In the Kitchen: Part 1

I really enjoy cooking. Don't get confused: NOT baking. Cooking. Honestly, it sometimes serves as my therapy. I get to be creative while doing something useful. I enjoy making things for my family. Sometimes I get the added bonus of having a helper. The two little guys tend to slow the process, but most of the time that's okay, and it's good practice for reading, math, and following directions. (when they first came home, it was also a great way to work on language/vocabulary) The hubby tends to add an extra 'kick' to whatever it is we're cooking, which is always fine by me! I like attempting to recreate dishes we enjoyed at restaurants. I'm always looking for new recipes and ideas.

I don't know if I have ever shared recipes on our blog before, but I thought I might start sharing some of our favorites from time to time.

I recently jumped on the Pinterest bandwagon. I've tried two recipes so far that I found on Pinterest, and both were great. This past Friday was white chicken enchiladas. Yum. As I've never been one to follow directions or recipes to the 'T', I plan to do some modifications and come up with my own take on this. Once I do, I'll try to share it here.

The other recipe was really good as well. It comes from The Larson Lingo blog (check it out here). I like easy. I like slow cooker. So this was one I just had to try. But of course, I made some modifications!

I placed a 3-pound bag of frozen chicken tenderloins in the slow cooker (thaw the chicken first to avoid any yuckies!!). Topped that with a can of black beans & a can of corn (both drained) and a can of ro-tel tomatoes (undrained, and mild because of those that don't like spicy stuff, aka whimps). On top of that I placed a package of low-fat cream cheese. Covered and cooked on low for about 6 hours.


Photo by Mel at The Larson Lingo

 

After 6 hours, I removed the lid and pulled the chicken apart, then mixed everything together. Then Zack an I decided to add a package of taco seasoning and a bag of frozen onions/3-pepper blend (I love buying these because they're already sliced up, and great to add towards the end of a recipe for color & flavor). I turned the slow cooker to high and cooked another couple of hours.

We served it with nachos, flour tortillas, and crunchy taco shells, as well as cheese, salsa, lettuce, and sour cream. Everyone loved it, and it made A LOT. There were eight of us eating it, and still lots of leftovers

My plan next time is to leave the taco seasoning out the first night and serve it over rice. Then add the taco seasoning and serve it wit the shells, chips, etc. the second night.


I've recently been reading some tips for using a crock pot/slow cooker. Here are a few that might be useful. First, don't remove the lid during cooking! Every time you take the lid off, you need to add about 20 minutes of cooking time. Don't add too much liquid. Slow cookers are designed so that there won't be the level of evaporation you have with other cooking methods, so you could end up with soggy food. Also, add things like tomatoes towards the end to retain texture and flavor (I don't always follow this one, like in this particular recipe).