Best Chicken Noodle Soup Ever!

Ahh... Chicken Noodle Soup. The epitome of comfort food. Unless it's nasty haha... then it can only be equated with desperation i.e. quick and easy and well, I don't make it THAT often, so the kids can't complain too much. Okay, so maybe I'm the only one who HATED chicken noodle soup growing up. Seriously, how exciting can veggies you don't like and dried noodles be in a broth? But then when I was a Junior in High School my friend brought a mug of the most amazingly creamy yummy soup I had ever tasted, and my opinion was forever changed that chicken noodle soup could not only be good, but the amazing comfort food it was supposed to be. I begged my mom to get the recipe from my friend Ashley and her mom (also my friend) Myalin. Thankfully, they were happy to oblige :) Unfortunately, however, it was all guess work... a little of this and a little of that, so I was super excited when I got this recipe from my friend Christy.. the same exact recipe but with measurements!!! I hope you enjoy it as much as we do :)

1 chicken –boiled & boned (or about 3 breasts)

8 cups of water or the stock

1 cup celery

1 cup carrots

1 cup onions

2 cans Cream of Chicken soup

3 bouillon cubes

1 16 oz sour cream

1 pkg Old Fashioned Grandma’s Noodles (in the freezer section)

In a crock pot cook chicken, water/stock, veggies, chicken soup and bouillon cubes. One hour before serving add the noodles and right before you serve add the sour cream.

If cooking on the stove, boil chicken, water, veggies, noodles and bouillon til tender. Then add sour cream and chicken soup.

Zesty Italian Chicken (Easy Peazy!!)

Comfort food. That is how Mr. Amazing described this meal! So good. So easy. Perfect!! Another freezer meal from Jessi that turned out to be a family fav and for sure going on the monthly list!

1 8 oz cream cheese

1 can Cream of Chicken Soup

1 pkg Zesty Italian Dressing Seasoning (the packet)

3 chicken breasts

Put cream cheese, soup and Italian packet into the slow cooker on high for 30 minutes. This will soften it and make it easy to stir until well combined. Add the chicken and cook on low for 5-6 hours (this is a meal that you definitely don't want to overcook). You can serve the chicken breasts whole or do as we do and use 2 forks and pull into smaller chunks. Serve over hot rice! (We have to double this recipe for our family of 6). 

BEST EVER!!! White Chicken Chili

Oh. My. Heck. Seriously. Heaven in bowl right here!! This is so good that I went and bought enough ingredients to make this meal at least 4 more times! My family doesn't really care for chili. I've tried numerous recipes, but unfortunately there has never been one good enough to repeat. Until now! My church was having a Halloween party and asked for people to bring in Chili for the dinner. So I went on a search to find the best chili ever. And I found it on sweetannas.com! I made it for my family a week in  before just to make sure and after my family ate the entire pot in 20 minutes, I knew I had a winner. I also made 2 more batches for the freezer for even less, quicker gratification :) (Note to Wyoming, USA friends: I could only find these beans at Walmart).

3 chicken breasts (raw or cooked), cut into bite-sized pieces

1 onion, diced

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 cans white beans, drained

1 regular can pink beans (pinquitos)

1 large can diced green chilies

1 cup frozen corn

2 cups chicken stock

1 jalapeno, minced

2 tsp ground cumin

1/2 tsp chili powder

Salt and pepper to taste

1/2 cup finely crushed tortilla chips

2 cups shredded pepper jack cheese

Throw all the ingredients (except for the crushed tortilla chips and cheese) into your slow cooker. Cook on low for 8 hours. During the last 30 minutes, stir in the crushed tortilla chips and the shredded cheese and heat until cheese is melted and the chili has thickened up. Serve with sour cream, chips, salsa or whatever else you want!

World's Best Taco Soup

Mr. Amazing does not like Taco Soup. I've tried numerous variations in hopes of converting him. He has to call it Chili to choke it down haha. But when I saw this recipe from iheartnaptime.net, I knew I had to give it a shot!

Well, it didn't work haha. I told him this one had tons more good stuff in it, but when he tried it he said "it tastes like taco soup." Oh well. Can't win them all!

But the rest of us loved it, so it's a keeper! It does taste like Taco Soup, but so much heartier!!! Everyone was stuffed after 1 bowl and it made double the amount of my normal recipe! It would be super easy to make this into a freezer meal, too, either before or after cooking it!

1 lb hamburger

2 tbsp taco seasoning

1 med sweet onion

½ green bell pepper chopped

½ red bell pepper chopped

½ orange or yellow bell pepper chopped

1 15 oz can black beans drained and rinsed

1 15 oz can kidney beans drained and rinsed

1 15 oz can pinto beans drained and rinsed

1 15 oz can corn

1 can Rotel tomatoes

1 15 oz can diced tomatoes

¼ cup salsa

1 8 oz can tomato sauce

Brown hamburger in a large pan. Add in onion and bell peppers and sauté for a few minutes. Add to slow cooker. Add in remaining ingredients and cook on low for 7-8 hours. Top with your favorite toppings and tortilla chips.

