Tiffany King

Chicken Fiesta with Black Beans – a crockpot recipe

October 25, 2008 by Tiffany King 23 Comments

You’ll be declared “Best Cook” for making this dish and you’ll love yourself too for how easy it is. It’s a great feeling to have dinner all cooked in the crockpot when you get home after a long day, or just to know it’s finished and you’re free during that time before dinner when little ones get very needy.

This has been a go-to recipe for my family for years. We make it often at home. It also makes an appearance on vacation. Since we rent houses and travel with extended family, it makes sense to take food with us and save on the restaurant costs. This recipe is easy to throw together in the morning. We use a crockpot liner when vacationing so we can skip the scrubbing after dinner.

I usually serve Chicken Fiesta in tortillas, but it’s also really good over cornbread. If you’re in a hurry, check out this 15 Minute Skillet Chicken Fiesta. All of the flavor of the original, but much faster!

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5 from 1 vote

Chicken Fiesta with Black Beans – a crockpot recipe

Servings: -8 servings

Ingredients

3-4 boneless chicken breasts I like to use the tenders, as they break apart easily while cooking
2 cups frozen corn drained
1 can black beans rinsed and drained
1 Tbs. cumin
1 tsp. chili powder
onion sliced
green pepper sliced
14 oz. can diced tomatoes
6 oz. tomato paste

Instructions

Combine all the ingredients in the slow cooker and mix well.
Cover and cook on high for 5-6 hours or low for 7-8 hours.
Garnish with cheese and serve over cornbread or in tortillas.

Chicken Tetrazini – Crockpot and Oven versions

October 24, 2008 by Tiffany King 27 Comments

A friend brought this recipe to my family 14 years ago, when my son was born. We’ve made it often since then. And as a plus, it can cook either in the crockpot or oven! Not only that, it can be frozen too.

This is a kid-pleasing staple for our family.

The ingredients are simple and I almost always have all of them in my pantry. My favorite sides to serve with this casserole are broccoli and sliced tomatoes, when they are in season.

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4 from 3 votes

Chicken Tetrazini – Crockpot and Oven versions

Servings: -8 servings

Ingredients

about 3 cups of cooked chicken
8 oz. spaghetti noodles broken in half and cooked
8 oz. sour cream
1/2 cup chicken broth
2 cans cream soup chicken or mushroom
mozzarella cheese for the top

Instructions

Stir all ingredients together, except cheese.
Pour into greased 9x13 casserole dish and bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour.
Or, pour into greased slow cooker. Cook on low 7-8 hours or high 5-6 hours.
Or, pour into greased casserole dish and freeze. Thaw in fridge and bake at 350 degrees for 1 1/2 hours until hot.

Egg Salad Sandwiches

October 22, 2008 by Tiffany King 10 Comments

Groceries are getting low and I need to pack a lunch tomorrow. No lunch meat. No peanut butter. Only half a loaf of bread left. Luckily, I had plenty of eggs and egg salad makes my 14 year old son very happy. Since it’s his lunch that needs packing, that works out great.

If you’re looking for low calorie, low cholesterol foods, run away from this sandwich. All it’s creamy goodness will do nothing for your hips or heart.

Place the eggs in a pan and cover them with cold water. Bring them to a boil and then time them for 10 minutes. I love it when my eggs come out with the centers just cooked and still yellow. I did them right this time.

Rinse the eggs in cool water and then peel them. How many eggs you use is up to you and how many folks you’re sharing your egg salad with. I used half a dozen because 2 of my kids think egg salad is a real treat. The other 2 gag when I mention it. Six eggs is plenty for the 4 of us who like a sandwich that might cause our ateries to slam shut later in the day.

Dice up the eggs pretty fine. This reminds me of the time my dad decided to boil an egg for his lunch. He rinsed it off after peeling it, but was disturbed that the egg was wet. So he grabbed a tissue to dry it off. I came in while he was rubbing wet tissue off the egg. Yeah, my dad is not much of a cook.

Anyway, after you dice up the eggs, put them in a bowl with plenty of salt and pepper and a giant glob of mayo.

Stir it up and spread it on your bread. Yum! I like my egg salad sandwich with carrot and celery sticks. It tastes good and balances out the fat with some veggies!

Sloppy Cubanos

October 21, 2008 by Tiffany King 1 Comment

I’ve been in a sandwich mood lately. This one is a Rachael Ray recipe that I modified to fit the ingredients I had on hand.

Sloppy Cubanos
1/2 pound chorizo sausage
1 pound ground pork
1 onion, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
2 tsp. paprika
2 tsp. ground coriander
1 tsp. allspice
salt and pepper
2 Tbs. brown sugar
1 Tbs. Worcestershire sauce
1/2 cup lime juice
1 cup chicken broth
8 oz. tomato sauce
sub rolls
dill pickles (I like Claussen brand)
swiss cheese, if you have it

Brown the meats with the onion and garlic. I always rinse browned meat under hot water to rid it of extra grease and fat. Return the meat to the pan and add the spices, brown sugar, Worcestershire sauce, lime juice, broth and tomatoe sauce. Cook for a couple of minutes.

Toast the split rolls under the broiler and then pile on the meat. Add swiss cheese and pop it back under the broiler to melt the cheese. I didn’t have any cheese last night and they were good without it. Serve with pickles and chips.

Corn Chowder

October 19, 2008 by Tiffany King 12 Comments

Comfort food, warm and filling. This soup is all that. I copied the recipe out of a Frugal Gourmet cookbook many years ago. I’ve made a few changes to the original.

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5 from 1 vote

Corn Chowder

Ingredients

2 qts. chicken stock
1 medium yellow onion diced
4 Tbs. butter
4 Tbs. flour
4 cups unpeeled diced potatoes
1 bay leaf
2 cups half & half
1 bag frozen corn
1 can cream corn
salt and pepper

Instructions

Heat the chicken stock in a large stock pot.
Saute the onion in butter. Stir in the flour to form a roux and cook it for just a minute.
Add the roux to the broth along with the potatoes and bay leaf.
Cook until the potatoes are fork tender.
Remove the leaf and add the half &half and the corn.
Simmer until hot and season with salt and pepper.