Slow Cooker Failure - Salsa Chicken

I actually had a crock pot failure a couple of days ago with this crock pot salsa chicken recipe . Luckily I had a recipe I have used for a long time that I love, so I used that as a fall back recipe.

Salsa Chicken

We typically shred the chicken and mix in some corn and rice.
Then eat them as burritos! Delicious!!!!

Salsa Chicken Recipe

• 6 chicken breast, skinless, boneless
• 1 jar mild salsa
• 1 cup shredded cheese
• Place chicken in crockpot and cover with salsa. Cook anywhere from 1 1/2 hours to 2 hours on high. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Take a baking dish and carefully place chicken in the dish. Spoon some of the leftover salsa over the chicken and sprinkle with the cheese. Bake for 15 minutes. 

At 2 hours on high the chicken was still not done. I think I should have not used frozen chicken. 

I switched to this recipe I have had for a long time. I am not sure where I got it from, but it is by far the easiest best recipe to cook chicken I have come across so far.

Mexican Chicken Recipe

• boneless skinless chicken breasts
• 1 jar (16 oz) salsa
• 2 cups (16 oz) shredded cheese
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. In a 9x13 pan cover the chicken breasts with salsa. Cover with foil and bake for 25 minutes. Uncover and bake for 25 minutes longer. Cover chicken with cheese. Bake for 5-10 minutes longer. Serve with rice and/or tortilla chips and corn, and enjoy!

I think the chicken should not have been frozen.

The chicken was still raw. :-(

This is from my old baking method. Always delicious!!!!

Things I've Learned

• If you have a recipe that works for you don't trying to make it a different way.

Glazed Pork Chops

Yesterday I did quiet a bit of cooking. I also made this slow cooker sweet glazed pork chops recipe for lunch yesterday.

Glazed Pork Chops

So amazing!

Slow Cooker Sweet Glazed Pork Chop Recipe

• 4-6 boneless pork chops (I used 4, since Jason and my girls don't really like pork chops.)
• 1 (12 oz) bottle chili sauce
• 1 cup grape jelly
• Spray slow cooker with non-stick cooking spray. Mix together the chili sauce and the jelly. Place pork chops in crock pot and make sure they are covered with the chili sauce and jelly mixture. Cook on low for 6-8 hours or on high for 3-4 hours. (I did high for 3 1/2 hours.) Enjoy! 

Chili sauce and grape jelly.

Sizzling hot and ready!

Things I've Learned

• This recipe is actually not spicy at all. My daycare child actually said, "This is delicious! You should remember to make it again!" :-D

Jicama Fries

I also did this jicama fries recipe yesterday for an afternoon snack.

Jicama Fries

Eh... okay.

Jicama Fries Recipe

• 1 jicama
• 1/2 teaspoon extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 teaspoon paprika
• 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
• 1 pinches salt
• Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Slice and season jicama with onion powder, paprika, and salt. Drizzle with olive oil and place in oven for 25 minutes. 

I didn't have paprika, so I used a mixed seasoning.

I thought it was easier to just drizzle in a bowl
instead of on the baking sheet. 

Before baking.

Things I've Learned

• Hum... I really have no idea how to cut jicama. I couldn't decide between slicing like a chip or fries, so I did a little bit of everything. 
• Also, maybe I should have followed the seasoning more precise. I just kind of sprinkled in on however I felt like. 
• I think I should have shaken the pan halfway through to avoid burning some pieces.

Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

I had a sweet tooth yesterday, so I made these delicious oatmeal raisin cookie recipe last night. 

Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

So yummy!!!!

Oatmeal-Raisin Cookie Recipe

• 1 cup butter, softened
• 1 1/2 cups brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 1/2 cups white whole wheat flour
• 3 cups quick rolled oats
• 1 cup raisins
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. In a large bowl beat butter with an electric mixer. Add brown sugar, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt. Beat until combined, scraping sides of bowl occasionally. Beat in eggs and vanilla until combined. Beat flour in. Stir in oats and raisins. Drop dough onto ungreased cookie sheets about 3 inches apart. Bake in preheated oven 8-12 minutes or until centers appear set and edges are light brown. Cool on cookie sheet for 2 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack; cool completely.  Enjoy!

Like most baking recipes quiet a bit goes into making them.

This girls love to help!

Delicious!

Things I've Learned

• I have become a pro at my girls helping baking; I pre-measure everything, they are far apart from each other, they take turns, we talk about everything we are doing, I keep almost everything out of their reach, and we just have so much fun!

BBQ Meatballs

I made this delicious meatballs recipe yesterday to eat for dinner on some noodles with some left over mashed potatoes and peas.

BBQ Meatballs

Crock Pot Grape Jelly and BBQ Meatballs Recipe

• 1- 32 oz bag fully cooked meatballs (about 50) (I could only find an 80 oz bag, so I just counted out 50 or so meatballs.)
• 1- 18 oz jar grape jelly
• 1- 18 oz BBQ sauce
• Combine sauces in your crockpot and stir until combined. Add meatballs and stir until they are coated with the sauce. Cook on high for 3 hours. Enjoy as an appetizer or serve over rice for a main dish. (We ate ours over some whole wheat noodles.)

Things I've Learned

• I have heard of using grape jelly with/as a barbecue recipe before, but it was still a little of a surprising mixture.
• I don't really feel like these 3 ingredient crockpot recipes are very healthy, but they are so delicious and simple.

Buffalo Chicken

I made this buffalo chicken today for a little bit of a snack. It was just a tiny bit too spicy for me. It was still good though.

