Recipe: Crockpot Salsa Chicken

I’ve been wanting to try this recipe for a very long time, since I’ve heard so much about it online. I love how versatile the chicken is, you could really use it in any kind of Mexican-inspired dish. I’m planning on using the chicken to stuff some quesadillas (more on that later), but honestly, I could just a plate of it on its own because it tastes so good.

Now when I say this is easy, I mean it. This is truly only a step above the effort level of going through a drive thru – and it’s much healthier, tastier, and cheaper.

You could use any part of the chicken, but I’m partial to the breast because it is less fatty and shreds well. I’ve also read that using extra spices gives it more flavor, which I didn’t do but I want to try next time.

Ingredients:
Chicken
Salsa

1. Place chicken in crockpot and cover in salsa.

2. Cook on low for 4-6 hours. The amount of time really just depends on your preference and slow cooker. I did 5 and it came out great.
3. Remove chicken and shred. Be sure to scoop out the chicken and not to stab it out, because it may fall apart.

4. Turn off the crockpot or set to warm, depending on how soon you will use the chicken.
5. Remove liquid from crockpot and set aside one cup.

6. Put chicken back in the crockpot and cover with cup of liquid until ready to serve.

7. Enjoy!

Recipe: Breakfast Burrito

My boyfriend made for me a couple of weeks ago and it was so good I just had to try making it myself. Of course, he’s probably the better cook so my recreation wasn’t entirely spot on, but it was still pretty darn good. Although I love breakfast and Mexican food, I’m a purest when it comes to mixing food genres, so I was skeptical. But I really do like this recipe –it’s quick, easy, and tasty.

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– Eggs

– Salsa

– Spinach

– Cheese

– Tortilla

– Sriracha

1. Heat up tortilla in skillet or microwave and set aside

2. Wilt spinach in skillet using olive oil

3. Add salsa to skillet to warm (not too much, I personally got a bit overenthusiastic)

4. In a mixing bowl, scramble eggs (I used 3 for one burrito and that was way too much, I’d suggest 2) and stir in sriracha sauce

5. Pour eggs into skillet and scramble

6. Add shredded cheese and cook until melted

 

7. Put contents of skillet into tortilla

8. Enjoy!

Recipe: Super Simple Stuffed Peppers

This was my first try at making this specific recipe, which I sort of made out of a combination of other recipes I found on the internet. I think it turned out pretty good, and was a relatively cheap option (I had enough filling for two dinners — score!). Now, this meal was made partially out of desperation, because I was running out of groceries, so if I had it my way I would have had it done up a bit more. Had I time/money to go to the grocery store I’d probably add rice, onions, tomatoes, etc but as it is this super simple version is tasty and very easy.

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– Red bell pepper (or whatever your favorite pepper is)

– Ground beef (I prefer lean, but if you want to go cheaper, you can go with regular. Similarly, if you want to go healthier you could get chicken/turkey/veggie crumble)

– Salsa

– Fajita spices (or any Mexican style spices you have)

– Olive oil

– Shredded Mexican cheese

1. Cut red bell pepper in half and remove the stem and seeds

2. Microwave pepper for 4 minutes, or until tender

3. Preheat oven to 350

4. Pour a little bit of olive oil into a skillet over medium heat and add ground beef, Make sure not to have the heat too high, I did that and burned the beef a little bit. Don’t worry, if it’s on medium, it will cook all the way through with time.

5. Thoroughly cook the ground beef, drain if desired and add spices. I know I would have loved fajita spices, but alas I only had chili powder. However, even with just that it seemed to turn out flavorful enough.

6. Once the ground beef is cooked, add salsa. I prefer to use chunky salsa for this recipe because it adds a lot more of the vegetable feel. Although, I’m sure this dish would be great with actual cut-up veggies!

7. Stuff the pepper halves with as much ground beef/salsa mixture as possible. Then top each stuffed pepper with a sprinkling of shredded Mexican cheese

8. Bake peppers for 15 minutes, or until cheese is melted. Everything is already cooked, so basically all you’re aiming for is to make sure that the cheese is melted and everything is a cohesive whole

Enjoy!

Obviously, there is so much more you could do with this recipe, which I intend to explore at another time, but if you’re low on cash or ingredients, this is a good option!