Turning Your Minutes Into Memories
This last weekend, in celebration of my Mother In-Laws birthday, I decided to make everyone dinner and dessert. It's so much easier, and cheaper, than taking every one out, plus you always end up having the whole discussion about where we should go that would make everyone happy. Good times.
What I settled on is one of those recipes that has become a 'go to'. You know the ones I'm talking about, right? The recipes that you're pretty sure you have all the ingredients to and seem to please the masses. This is one of those dishes. Even better...I get to use the Crock Pot. (insert angelic singing here)
It's summer time in Oklahoma which means it's HOT! Not only that, but our electricity rate is almost tripled in the evenings, so using the stove is out of the question x2. This means the crock pot gets it's time on the field.
What I possibly love most about this dish is that it takes few ingredients and then morphs them into a huge pot of awesomeness. If you're a family on a budget, have a large family to feed or working on weekly meal plans where you can eat now and freeze half for later, this will be one to hang on to. Prep is impossibly simple and a it makes a little go a very long way.
It also happens to incorporate one of my favorite spice rubs. I've tried the recipe with and without it and the with is 10x better with than without.
When I served it at the aforementioned birthday dinner, it was a hit! It fed 3 kiddos and 6 adults. A few of us had seconds and maybe thirds (what? Don't judge me). Once all was said and done, we had enough to bring home and the 4 of us to have again for dinner the next night. Yes. It's just that good.
All that being said, are you ready for me to quit talking and get to the good stuff? Of course you are. :)
So let's do this! Here is my recipe for the slammin' crock pot cream cheese chicken. Happy eating!
Darn Good Crock Pot Cream Cheese Chicken
(A Mexican themed meal)
For the Crock Pot:
3 Frozen chicken breasts (not thawed)
1 jar of your favorite salsa (we like Pace Chunky)
1 block of cream cheese, softened
2 cups of Minute Rice
1 can of black beans, drained
To serve on the side:
Sour cream
Velata Fiesta Queso or Shredded Cheddar
Fresh Cilantro
Lime wedges
Tortilla shells or Tortilla chips for shoveling this goodness
into your mouth. :)
Prep:
Place frozen chicken breasts into your crock pot and pour jarred salsa on the top, covering the chicken.
Place lid on and cook on low for 8 hours or high for 4.
(Psst....that's all you have to do until you're 30 minutes from being ready to serve! I know, right?)
30 minutes to meal time:
Remove lid and pull out your chicken. On a cutting mat , shred your chicken using 2 forks.
Place the chicken back into the Crock Pot. Add Minute Rice and beans an stir well.
After 10 minutes, add softened cream cheese and stir.
It will melt much easier at this point if you cube it before you throw it in.
When it's time to serve, use tongs or a slotted spoon to mix your dish well making sure the cream cheese gets Incorporated thoroughly.
Now stop.
Yes, Stop.
At this point, this magical mixture of goodness will NOT look pretty. It will look like the hot mess that it is.
But it will be a tasty hot mess. I promise! Don't be hard on yourself. You've done nothing wrong. It's all good!
Time to serve:
Above I shared the things we like to top this chicken recipe with when we eat it. We will sometimes eat it on chips, like nachos, or inside warm flour tortillas as soft tacos.
Let's be honest though, it really won't matter what you put it on, it will be good.
I know this sounds like a lot of hub bub over a crazy simple recipe, but it's well deserved.
I'm excited to see you all try it in your own kitchen and let me know what you think!
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Happy Eating!
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