Cheesy Chicken Tater Tot Casserole

Photo from thecountrycook.net

Her pic is way better than mine and she deserves all the credit for this meal!

So I found this recipe from Brandie at thecountrycook.net, and my mouth immediately began to water. Just the name of it made me want it instantly,  but the picture got my mouth watering! I couldn't wait to try it out on my family the next day, and I have to say, THANK YOU BRANDIE! My family snarfed this down. I kid you not. They ate their fill before soccer practices and when we got back 2 hours later, they finished it off. Mr. Amazing will eat anything I cook and is usually accompanied by a "thank you" and hopefully "that was good." Well this one got me one heck of a kiss and a raving review that included the desire for it to be made again, and soon! This is an incredible make-over on normal tater-tot casserole recipes and it has made the dang good recipe list!

Ingredients:

1 (32 oz.) bag frozen tater tots

1 (3 oz.)bag bacon pieces

1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts, diced

2 cups shredded cheddar cheese

3/4 cup milk

salt & pepper, to taste

Directions:

Spray slow cooker with nonstick cooking spray. Layer half of the frozen tater tots on the

bottom of the slow cooker. Sprinkle with 1/3 of the bacon pieces. Now top with 1/3 of the shredded cheese. Add diced chicken on top.  Season with salt & pepper. Now add 1/3 of the bacon pieces and another 1/3 of shredded cheese. Put the rest of the frozen tater tots on top.

Finish with the remaining 1/3 cheddar cheese and remaining 1/3 of bacon pieces. Pour 3/4 cup milk all over the top. Cover and cook on low about 4-5 hours.

Cilantro Lime Chicken with Corn & Black Beans

From overthebigmoon.com, this one is a keeper! Holy buckets! Just looking at the picture makes my mouth water! This is definitely going to be doubled for an extra freezer meal! My family loved this one served on heated tortillas with all the toppings. The only thing I would add is some fresh cilantro at the end when it is done.

1 ½ lbs chicken breast

Juice from 2 limes

1 bunch fresh cilantro, chopped

1 (16 oz) bag frozen corn

2 minced garlic cloves

½ red onion, chopped

1 can black beans, drained and rinsed

1 tsp cumin

Salt and pepper to taste

Place all ingredients into a resealable gallon-sized freezer bag. Mix together and zip bag closed. When ready to eat, remove from freezer and thaw in fridge for 24 hours. Cook on low for 8 hours. Serve with tortillas and toppings such as sour cream, guacamole, salsa and cheese, and fresh chopped cilantro.

Our Fav Slow Cooker Beef Stew

Heaven in a bowl. I found this recipe on allrecipes.com, tweaked it a bit according to other's opinions and voila! Perfection! Out here in Wyoming, this is a staple in our family in the winter! Double batch it for left-overs or freeze for another day. Pair it with some cornbread and you will have one happy family!

2 lbs beef stew meat, cut into pieces

2/3 cup flour

1 tsp seasoning salt

1 tsp pepper

3 garlic cloves, minced

2 bay leaves

1 ½ tsp paprika

2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce

1 onion, chopped

3 ½ cups beef broth

5-6 potatoes

4 carrots sliced

2 stalks celery

1 pkg McCormicks beef stew seasoning. Mix flour, salt, and pepper in bag. Coat the meat with it. Sear meat. Transfer meat to slow cooker. Pour 2 cups beef broth into pan to deglaze then pour over beef. Add rest of broth and all other ingredients. Stir and cook for 10 hours on low.

(Note: I'm rather horrible at adding the exact amount of veggies. I just dice, throw in, and when it fills up the pot just right, I stop :) Therefore, I almost always end up using 3 cans of beef broth or whatever it takes to get it right to the top of the veggies and meat).

Slow Cooker Mexican Chicken

This is the easiest meal I think I have ever made! I kid you not! I threw the chicken in still frozen, opened 2 cans and started the slow cooker! Eight hours later, with some cream cheese and chips, I had a meal that my family literally devoured! Baby doll took one look at it and said "I don't like this stuff" (granted, it's not the prettiest looking stuff in the world) but after one bite, she changed her mind and even came back for a big helping of seconds. So glad for another dang good recipe!!

1-15 oz can Pinto Beans

1- 4 oz can chopped green chilies

1 pkg. of taco seasoning

2-3 chicken breasts (depending on size)

1 pkg. cream cheese

Add beans and chilies with juice, chicken and seasoning in slow cooker. Cook on low for 6-8 hours. An hour before it is done shred the chicken and add the cream cheese. Serve with hot tortilla chips, rice or on tortillas.

