Crockpot Chicken Tortilla Soup (A Reader Recipe)

Here is another reader recipe.

This time, it's a favorite from my sister's kitchen!

This is something I've heard her talk about for years and never got around to trying until recently.

If you want a crockpot dish that is SOUPER easy... this is it!

If you're not into crockpot cooking, here is a different recipe for chicken tortilla soup that's also delicious.

4-5 frozen chicken breasts

1 pkg frozen mexican veggies (corn, blk beans, peppers)

1 can chicken tortilla soup

1 can nacho cheese soup

1 can water

Sour cream

Cheese

Tortilla chips

Put all ingredients in the crock pot on low and let cook all day. 

When chicken is done, shred it then put back in soup. 

Add sour cream, cheese and crushed tortilla chips to each bowl and enjoy!

***Review:
This soup is a favorite of my sister's family.  I didn't love it as much.  I don't know if it was the fact that I couldn't find the mexican style frozen veggies or what. ( I used southwest veggies)  It may be that I just don't love nacho cheese... and it's a big part of this recipe. Also, I'm pretty picky!  Anyway, the hubs liked it and the kids picked at it.  They loved the chips to dip in it.   I will say that it looked great... that counts for something in my book!  I have a thing for pretty food!  ;)

**Tips:
I don't really have any tips.  I love that this soup is super easy to make.  Add it all in and go.  If you want to add a little spice you could add a can of rotel or even some jalapenos or green chili's.

*Serving:
This soup was great served with the tortillas crushed up in it.  I think it would also be good with some italian bread or even corn bread on the side.  Sour cream is a must and a little avacado wouldn't hurt either!

Printer Friendly Recipe

Crockpot Chicken Tortilla Soup

4-5 frozen chicken breasts

1 pkg frozen mexican veggies (corn, blk beans, peppers)

1 can chicken tortilla soup

1 can nacho cheese soup

1 can water

Sour cream

Cheese

Tortilla chips

Put all ingredients in the crock pot on low and let cook all day. 

When chicken is done, shred it then put back in soup. 

Add sour cream, cheese and crushed tortilla chips to each bowl and enjoy

Ham & Bean Soup

This recipe is an old family recipe.

It's from the hub's grandfather, who I hear was a great cook.

It's too bad the hubs didn't inherit that gene...lol 

But... he taught him lots of other great stuff.. so I can't complain!

I finally got the recipe for this yummy soup and now I make it at least once a year.

There is only one problem.....

There has to be a little forethought with this dish.

It takes a little bit of time...and

Because it requires a ham bone, you need to have one handy.

And, well... if you haven't cooked a ham recently, it's not likely you have a ham bone just hanging around.

I am not sure if you can buy one from a butcher... I've never tried.

I just usually freeze the ham bone from Chirstmas or Easter dinner and use that.

Anway, I love this recipe... please don't freak out that there's bacon grease in it.

Remember it's an OLD recipe and bacon fat was a pretty common ingredient.

It also happens to be the key ingredient and makes it taste AWESOME!

You can try to cut it out of the recipe, but I promise that the bacon grease is what really makes the flavor POP!

I didn't take near as many pictures as I normally do... I have no excuse except that I forgot.  It happens!

Anyway, here's the recipe:

Ingredients:
1 Ham bone, with some ham still on it
8 C Potatoes, diced ( I use redskin)
3 C Carrots, diced
1 1/2 C Celery, diced
1 Jar (48oz) Northern beans
1 lb bacon, cooked and crumbled
Reserve bacon grease for later use
1 packet Lipton dry onion soup mix
2-4 Tbs flour
*Balsamic vinegar (optional topping)

Directions:
Place ham bone in large stock pot
Fill with water, just covering top of bone
Boil until meat falls off bone (aprox. 2-hours)
Add water when necessary so that bone is always covered with water
When meat has fallen off the bone, take bone out of water to cool
Pull any remaining meat off bone and place back in broth
(after this step you can place the pot of "broth" in the fridge so the fat solidifies and you can skim it off later, or you can keep going)

This is the fat the solidified on top after refridgerating overnight... ewww!

