the one that I use every single day and that he needed to STAY AWAY FROM THE CROCK POTS! :)

Tonight we're trying King Ranch Chicken from the Crockin' Girls website. It was their featured recipe this week and I'm excited to see how it cooks up. The only modification that I made was that I did not use the diced tomatoes with the green chiles. I don't like spicy things that much so I just used plain diced tomatoes.

King Ranch Chicken

Ingredients:

Bag of corn chips
½ whole chicken cooked and de-boned or 3-4 boneless skinless chicken breasts, cooked
1 can diced tomatoes with green chilies
1 can cream of chicken soup1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 cup chicken broth1 small onion, chopped
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese

Directions: Place a single layer of corn chips on bottom of the slow-cooker. In a bowl, combine chicken, diced tomatoes with green chilies, both soups, chicken broth, onion and mix until combined. Place half of the mixture on top of the chips. Then top with half of cheese. Repeat layers ending with cheese. Cover and cook on LOW for about 6 hours. This dish can cook faster on HIGH for 3 hours.

We'll see how it turns out!

Three-Cheese Pasta Bake

From Southern Living (I found it on Pinterest)

This delicious variation on traditional macaroni and cheese is easy to prepare and perfect for weeknight family dinners and weekend entertaining alike. Add cooked chicken, shrimp, or sausage (we added sausage) to the pasta bake and serve with a green salad and fresh vegetables for a hearty, well-rounded meal.

Yield:Makes 8 to 10 servings

Ingredients:
1 (16-ounce) package ziti
2 (10-ounce) containers refrigerated Alfredo sauce (Butoni- in the fresh pasta case)
1 (8-ounce) container sour cream
1 (15-ounce) container ricotta cheese
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
1 1/2 cups mozzarella cheese

Preparation:

Prepare ziti according to package directions; drain and return to pot.Stir together Alfredo sauce and sour cream; toss with ziti until evenly coated. Spoon half of mixture into a lightly greased 13- x 9-inch baking dish.Stir together ricotta cheese and next 3 ingredients; spread evenly over pasta mixture in baking dish. Spoon remaining pasta mixture evenly over ricotta cheese layer; sprinkle evenly with mozzarella cheese.Bake at 350° for 30 minutes or until bubbly.

I bought two smaller disposable pans and instead of using a 13x9 pan used two small pans, one to cook tonight and one to freeze. This is something I've started doing to save time. :) I'm going to serve it with a spinach salad.

What's for Dinner: Bacon Ranch Chicken

Tonight I'm trying another recipe from the Crockin' Girls website. It sounds yummy and hopefully it will make dinnertime a little easier tonight. It only took a few minutes to put together and would have gone quicker if I wasn't juggling two kiddos and lunchtime all while doing it!

Bacon Ranch Chicken

4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
2 tbsp real bacon bits
1tsp minced garlic
1pkg ranch dressing mix
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 cup sour cream
egg noodles

Combine bacon, garlic, ranch dressing mix, soup, and sour cream; mix well. Pour over chicken in the crock pot. Cook on high 3-4 hours. Then shred the chicken and put back in the pot and add the egg noodles; mix together.

We'll see how it turns out!