One Pot Mac and CheeseI

I ran into this recipe the other day on tipgarden.blogspot.com and thought it would be a perfect addition to the River Chicken (and easy meal for a super busy day). I threw all the ingredients into the crock pot 3 hours before dinner, and voila! My family had thought I had made the best meal ever :)

Cooking oil spray

2 cups milk

1 (12 oz) can evaporated milk

1 egg

1 tsp salt

1/4 tsp pepper

1 1/2 cups preshredded sharp cheddar cheese

2 cups uncooked elbow macaroni

Spray the pot of the slow cooker. In a mixing bowl whisk together milk, evaporate milk, egg, salt and pepper. Pour milk mixture into the crockpot. Add cheese and uncooked macaroni. Stir gently to mix.

Turn slow cooker on low and cook for 3 hours (this is a custard style mac and cheese so it gets really thick so it is supposed to be able to be cut like a brownie. I don't like this style as much, and it was plenty cooked at 3 hours, but was still creamy so don't cook more than 3 hours ON LOW if you don't want custard style and if you do want custard style, still don't cook more than 4 hours on low).

Slow Cooker Baked Potato's

I'm an Idaho girl (and now Wyoming girl and wannabe cowboy) and therefore, meat and potatoes for every meal was not just a figure of speech. It was rare NOT to have some form of potato every evening at dinner. And so even though I've broadened my horizons a little bit, I'm still a potato girl at heart (preferably french fries haha ;). And these baked potatoes are so good! (I got this from recipe from crockpot365.blogspot.com).

Potatoes (Russet or Red)
Tinfoil

Scrub and dry potatoes. Poke holes in potatoes with a fork and then wrap in tinfoil. Put in slow cooker on low for 8-10 hours (depending on size of potato) or on high for 5-6 hours. Warning: the potatoes do turn yellow for whatever reason! But oh they are moist!

Serve as a side or do what I usually do and make it into a potato bar: open up potato and add butter, sour cream or ranch, seasoned cooked hamburger (We prefer Cavender's Greek Seasoning. You can buy it at Walmart, and it is soooo yummy on meat!! ), bacon crumbles, sunflower seeds, green onions, and cheese with a salad on the side!

Chuckwagon Stew

You wanna feel like a cowboy, eat Chuckwagon Stew. This is by far Hannah's fav (served with buttermilk cornbread, mmmmm). The key is to use polish sausage. Although not my favorite, my family cleans the slow cooker bowl with this one! (Recipe from allrecipes.com).

1 ½ lbs cubed meat

½ lb sausage

1 onion

2-3 tbsp minced garlic

3 potatoes, chopped

28 oz can of bbq baked beans

BBQ sauce

Brown meat, onion, sausage and garlic in pan. Meanwhile, place diced potatoes on the bottom of the crock pot. Spread meat mixture over top. Spoon baked beans evenly over the top. Add extra bbq sauce to your liking. Cook on low in crock pot for 5-6 hours.

Freezer Variations: If you wanted to have this as a prepped freezer meal, I would only suggest having the meat, onion, sausage (cooked if using breakfast sausage and sliced if using polish sausage) and garlic ready in a freezer bag. Uncooked potatoes do not freeze well (they turn brown) and well, baked beans are easy as they are already in the can! It also freezes up great as an after cooked meal! Freeze portion sizes in ziplock containers for an instant meal!

Slow Cooker Southwestern Beef Wraps

Seriously good stuff going on here! The cilantro is a key must that brings out the flavor. The best is to prep as in directions and then put in freezer ziplock bag. When ready to use, thaw out the day before and then just dump it all in the slow cooker! Heck, make 2 or 3 meals all at once and freeze and you are good to go!

1 medium onion, cut into 1" wedges
2 1/2 lbs beef roast cut into 6 pieces (or be lazy like me and by stew meat :)
1 tsp chili powder
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp garlic powder
3/4 tsp salt
1 green pepper, diced
1 can (14 1/2 oz) diced tomatoes, undrained
1 can diced green chilies
2 tbsp chopped fresh cilantro
Flour Tortillas
Sour cream
Salsa

Place onion in slow cooker. Place pieces of beef over onion wedges. Combine spices in a small bowl. Sprinkle half over beef. Turn beef over and sprinkle with the remaining half. Top with green pepper then pour tomatoes and green chilies over all.

Cover and cook on high for 5 hours or low for 8 hours. Drain excess liquid. Remove meat from cooker and shred. Return meat to cooker. Stir in cilantro. To serve fill tortillas with beef mixture. Top with sour cream and salsa.