Dice up all your veggies

Add potatoes & carrots
After about 10 minutes, add celery
Cook until veggies are tender (about 30 min)

Add Onion soup mix
Add northern beans
In a seperate pan, fry bacon until crisp
When bacon is done set aside to cool
While bacon grease is still quite hot, add 2 Tbs flour to it mixing quickly with a whisk to make a paste.

 
If it's too runny, slowly add more flour unitl it's a paste.
This is what will make your soup thick.
Make sure soup is boiling and slowly add the bacon grease paste to the soup, mixing as you pour
Add bacon crumbles
Cook for 10 minutes and soup is done. 
Adding a splash of balsamic on top of each bowl  is great... but optional.

***Review:
Because this is a family recipe we've been eating for years, it's easy to guess that we love this.  I fully expected the kids to hate it though (even though they love ham).  Only one child refused to eat it.  It happens to be the same child that never eats any of my meals...lol  So, I'm not too worried.  Otherwise the kids liked it.... but they didn't love it. 
However, to even out our bias, I sent a bowl over to my taste tester/neighbor and she loved it.  So, I guess that means it's good!

**Tips:
I make this recipe in 2 parts (meaning 2 days) I place the ham broth in the fridge after it's done boiling so I can skim off the fat.  I mean, if I'm already eating bacon grease, the least I can do do is take out what fat I can right?  So, I cook the bone one day, place the pot in the fridge overnight, skim the fat and then start the rest of it.  I also let it cook a while too (after it's "done")... I prefer it being cooked longer.  And honestly, it's the best on the second day. 
I know it's not the easiest recipe in the world and there are a ton of steps...I don't usually cook this way... but it's totally worth it.
 Also, you can add less or more of the veggies too.  I used what I already had on hand but you can put in as much or as little as you like.
One last tip... this is great to freeze.  This recipe makes a lot... so we eat it for a few days and then freeze it in individual servings so we can eat it for lunch here and there.  It tastes great re heated!

Serving it:
Adding a splash of balsamic vinegar to each bowl is awesome. It gives it a little bit of a different flavor and I absoultely love it. 
We serve this with saltine crackers and maybe some good italian or french bread! MMMMM!
Can't wait to go have another bowl!


Printer Friendly Recipe:

Ham & Bean Soup

Ingredients:
1 Ham bone, with some ham still on it
8 C Potatoes, diced ( I use redskin)
3 C Carrots, diced
1 1/2 C Celery, diced
1 Jar (48oz) Northern beans
1 lb bacon, cooked and crumbled
Reserve bacon grease for later use
1 packet Lipton dry onion soup mix
2-4 Tbs flour
*Balsamic vinegar (optional topping)

Directions:
Ingredients:
1 Ham bone, with some ham still on it
8 C Potatoes, diced ( I use redskin)
3 C Carrots, diced
1 1/2 C Celery, diced
1 Jar (48oz) Northern beans
1 lb bacon, cooked and crumbled
Reserve bacon grease for later use
1 packet Lipton dry onion soup mix
2-4 Tbs flour
*Balsamic vinegar (optional topping)

Directions:
Place ham bone in large stock pot
Fill with water, just covering top of bone
Boil until meat falls off bone (aprox.2-hours)
Add water when necessary so that bone is always covered with water
When meat has fallen off  the bone, take bone out of water to cool
Pull any remaining meat off bone and place back in broth
(after this step you can place the pot of "broth" in the fridge so the fat solidifies and you can skim it off later, or you can keep going)
Dice up all your veggies
Add potatoes & carrots
After about 10 minutes, add celery
Cook until veggies are tender (about 30 min)
Add Onion soup mix
Add northern beans
In a seperate pan, fry bacon until crisp
When bacon is done set aside to cool
While bacon grease is still quite hot, add 2 Tbs flour to it mixing quickly with a whisk to make a paste. 
If it's too runny, slowly add more flour unitl it's a paste.
This is what will make your soup thick.
Make sure soup is boiling and slowly add the bacon grease paste to the soup, mixing as you pour
Add bacon crumbles
Cook for 10 minutes and soup is done. 
Adding a splash of balsamic on top of each bowl  is great... but optional.

