Zesty Shredded Chicken

This is a copy-cat recipe I found for Cafe Rio shredded chicken. Honestly I have never had Cafe Rio shredded chicken (because if you don't get the sweet pork you are crazy), so I can't say it's comparable but I really like it, and it's so easy. We will make burritos, soft tacos or quesadillas with the meat.

Zesty Shredded Chicken
3 chicken breasts
4 oz. zesty Italian dressing
1/2 TBS minced garlic
1 pkg. ranch dressing
1/2 cup water
1/2 TBS chili powder
1/2 TBS cumin

Place all ingredients in slow cooker and cook on high for 6 hours or low for 8 hours. Shred chicken and let simmer in juice another 30 minutes. Makes 8-10 servings. 3 WW SP/8 servings

A Favorite Meal

This is not really a recipe but an idea. We love grilled chicken and in the form of chicken tenders is the best. They are a lot healthier than legs, thighs and wings and if you marinate them right, they are oh so good. And they take less time to cook than a chicken breast.  We love the Lawry's Balsamic Herb marinade. We have tried all flavors and that is our favorite, with sun dried tomato being a close runner-up. We will usually marinate the chicken all day.

One of our favorite meals is grilled chicken tenders, some pasta-roni and grilled asparagus , It is simple and so good. We usually have this a couple times a month.

Ranch Chicken

Well, it's getting hot here in Arizona and I'm trying really hard not to use my oven anymore. Although it's hot outside, I still like a nice warm meal once in a while. This is one of our favorites.

Ranch Chicken
5-6 chicken breasts
3 cans cream of chicken soup
4 T melted butter
2 packets dry ranch mix

Spray slow cooker and place chicken inside. In small bowl combine soup, butter and ranch. Mix up and place over chicken. Cook on high for 7-8 hours. Serve with mashed potatoes, or in our home, we do garlic smashed potatoes with red potatoes. So yummy!

Chicken Pot Pie

This is one of our favorite meals. We started a tradition that the Saturday before Thanksgiving we invite close friends over for "Pie Night" which is a chance to enjoy the best part of Thanksgiving before the actual day. We eat pie and well... pie. We invite a small group to dinner before the grand event and we service this very chicken pot pie. Then everyone else comes and we eat lots of different dessert pies. Seriously it's the best.

So here is the recipe that we use. I got it from my cousin Trish, but I tweaked it a tiny bit to suit us.

Ingredients:
1 chicken breast cooked and shredded
2 carrots, sliced
3 ribs of celery, sliced
1 cup frozen peas
1/3 cup chopped onion
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1/4 tsp celery seed
Thyme
1/3 cup butter
1 3/4 cup chicken broth (1 can)
1/3 cup flour
2/3 cup milk
2- 9 inch unbaked pie crusts

Heat oven to 425 degrees. Melt butter in a large saucepan and saute celery, carrots, onions and green peas until the veggies are soft and the onion is translucent. Add flour to coat vegetables. Add broth and milk a little at a time. Add salt, pepper, celery seed and thyme. Stir and simmer over low heat until thickened. 

 In a deep dish pie pan, lay out one pie crust, add chicken.

Pour the mixture over chicken.

 Place second pie crust over the pie and seal. Cut slits in the crust to vent.

 Bake for 25-30 minutes or until golden. Mine got a little done but it still tasted amazing!

If you don't want to burn your mouth, be sure to let it cool for a few minutes. :)

Roast Beef and Veggies

So I have to say this is one of my favorite Sunday recipes. Of course my mom makes the best roast beef dinner, but she makes it with gravy and mashed potatoes which I love but haven't mastered. Scott grew up having roast beef, potatoes and vegetables all cooked together. Since this is easier and almost as yummy, this is how I make it. Plus it takes half the time over making mashed potatoes and gravy. So I found this recipe on Pinterest and have seen it on many other cooking blogs and I love it. It has so much flavor and is so easy.

Roast Beef and Veggies
3-5 lb. roast
1 envelope dry ranch dressing mix
1 envelope dry Italian dressing mix
1 envelope brown gravy mix
Red potatoes (about 8 quartered)
Baby carrots (1 lb.)
Onion- sliced (optional, I use a sweet onion)
1-1 1/2 cup water

Put half of the veggies in the bottom of the slow cooker. Place roast on top of veggies. Place remaining veggies around the roast. Sprinkle ranch, Italian and gravy mix over the roast and veggies.  Pour water over mixture. Cook on low for about 8 hours. The longer you cook it the more tender the roast will be.

 

 I usually make up some jello, peas and rolls to go with it. Super easy with little preparation. My kind of Sunday dinner. Beef serves 8. Meat= 5 WW SP.