Buffalo Chicken

3 Ingredient Crockpot Buffalo Chicken

• 3-5 frozen skinless, boneless chicken breasts
• 12 oz bottle Franks Red Hot buffalo sauce
• 1 packet Hidden Valley Ranch dressing mix
• Place frozen chicken breasts into crockpot, pour buffalo sauce over chicken. Sprinkle ranch mix over top. Cover with lid and cook on low for about 5 hours. Remove chicken to a cutting board. Do not discard sauce! Shred the chicken with two forks. The chicken should just fall apart. Place shredded chicken back into sauce still in crockpot. Stir to coat chicken. Continue cooking shredded buffalo chicken in crockpot on low for about another hour or until chicken absorbs most of the sauce. Serve in between some buns and enjoy!

Things I've Learned

• I seriously LOVE barbecue recipes and ranch dressing packets are awesome too!!!!

Hawaiian BBQ Chicken

I made this Hawaiian barbecue chicken recipe a couple days ago. It was so delicious!!!!

Hawaiian BBQ Chicken

Yummy!!!!

Hawaiian BBQ Chicken Recipe

• Hawaiian style barbecue sauce
• 4-6 boneless chicken breasts
• 1-20 oz can pineapple chunks, drained
• Spray your crockpot with nonstick cooking spray. Place chicken breast on the bottom of crockpot. Pour the entire bottle of barbecue sauce and can of pineapple chunks over the chicken breasts. Cook on low 8-10 hours or on high 4-6 hours or until chicken pulls apart easily. Serve over rice and enjoy!

Use an apple slicer if you don't have pineapple chunks.

Only 3 Ingredients

Seriously so delicious!!!!

Things I've Learned

• Jason pointed out that if I didn't have pineapple chunks I could just use an apple slicer. My husband is such a problem solver! :-)
• I think I really enjoy all of the barbecue recipes so far. They are just so full of flavor!

Peach Cobbler

I did yet another crock pot recipe today. This yummy peach cobbler.

Peach Cobbler

Peach Cobbler Recipe

• 6 large peaches, peeled and sliced
• 1 white cake mix unprepared
• 1/2 cup butter (1 stick), softened
• Place sliced peaches in the bottom of the slow cooker. Cut the butter into the cake mix with a pastry blender until crumbly. (I added 2 Tbs of water, because I added 1 Tbs of water for this recipe. The cake mix seemed too dry otherwise.) Sprinkle cake mix mixture over peaches. Place paper towel or dish towel on top of slow cooker and seal with slow cooker's lid. Cook on high for 2-3 hours or on low for 4 hours. Serve with vanilla ice cream and enjoy.

Things I've Learned

• I love love love the dish towel trick to keep the cobbler from getting soggy. The other recipe had me cook it uncovered for a while, but it was nice to have it done when the timer went off.

Ranch Pork Chops

Yesterday, I made some delicious ranch pork chops and mashed potatoes.

Ranch Pork Chops

Crockpot Ranch Pork Chops Recipe

• Pork chop
• Ranch dressing dry mix packet
• 1 can cream of chicken plus 1 can water as needed
• Combine all ingredients in crockpot. Cook on low for 4-6 hours.

Just 3 ingredients!

All done... yummy!

Things I've Learned

• Seriously, I love 3 ingredient crock pot recipes!!!! They are awesome!!!!
• Also, apparently Jason doesn't like pork chops, but I love them!!!!

Mashed Potatoes

I am so thankful my mom was available to help me figure out what to do in order to make mashed potatoes. I felt like most of the recipes online were kind of complex and hard to follow.

Mashed Potatoes

Mashed Potatoes Recipe

• Potatoes
• Water
• Butter
• Milk
• Wash the potatoes and skin if desired. Cut potatoes, the thinner the potato the faster it cooks. I did bite sized pieces and covered with water in a pot. Then I cooked for 20-30 minutes covered with a lid. Once the potatoes fall apart easily when stabbed with a fork they are all done. Then you drain them, throw them in a large bowl, add some milk and a little butter to taste and desired consistency,  and finally use a hand mixer to mix everything together. You can add seasoning also. I didn't add seasoning though, since I had gravy ready to go! Then enjoy some delicious potatoes!

Wash

Peel and Cut

Cover with your lid to simmer for 20-30 minutes.

Cooked

Add milk and butter. Then mix.

Things I've Learned

• The smaller the potato piece the faster it cooks
• If the potato breaks apart easily when stabbed by a fork the potatoes are ready to be mashed.
• The sauce from the Ranch Pork Chops is amazing as a gravy!!!!

Mixed Berry Dump Cake

We have some leftovers, so I decided to make this Mixed Berry Dump Cake Recipe instead of a meal.

Berry Dump Cake

3-Ingredient Slow Cooker Dump Cake Recipe

• 2 (21 ounce) cans pie filling
• 1 (15 ounce) box cake mix
• 1 stick (1/2 cup) butter, melted
• 1 tablespoon water
• Spray slow cooker well with cooking spray. Dump out the pie filling into the bottom of your prepared slow cooker. In a large mixing bowl, mix together the cake mix, melted butter, and water. You're going to have a crumbly cake mix, but what you're really trying to do is "wet" all of the powder. Pour evenly over top of the canned filing. Cover, and cook on low for 4-5 hours. Uncover, and continue to cook on high for 30 minutes. Your cake is finished when the dough is set. The filing will bubble up and be intertwined with the cake mix. Spoon into bowls and eat warm or at room temperature. Enjoy! 

Things I've Learned

• I'm still unsure how to get this out of the crock pot and have it look okay. I guess that is why it is called a dump cake.
• Also, completely confused about why it is a mixed berry cake. Maybe I was supposed to use 2 types of pie fillings.