Chili

It's cold!

Reeeeeally cold! 

Time to break out the "winter food" recipes

I love chili!

It's so warm and comforting to eat.

I'm only "allowed" to make it in the winter though.

Hubs has issues with me making soup or chili when it's warm out.

I find that slightly wierd...

So sometimes, I sneak in soup.

I'm a rebel....lol

But, now that it's chili season I thought I'd share my favorite chili recipe with you!

Ingredients:

1 (29oz) can of tomato sauce

1 (28oz) can of whole tomatoes

2 (28oz) cans of crushed tomatoes

1 large Onion (or 2 small ones), diced

1 (1.25oz) pkt of chili seasoning

10 cloves of garlic, diced

2 lbs of ground beef/turkey (cooked)

2 cans kidney beans, undrained

**shredded cheese (optional toppings)

**sour cream (optional toppings)

**crackers (optional toppings)

Dont have packaged chili seasoning?
Make your own-
Ingredients for homemade chili seasoning:
2 tablespoons chili powder
1 tablespoon seasoned salt
2 teaspoons cumin
1 teaspoon oregano
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon onion powder
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

Directions:

Brown the ground beef and drain grease

Add all ingredients (except toppings) into a large pot

Cook 3-4 hours on low/med (or longer) with lid off
Stir occasionally

**Serve with toppings above or anything else that sounds good :)

FYI: This is a 5 qt pot and it's pretty full. It definitely makes a lot of chili!

***Reviews:
I really like this chili.  The hubs would prefer if it was much much more spicy, but he likes it otherwise.He just adds his cholula hot sauce to his own bowl.  The kids will not eat it.... and I don't expect them to.  But it's a pretty good recipe I think.  I really love all the garlic in it! It's pretty chunky too... not a "soupy" kind of chili.

**Tips:

Chili is a pretty basic dish.  You can add almost anything you like.  That's the great part about it.  You can add steak chunks, jalapenos, hot sauce, green pepper.  Or you can take out the garlic or onion .... it's flexible. Add more beans or take them out entirely. If you want it more soupy, you can replace the whole tomatoes for tomato sauce or even (blah) tomato juice (my mom does this). She also adds little noodles so it's more like goulash.  I have even seen people add cocoa powder.

Also, I had a friend that used this basic recipe and added a can of hormel chili as well. I thought that was pretty good too.  What I love about chili is that no two chili's are alike.... so get creative and make it your own.

Cooking it as long as you can is best... but  make sure it's on low because you do not want to burn the bottom... yuk!  It's almost always better the next day too.  

Another bonus?  You can put it all in the crockpot and cook it all day.  How cool is that!

You can easily freeze any leftovers too! 

Gotta love chili!

*Serving it:

I cannot eat chili without sour cream and cheese in it... seriously! 

It's awesome with crackers too.

One of the best add ins?  French fries!  Serious... try it somtime.

You can also just eat it plain OR with a little Italian bread.

Anything is better with Italian bread!

Stuffed Shells

So last week I made some homemade pasta sauce

 I used that sauce in tonight's great recipe

I think I've mentioned before that cooler weather makes me want warm, cheesy, savory comfort foods

Usually, I would make lasagna

But... since I'm doing this blog now, I figure you don't want multiple recipes for lasagna right?

So, I go to the next best thing....

Stuffed shells

It's pretty much still lasagna.... only fancier.

And a little more work

But, it's good and I like good food!

My mother in law made this last Christmas and I really liked it.

I was just too lazy to make it myself....lol

But I wanted to give you something different and I really had a lot of fun doing it

The kids had fun watching me too

They liked the sea shell shaped noodles .... A LOT. 


