Taco Salad

You Will Need:

• 1 lb. ground beef cooked and drained 
• 3/4 cup picante sauce 
• bag shredded lettuce 
• 3/4 cup shredded cheddar cheese
• 1 can black beans (partially drain, and add water to cover beans in a small pot, heat until boiling, reduce heat and keep warm) 
• 1 can whole corn (bring to a boil, reduce heat and keep warm) 
• 1/4 cup chopped red onion
• 1 small tomato
• guacamole (optional)

Season cooked meat with 3/4 cup picante sauce, bring to a boil and keep on low until ready to put the salad together. Layer lettuce, cheese, warm beans, warm corn, onion, tomato and optional guacamole, on individual plates, top with beef, drizzle with dressing and optional guacamole. 

For the Dressing You Will Need: 

• 1/2 cup picante sauce
• 4 Tablespoons Sour Cream
• 2 Tablespoons Lime Juice

Makes 4 Servings

Enjoy! 

Tuscan Bean Soup w/ Bacon

You Will Need:

• 8 slices of bacon chopped and cooked
• 3 celery stalks chopped
• 4 carrots chopped
• 2 shallots chopped
• 4 tsp. minced garlic
• 4 cups chicken broth (32 oz. carton)
• 4 cans cannellini  beans (white kidney beans) (drain 2, leave 2 undrained) 
• 1/2 cup half/half or heavy cream
• 1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese (not the powdered kind) 
• sprinkle salt and pepper
• 2 rosemary sprigs
• 1 bay leaf
• sprinkle dried parsley

Chop vegetables and set aside, chop bacon and cook in a dutch oven large pot until browned, remove bacon with slotted spoon, cook shallots and minced garlic a few minutes, in a couple of Tbsp.of bacon grease. Add 1/2 of bacon (reserving some to top soup when serving), add veggies, beans, broth, rosemary, bay leaf salt and pepper. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat, and cook until vegetables are tender about an hour or two, (the longer it cooks the better the flavor). Remove bay leaf, and rosemary sprig from pot. Add half/ half, parsesan cheese and dried parsley sprinkled stir and cook until cheese is melted. Place in bowls and top with reserved bacon and top with more parmesan cheese.  

Serve with jiffy sweet cornbread

NOTE: This can also be cooked in the crock pot slow cooker, cook bacon as instructed above, then follow recipe by placing ingredients in crock pot, cook 4-6 hours on low. Add half/ half and parmesan cheese and sprinkling of parsley during last 15 minutes of cooking. Top with bacon and parmesan cheese. 

Enjoy!

Beef and Mushroom Potato Bowl

You Will Need:

• 1 lb. ground beef 
• 1 small can mushrooms (drained)
• 1/2 yellow onion chopped
• 1/2 tsp. minced garlic
• sprinkle garlic powder, salt and black pepper
• 1 pkg. brown gravy mix
• 1 1/2 cups water
• 1 tsp. worcestershire sauce
• 1 Tabs. dried parsley 
• cooked mashed potatoes 
• cooked broccoli florets (or other vegetables you like)

In a skillet, brown ground beef with onion, minced garlic, garlic powder, salt and pepper, mix gravy pack with 1 1/2 cups cold water, pour over meat, add drained mushrooms, parsley, and worcestershire. sauce, stir. Bring to a boil then reduce to simmer, for about 20 minutes or so, or until ready to serve. You can add a little more warm water if needed, if it thickens too much, before ready to serve. Top meat mixture over mashed potatoes and broccoli or vegetables of choice. Serve with crescent rolls.

Enjoy! 

Slow Cooker Chicken Nachos

You Will Need:

• 6 boneless skinless chicken breast strips
• 2 cans black bean (rinsed and drained)
• 16 oz. bottle salsa verde
• 1 16 oz. can corn (undrained)
• 1 1/2 tsp. cumin
• 1 tsp. garlic powder
• sprinkle salt and pepper
• bag of tortilla chips
• toppings you will need to make nachos: 1 can queso white cheese warmed in a saucepan on the stove top with 1 tsp. of jarred sliced jalapeno, some chopped tomatoes, chopped red onion, sour cream, guacamole 

Place chicken strips in slow cooker, stir in other ingredients (besides the tortilla chips, queso white cheese and the other nacho toppings).  Cook on high 4-5 hours. Remove chicken, place on a  plate and shred with two forks. Place back into slow cooker and stir, cook on low for about 20 min. more. Heat queso cheese and jalapenos on the stove top in a saucepan until warm (you will need to thin out the cheese a little bit with some milk or water. Once, the cheese is warm, you're ready to make the chicken nachos. Place tortilla chips on large place, top with chicken mixture from slow cooker, then top with tomatoes, red onion, and queso cheese, place a spoonful of sour cream and guacamole on the side. 

Enjoy!

Slow Cooker French Onion Chicken Subs

You Will Need:

• 6 boneless skinless chicken breast strips
• pk. onion soup mix
• 1/2 cup chicken broth
• sub rolls 
• lettuce
• mayo

Place chicken strips in slow cooker. In a small bowl, mix onion soup mix and chicken broth. Pour over chicken strips, stir. Cook on low 4-5 hours. Shred meat with two forks inside crock pot. 

Make into sub sandwiches with meat, mayo and lettuce. Serve with chips and french onion dip. 

Note: This chicken can also be used to top a salad. 

Enjoy!

