Slow Cooker Salsa Chicken Over Angel Hair Pasta

In the past couple of years I've really started enjoying experimenting with some great fusion recipes. Fusion food is simply combining two more traditional cuisines and coming up with a great new take on a couple classic dishes/ingredients.

Tonight's dinner is a fusion of Italian pasta dish similar to a Cacciatore with Mexican ingredients like salsa and lime juice. What makes it even better is that 90% of this is done in the slow cooker with the last 5 minutes in the oven under the broiler.



**tips** I started used medium salsa recently because my husband and kids all like a little kick. I am a big weenie though and that much medium salsa is almost more than I can take. If you or your kids don't like much in the way of spicy then I would definitely stick to mild salsa. Also, I normally prefer the Herdez brand of salsa but for this recipe you really need a chunky salsa and the Herdez is a lot thinner. For the salsa chicken I normally buy the biggest jar of Pace Picante chunky salsa I can find.

This fed a family of 4 with no left overs but can easily be doubled for a larger family or if you have teenagers ;)

Ingredients

FOR THE slow cooker:

• 3 chicken breasts
• 32 oz Chunky Salsa 
• Juice of 1 lime or 3 Tbsp lime juice

FOR THE Chicken:

• 2 cups Mozzarella 
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Utensils you will need:

• Slow cooker
• Knife to cut lime
• 9x13 baking dish
• Slotted spoon
• Non-slotted spoon

Directions

FOR THE salsa chicken:

1. Place you frozen chicken breasts in bottom of crock pot.
2. Add salsa and lime juice                                         
3. Cook on low heat for 5 hours.                             
4. When cooked and you are nearly ready to eat dinner, start boiling water for your pasta. Cook pasta according to package directions. 
5. Using slotted spoon, remove chicken carefully. It will easily fall apart which is fine in large chunks but be careful not to shred the chicken.            
6. Transfer the chicken to 9x13 baking dish                                 
7. Using slotted spoon again scoop out the chunky parts of the salsa and cover the chicken with it. This will later be your pasta sauce.                            
8. Cover with as little or as much mozzarella as you like. I like LOTS of cheese!
9. Turn Broiler on. 
10. Place chicken on the middle rack to melt and brown cheese. This step won't take but 3-5 minutes so keep a close eye on the cheese.                            
11. Once cheese is browned and pasta is cooked, cover pasta with sauce from the baking dish and the cheese smothered chicken. 
12. Enjoy!!!

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Kale, Mushroom, Flank Steak Stir Fry

I love a good stir fry! I found this recipe in a new magazine I picked up the other week. I tweeked it a bit because some of the original ingredients I didn't care for together or like shitake mushrooms, they are harder to find where I live. This came out really well. There was enough for my family of 4 plus just enough for Mom and Dad's lunches the next day.

Ingredients

FOR THE Stir FRY:

• 10 cups of Kale (or a jumbo bag of chopped Kale)
• 4 green onions, chopped
• 2 pounds flank steak, sliced bite size pieces
• 3 Tbsp minced garlic
• 16 oz button mushrooms, halved
• 1 Tbsp Olive Oil

• 3 cups White, Brown Rice, or Quinoa
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• FOR THE marinade:
• 2/3 cup of Soy Sauce
• 1 cup of vegetable broth
• 6 Tbsp Rice Wine Vinegar
• 4 Tbsp Cornstarch
• 4 Tbsp Sugar
• 3 tsp ground ginger or about 1 inch freshly minced ginger
• 1 tsp black pepper
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• utensils you will need:
• large bowl for marinade (I use large Tupperware)
• large frying pan with tall sides or a large pot 
• cutting board
• chopping knife
• pot for rice
• measuring spoons
• bowl to put chopped veggies in
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Directions

FOR THE STIR FRY:

1. Mix all marinade ingredients together in large bowl.   
2. Place your flank steak in the marinade and refrigerate for at least 15 minutes 
3. While Steak is marinating, rinse and chop all your veggies. Remember to rinse your mushrooms very well! If you ever watched how mushrooms are farmed you wouldn't question this advise lol 
4. Remove steak from marinade (save the marinade!!) and slice it into bite size pieces. With flank steak you want to always cut across the grain of flank steak instead of the same directions as the meat fibers, otherwise it will be pretty tough to chew 
5. Warm a tablespoon of olive oil with minced garlic in your pan on medium heat for about 3 minutes.
6. Add sliced steak and brown on medium heat. 
7. While meat is browning, go ahead and start cooking your rice.
8. Once brown remove steak from pan and set aside. Leave juices in pan
9. In the same pot add the marinade and heat over high heat, stirring continuously until thickened. takes mere minutes.                                                
10. Once thickened, turn the heat down to a medium-high heat, and add all your veggies a little at a time, stirring often. Kale as with all your greens are going to cook down to a tenth of their original size. I added a handful at a time stirring to coat with sauce.
11. Let the sauce work into all those veggies for a few minutes until the kale is at your desired texture. I prefer mine to have a little bite but not crunchy. Taste your food as you go and decided for yourself what you like. It's the best part about being the cook!
12.  Once veggies are cooked to your preference, add the meat and give it a few stirs until well coated and mixed.                                                                  
13. Turn off the heat.
14. Scoop your stir fry mix on top of your rice and ENJOY!
    