Ingredients:

- 1 box large pasta shells
- 3/4 C Parmesan (shredded not the powder stuff)
- 1 (24oz) small curd cottage cheese (or Ricotta cheese)
- 1 egg
- 1 1/2 tsp basil
- 1 tsp garlic salt
- 3/4 tsp pepper
- 4 C spaghetti sauce
- 1 1/2 C Mozzarella Cheese (shredded)

Directions:

Boil noodles until al dente ( or slightly underdone)
Drain noodles and set aside
Spread 1 C sauce evenly on the bottom of a 9x13 baking dish ( so the shells don't stick)

 In a bowl, mix the cottage cheese, egg, 1/2 C parmesan, basil, garlic salt and pepper.
*This next step is not necessary, but makes stuffing shells much easier.  You can just use a spoon instead.
Using a spatula, scrape the cheese mixture into a ziplock bag/pastry bag

Snip off the corner of the bag
Squeeze cheese mixture into each shell. Aprox 2 Tbs per shell
Don't overstuff shells.
Close up the seam and place shells on their sides into baking dish close together

I fit 2 rows of 10 shells and then 4 extra on the bottom
(the extra cheese you see laying in there is just what I had left over)
Once all shells are filled and placed, sprinkle remaining 1/4 C Parmesan over shells
Pour remaining 3 Cups sauce over top
Top with 1 1/2 C Mozzarella
Bake uncovered @ 350 degrees for 35-40 minutes
When cheese is browning and sauce is bubbling it's done

***Review:
This was a great dish.  I was very happy with how it turned out.  We had company over for dinner and they said they loved it.  I know the hubs and I did!  The kids didn't get a chance to try it, because they ate before our company arrived.  I honestly didn't think they would eat it anyway... but of course they begged for some and liked what they tried.  Go figure the one time I try to feed them a different dinner, they want what we're having!   I will be making this again and again! 

**Tips:
The ziplock bag trick is great.... it makes it so much easier to stuff the slippery noodles.  This is really the hardest part of it all.  Also, just to make things easier on me, I actually boiled the noodles in the morning, drained them and put them in the fridge.  When it was time to bake them I took them out and ran warm water over them to get them pliable again so I could stuff them.  It was great and was one less thing to do at dinner time.  But be careful not to tear them while working with them... you want them in one piece.
If you are using a jarred sauce instead of homemade, then I think it would be great to fry up some italian sausage and sprinkle it on top of the shells before baking as well.  Or it could just be a vegetarian dish with no meat. I personally would have loved to add spinach to this dish as well, but one of our dinner guests does not like veggies so I opted out of the spinach.  But if you were to add it, you could put it right in with the sauce or in with the cheese stuffing. Either way would be great.  Add a little crusty italian bread and you have the perfect meal! Mmmmm!

Homemade Pasta Sauce

It's fall and it's chilly

Sometime around this time of year I start craving "comfort" foods

Lasagna and the like are one of those foods for me

I come from an Italian family and I grew up eating ONLY homemade pasta sauce

I mean... I couldn't even think of eating anything that came out of a jar

When I first met my husband, I made him lasagna from scratch... even shredding the mozzarella by hand

Then.... I had babies...lots of them.... and there was no more homemade for a while

My wonderful mom made me sauce and froze it so I could always have it on hand.....

But eventually I had to break down and but a jar here or there

Then I got used to it.... sort of

BUT.... my youngest child is now 2... so I have a lot more free time then I've had in years

I decided to make my own sauce again

OH MY! 

I had forgotten what I was missing!

I don't know that I will ever buy a jarred sauce again.

Seriously!

See for yourself:

Ingredients:

- 15 cloves of garlic, diced
- 3 Tbs butter
- 1 (29 oz) can crushed tomatoes
- 3 (29oz) cans tomato sauce
- 2 (4oz) cans mushrooms (drained)
- 1 lb Italian sausage
- 2 tsp Italian seasoning
- 1 tsp basil
- 1/2 C red wine
- 1/4 C white wine or sweet vermouth

Directions:

In a large pot melt 2 Tbs of butter add diced garlic and sautee for a few minutes (don't let it brown)

Turn heat to low and add crushed tomato and tomato sauces. 
Add your Italian seasoning and basil (and any other spices you might like in your sauce)