Slow Cooker Pot Roast with Carrots and Potatoes

You Will Need:

• chuck roast (I used 3 lbs.) 
• 5-6 medium yellow potatoes (Leave skins on, wash well, and cut into cubes)
• 1/2 yellow onion chopped chunky
• 1 lb. bag of baby carrots (I used half the bag)
• 1 can beef broth
• 1 pk. onion soup mix 
• garlic powder
• sprinkle of black pepper and salt

Throw everything together in slow cooker sprinkle with garlic powder salt and pepper, cook on low for 6-8 hours until roast is falling apart and tender. 

Note: There's plenty of broth once this cooks down, so you can eat this like a stew if desired or fix some sides and eat pot roast and vegetables.

Enjoy!

Slow Cooker Teriyaki Pork Chops

You Will Need:

• 12 thin sliced boneless pork chops (about 2 lbs.)
• 2 tsp. minced garlic
• 2 green onions (chopped, separate the white bottom part from the green tops and set aside)
• 1 can golden mushroom soup
• 10 oz. pineapple chunks (un-drained)
• 2 Tablespoons teriyaki sauce
• sprinkle black pepper
• cooked white rice (I used Jasmine)

Place pork chops in crock pot. In a small bowl mix all ingredients (except the green onion tops and cooked rice). Pour mixed ingredients over pork chops and stir around. 

Cook on High for 4-5 hours

After cook time, stir mixture, and break up the pieces of pork chops with a spoon. They should be very tender and fall apart easily. Add the set aside green onion tops and stir. Put heat setting on serve, cover and cook an additional 15-20 minutes. 

Serve over cooked rice with a side of green beans.

Enjoy!

Slow Cooker Potato Soup

You Will Need:

• 2 lb. bag frozen hash browns
• 8 oz. cream cheese cut into slices
• 32 oz. carton chicken broth
• 1 can cream of chicken soup
• 1 pkg. precooked bag of real bacon bits
• grated medium cheddar cheese (for topping)
• chopped green onions (for topping) 

Dump everything into the crock pot except for the toppings, be sure to save a little bit of the bacon bits for topping. 

Cook on low 7-8 hours

When ready to serve ladle into bowls and top with cheddar cheese, green onions and a few bacon bits

Enjoy! 

Slow Cooker Turkey Chili with Sweet Potatoes

You Will Need:

• 1 lb. ground turkey
• 2 cans kidney beans (drained and rinsed)
• 1 medium sweet potato (peeled and chopped)
• 3 large carrots (peeled and diced)
• 1 can diced tomatoes (with juices)
• 1 can tomato sauce (15 oz. size)
• 1 yellow onion (about a cup chopped)
• 1/2 cup green bell pepper (chopped)
• 2 Tablespoon olive oil for cooking and browning turkey
• 2 tsp. jarred minced garlic (or you can use 2 chopped fresh garlic cloves)
• 2 cups chicken broth
• 1 Tablespoon cocoa powder
• 1 Tablespoon chili powder
• 1/4 tsp. paprika
• 1/2 tsp. onion powder
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1/4 tsp. pepper
• optional toppings: cheddar cheese, green onions, cilantro, sour cream or plain yogurt.

Cook turkey meat in skillet with onion and bell pepper salt and pepper until turkey is browned, add to slow cooker, then add other ingredients besides the optional toppings 

You can serve this with sweet cornbread such as jiffy cornbread.  I like to eat my chili topped with cheese and green onion and eat with saltine crackers. 

Enjoy!

Mexican Chicken Soup

You Will Need:

• 1 teaspoon canola oil
• 1/2  onion chopped
• about 1 1/2 Tablespoon chopped pickled jalapeno peppers
• 2 cups cooked shredded chicken, Note: for this recipe I boiled a whole chicken. To do so, I put salt, pepper, and garlic powder on chicken, placed it in a large pot and covered it with water, brought it to a boil, then reduced heat to a slow boil, then covered with lid, and cooked for about an hour, or until no pink comes from chicken when it's poked with a fork.  (Tip: There's enough meat from the whole chicken to save half of it for another chicken recipe that calls for shredded chicken, I used my extra chicken to make chicken dumpling soup)
• 1 can black beans drained
• 1 can pinto beans drained
• 1 can corn undrained
• 32 oz. of chicken broth from boiled chicken or 32 oz. carton of chicken broth, (Note: since I boiled a chicken, I did use the chicken broth from the boiled chicken, but if you can use a carton of store bought chicken broth, either will work, but I do think the broth from boiled chicken has more flavor)
• 2 Tablespoon tomato paste
• 2 teaspoons ground cumin
• 1 Tablespoon chili powder
• 1 tsp. paprika
• 1 tsp. garlic powder, plus some extra to sprinkle on whole chicken before boiling
• 1 tsp. salt
• 2 Tablespoons lime juice
• salt and black pepper to taste and to season the chicken before boiling
• water as needed for desired consistency
• toppings sour cream, shredded cheddar cheese, green onion, cilantro (optional)
• tortilla chips 

Heat oil, onion, jalapeno's for a few minutes on med-high temp.

Stir other ingredients, bring to a boil, reduce heat to low, simmer a couple of hours... the longer it cooks the more flavorful it will be. When ready to serve, put into bowls and top with desired toppings.  Serve with tortilla chips. 

Tip:  You can add more jalapeno peppers, chili powder and cumin depending on personal taste. Just be sure to taste it after it's cooked a little while before adding more seasoning.