    
     
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    

Slow Cooker Chicken N' Dumplings

Chicken N' Dumplings are a southern household comfort food staple. This is a really basic dish that is commonly said to have started during the great depression when the need for a cheap meal was ever present. Chicken and Dumplings is basically boiled chicken meat, broth from the boiling chicken, multiple dumplings, and salt & pepper. Some people make theirs like a thin soup and others a thicker stew. Same as some like to add butter for a little extra richness. I am a fond believer that butter makes it better!



I grew up in South Carolina and have very fond memories of watching my mom boil a pieced chicken, making dumplings, and pulling the cooked chicken off the bone. While I have been known to spend a couple hours in the kitchen to do things the old fashioned way just for the fun of it, there is nothing wrong with taking short cuts! The other day we had a few checkups for the kids and I knew I was going to be frazzled and beat by the time we got home. I got up first thing and before I even fixed my hair dinner was already cooking in the crock pot.

Ingredients

FOR THE Soup:

• 2 frozen boneless, skinless chicken breasts
• 26 oz cream of chicken soup
• 2 cans chicken broth
• 1 yellow onion, diced
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1 can flaky biscuits
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Utensils you will need:

• slow cooker
• cutting board 
• cutting knife
• spoon to stir
• fork to shred
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Directions

FOR THE SOUP:

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1. Dice your onion and add to crock pot                  
2. Add broth and soup
3. Stir well
4. Add chicken breasts                                                
5. Season with pepper only at this point                
6. Cook on low for 8 hours                                        
7. Once timer goes off, stir and remove chicken breasts 
8. Using 2 forks or your fingers, pull chicken apart into more bite size pieces. The chicken is going to be falling apart tender. 
9. Add chicken back to the pot.                                
10. Open can of biscuits
11.  Use your cutting knife, cut each biscuit into 4 quarters.
12. Roll each section of biscuit in the palm of your hand then throw in the crock pot 
13. Once all the biscuits are rolled and in the slow cooker, give it a quick stir, turn heat up to high and set timer for 30 minutes.                                      
14. Depending on your crock pot size and how crowded the dumplings are, the dumplings may or may not be thoroughly cooked at the end of 30 minutes. They should be fluffy and not stick to each other. If you aren't sure then it wont hurt to cook them for an additional 30 minutes. 
15. Once cooked, stir, and serve up!                                                       
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    

Tuna Noodle Casserole

What is better for a family on the go than a one pot wonder/casserole? You can't get much easier than throwing a protein, starch, and vegetables in a single dish, mix, bake, and dig in. If you have any picky veggie eaters then a casserole is a great way to somewhat hide them in plain sight.

This casserole feeds my family of 2 adults, a teenager, and a toddler for 2 meals. This freezes and reheats great as well.

Ingredients

FOR THE casserole:

• 4 -5 oz cans tuna in water, drained
• 1 lb pack of wide egg noodles, cooked
• 1 pack mixed vegetables (approx 12 oz)
• 1 -15 oz can cream of celery
• 1 -15 oz can cream of mushroom
• 3 tsp mustard powder
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp pepper
• 8 oz fresh or canned mushrooms **optional**
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utensils needed:

• 9x13 casserole dish
• large pot to cook noodles
• stirring spoon
• colander

Directions

FOR THE CASSEROLE:

1. Preheat oven to 375
2. Cook noodles per package directions
3. While noodles are cooking, add drained tuna, soups, and seasonings. Mix well
4. Add frozen veggies and stir                                                                               
5. When noodles are cooked and drained, add to baking dish
6. Blend tuna mixture with noodles until well combined, like shown. 
7. I like my noodles to get a little crunchy on top so I do not cover. If you do not like the crunch then cover with tin foil for the same time. 
8. Bake in the middle of the center rack for 45 minutes
9. Enjoy!!

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