In a seperate fry pan, melt the leftover 1Tbs of butter.
Add cans of mushrooms and sautee
Once mushrooms are getting a little brown, add the white wine (or vermouth)

Let the liquid cook down then add the mushrooms to the sauce pot
In the same pan, fry the sausage (if you are using ground sausage)
Drain and add the sausage to the sauce pot
*If you are using sausage in the casings (tubes) you can add it to the sauce whole and uncooked if you like.  As long as you cook it for a few hours it will be fine.
Add the 1/2 C red wine...mix well
Cook on simmer/low for at least 3 hours
Stir every once in a while to make sure there is no sticking on the bottom
I cook it much longer than that (6 hrs) because I happend to be home all day.
That's it. 
Now it's ready to be used in any dish you like or once it cools you can freeze it for when you are ready for it.

Review:
This sauce was so good.  I was taking tastes of it all day.... so were the kids.  Everyone loved it. The kids ate many many servings of the sauce over noodles... it was a huge hit!  They even ate the mushrooms because they thought they were sausage...lol

Tips:
Do not cook this with a lid on the pan... it will make it watery.
Make sure to cook it on a low setting.. you don't want any boiling or burning on the bottom.
If you are not a wine drinker then you can buy these little mini bottles of wine (in a 4 pack similar to this) instead of buying a large bottle and letting the rest go to waste
Or you might have a neighbor/taste tester that loves red wine and you can borrow some from her :)
If you do use sausage in the casing, make sure to take it out at the end of cooking time and cut it up to put back in the sauce...and to make sure it's cooked through.
You can make this without the sausage... though my mom would have a heart attack and say you are losing a lot of flavor.
It can be made with ground beef or turkey or even no meat at all.
This can be used as a base... you can add any seasonings you want to make it your own. 
If you don't have the wines or vermouth you can still make this... they just add a little more to the flavor
Freezing:  When the sauce cools, you can place it in individual servings in a freezer bag to use for another time. 
It might seem like a lot of work... but it's work once for a lot of dishes later!
Let me know if you try this and what you think.
Do you have a sauce recipe that's different or an ingredient that you think makes your sauce great?  Share!

Crockpot BBQ Pulled Pork sandwiches

I mentioned in a post earlier this week that I don't have a lot of fun pork recipes.

Actually, I rarely ever cook pork.  I don't know why.

But... this dish is my favorite. 

Sometimes I think about it.... and start craving it .... and I have to make it.

Or... sometimes pork is on clearance... and I make it then too, lol.

This is a very simple recipe. 

I don't even know if I would go so far as to call it a recipe. 

It makes a great dinner so I guess that counts.

Ingredients:
- 6 lbs Western Ribs (any kind of pork will do, roast or loin)
- 1 1/2 C Apple Juice (or apple cider vinegar)
- 1 bottle BBQ sauce
- *Shredded Cheese (optional, to taste)

Directions:
Trim fat off pork
Put it in the crockpot and pour juice over it.
Cook on high for 8 hours
When meat is done, it will shred/flake easily with a fork
Shred all the meat and add your bottle of BBQ sauce
Fill empty bottle from sauce with water and shake... then dump the bottle of water into crockpot
Stir and cook until heated through
Serve with cheese sprinkled on top.

***Review:
This is probably one of my most favorite things to eat.  I don't know if it's the texture or what... but I love it.
I was not home for dinner last night (this has been an unusually busy week) and I got this text from hubby:
"dinner was a hit tonight... it's awesome.  Kids asked for more and want to know if we can eat it for dinner tomorrow too.  Great job! Thanks"
I think that sums up the review!  BIG hit!

**Tips:
Pork takes quite a while to get to the right consistency for pulled pork.  If it's not done enough, it's just not as good.  If you have a large roast I would reommend cooking it overnight on low and then you can shred it in the morning and cook it on low all day (make sure there is enough liquid). Or you could leave it and shred it when you get home and re heat it.  It's pretty versatile and you can't really mess it up. 
As for the BBQ sauce... I think less is more.  You can always add more to each individual serving if you want more.  You can really play with this recipe and tweak it to your taste. Also, you don't have to use as much pork as I did either.  I love to eat this leftover as well, so I usually make a lot.... then I freeze whatever is left in individual portions and use it for lunches.

*Serving:
I love to serve this on a hard roll or a slice of french or italian bread.  My favorite way is to dig out a little of the center of the bread and place the pork in it.. sprinkle with cheddar and broil for a few minutes to melt the cheese.  You can just eat it plain as well.  You could put it on a burger bun too.  I would serve it with some grilled veggies and maybe some cole slaw! There are really no hard and fast rules as to how to eat this.  Have fun with it!

I'm sorry the photo isn't as close up as it normally is.  Hubby was kind enough to photograph his dinner for me last night (since I ate mine in the car).  Gotta love his rounded meal huh?  He must have eaten the veggies before he took the pic right?   

Chicken pot pie Crockpot OR Oven

Yes, we are still using the chicken we grilled on Monday!

Pretty handy huh?

Well, I think so anyway.

Because today.... I had a field trip to go on and Boy Scout popcorn selling stuff at night. 

Which left me, well just about ZERO time to make dinner.

I wanted to make Chicken pot pie but didn't have the time ( & I've never done it before)

Whatever did I do, you ask?  Well, I got up early, threw some stuff in the crockpot, wrangled my kids

(you dont even want to hear that story) and headed off to the pumpkin patch.

Did I mention that I came home to a wondeful hot meal? 

Well, I did.

And... it was good! 

Do you want to make some too?  

Oh wait.  What if you don't want to use the crockpot or just don't have one? 

I have a plan!

My friend Kara has a cooking blog too. 

And she just happens to have a great recipe for Chicken Pot Pie for the oven on her blog.

Check it out here

Wanna know the coolest part?  You can FREEZE it too!  I love it!

Where was I? Oh yeah............

Chicken pot pie in the CROCKPOT

Ingredients:

4 Tbs butter
3/4 cup chopped onion
3/4 cup chopped celery
6 TBSP Cornstarch
3 cups chicken broth
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp garlic salt
1/2 tsp pepper
3 cups cooked, shredded or cubed chicken
2 cups cooked cubed potatoes ( I only partially cooked them)
1 bag frozen mixed veggies (peas,carrots,beans,corn)
1 roll of pilsbury cresent dough seamless roll  (fits the crockpot perfectly)

Directions:

Put all ingredients except dough & cornstarch into the crockpot.
Slowly add cornstarch while stirring/whisking liquid (to prevent lumps)
Cook on low for 10 hours or high for 4 hours.
An hour or so before you're ready to eat, place the sheet of dough across the top of chicken mixture
When dough is cooked, it's ready to eat.

***Review:
I was really happy with this dish.  I actually sampled it a few times before it was done.  I think it could have used a tiny bit more seasonings... but I had never made this before and didn't want to add too much.  Another problem I found was that it was a little too soupy.  I added more broth than I was supposed to because I thought the crockpot cooking would use it up... but I was wrong.  It was still good though... and after it sat, it thickend up anyway. 
As for the topping, I meant to use real pie crust (rather than homemade) but accidently bought the pillsbury cressent roll dough sheet and not regular dough.  I was happy with the results though.  And I wasn't sure how long pie dough would take to cook in the crockpot anyway.  I will check that out another time.
Overall I will give this a thumbs up.  I ate 2 bowls, my 4 year old ate all of his and all of his brothers'. The hubs liked his too!  Yay!
I will be making this is the oven somtime too.... can't wait to make one and freeze one!

**Tips:
I adjusted the recipe above to make up for all my experimenting.  You could add different veggies or a different topping if you are adventerous.  If you really wanted to, you could add a can of cream of chicken soup to this also.... but honestly, I feel like every single crockpot meal calls for that, and I'm sick of it. 
As for the seasonings, if you grill the chicken, that will give it a lot of flavor.  If you use boiled chicken, you may want to season it a little more. 
I haven't tried this, but I am guessing that you could even use raw chicken in this one and it would be fine!  If you try it, let me know how it worked for you!  Otherwise, I will try that next time... just for fun!

Chicken again? Yes!

Well, the hubs decided he wanted grilled chicken tonight.

  So I had this idea.

 Grill a whole bunch of chicken at one time and use it for multiple meals throughout the week.


Basically, when you grill your chicken the first night..... grill a whole

bunch more than you would normally need. 

Use it for the next few days or freeze it and have it ready for when you need it next!

Easy enough right? 

I sure hope so... because with the kind week I have planned, I need some quick easy meals.

 I know you're thinking "Ha! Don't we all?" 

Lucky for you, I like to share :)

Swiss Chicken... Crockpot OR Casserole

Ingredients:
- 6 Chicken Breasts
- 6 Slices of Swiss cheese
- 1 can Cream of mushroom soup
- 1 can Cream of Chicken
- 1 C Milk
- 1 bag of large croutons (cheese or garlic flavor)

Directions for CROCKPOT:
Add chicken to crockpot (mine was frozen)
Place a slice of cheese over each chicken breast
In a bowl, mix soups, milk and croutons.
Pour mix over chicken in crockpot.
Cook on high 4 hours or low 8 hrs.
Yes... it's that easy!

Directions for CASSEROLE:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees
Grease/spray bottom of 9x13 baking dish
put chicken in the bottom of pan
Cover each breast with a slice of cheese
In a bowl, mix soups, milk and croutons.
Pour mix evenly over chicken in baking dish
Bake for 90 minutes.

***Review:
This is a great meal. I first had it after I had a baby and my friend Elisa brought me dinner. I have been making it ever since. Its easy and tasty.... my kind of food! Originally, it was a casserole to be baked, but I figured it would work in the crockpot and I was right!
The hubby loves it ... I am a fan! The kids? a few will eat it a few wont... it's chicken... so it's always hit or miss no matter how you cook it.

**Tips:
One of the reasons I love this dish is that, not only is it easy, but you can make it and freeze it. I used to lay out about 4 disposable baking pans and make 4 dinners in a matter of minutes. As long as you have all the stuff out, you might as well make a few. (If you're going to freeze it, then you can use frozen chicken breasts). I would then freeze them and either use them for us when I was short on time... or when another family needed dinner. The only kicker is you have to thaw it the night before if you plan on using it the next day... so you have to plan a little... but still... easy dinner to keep on hand.

White Chicken Chili Crockpot OR Stovetop

Ingredients:
- 2 lbs chicken breast
- 2 48 oz jars of Great northern beans (the white ones)

- 1/2 can chicken broth (~7oz)

- 1 jar of salsa

- 1 8oz bag of colby jack

* Sour cream is optional... but yummy!

Directions:

• Boil, grill or otherwise cook the chicken breast.
• Cut or shred them up into bite sized pieces.
• Add chicken, beans (liquid & all), salsa and broth to crockpot or stock pot on the stove.
• Cook until hot.
• I did it in the crockpot on high for about 4 hours.
• On the stove it doesn't take too long, but it's good to let it simmer maybe 20 minutes and to blend the flavors together.
• Add cheese 15 minutes before serving to let it melt in.

I serve it with sour cream on top and some fresh italian bread. It's also great to eat with scoops tortilla chips!

***Review:
I got this recipe about 7 years ago at a boy scout potluck. It was awesome and I had to have it, so I hunted this lady down and had her write the recipe on a napkin for me. I still use the napkin as my recipe card! Everyone I have made it for loves it... including my dad who was here tonight for dinner.

The kids asked for seconds which kind of shocked me... so I will call this one a HIT!

**Tips:

It does make quite a bit... I think we will be eating this one for a few days. Great thing about it is we can freeze it and eat it for lunch or dinner another day. Or as always you can cut the recipe in half... but I love making extra to freeze.

As always, please let me know if you try this. I would love to hear what you would do different & what you liked and didn't like.