Salsa Chicken in the Crock pot (or slow cooker)

 Since our move started, I haven't really been feelin' it when it comes to cooking or menu planning. And that means that just about every night is like an episode of Chopped around here.  I rummage through the pantry and fridge to find anything that will go together and then I throw it all in a pan to make dinner.  Sometimes we end up with things we have eaten before and sometimes a whole new creation is born.  And sometimes we decide that we really need to go shopping because the creations are getting a bit out of hand.  

Chicken-in-a-Packet (or in the crock pot)

This has been such a favorite for a long time, it deserves a post on the blog.  It's one of Tyler's favorite recipes and he always requests it when I ask him his dinner ideas for the week.  As you can tell by the name of the recipe, it actually calls for the chicken and veggies to be cooked in individual foil 'packets,' kind of like a tinfoil dinner, but in the oven.  While it was fun to cook this that way the first couple times, it gets daunting separating everything into packets.  Now that my kids are older, it might be fun to have everyone make their own instead of me having to do them all.  But before I just realized that my kids can help, I looked for easier ways to make one of our favorite dishes.  I have made this is a covered baking dish in the oven as well as the crock pot.  All three ways have produced a successful result.  Just decide which way you like best.  My kids like to have the rice with it.  Tyler and I like it either way, rice or not.  I am not sure why we still call it "Chicken in a Packet" since we don't really cook it in the packet anymore, but none-the-less, we do.

Creamy Corn (Slow Cooker)

I posted not long ago about slow cooker mashed potatoes and still can't get over the genius of it.  I have since been in love with the idea of side dished in the crock pot.  Especially for special occasions.  The recipe for Candied Yams with Apples and Cranberries was also a bit hit.

I told you guys we went to Arizona for Thanksgiving to spend time with Jenni and her family.  Her mom cooked an AMAZING Thanksgiving dinner.  Seriously, amazing.  Part of dinner was a creamy corn that everyone loved.  Tyler seemed to think it was gravy and put it on top of everything on his plate.  It reminded me of a slow cooker recipe for creamy corn that I made a few years ago.  I couldn't remember the actual recipe so I just added some stuff to the crock pot and I liked the result.  I don't think it's exactly the same as what we had for Thanksgiving, but it's still delicious and would go great with Ham or Turkey or probably any holiday meal.  And the best part is, it's super easy.  It makes me want to get a few more slow cookers.

Honey-Soy Glazed Chicken (Slow Cooker)

 I recently joined Pinterest but I don't know what I am doing.  It is a bit intimidating for me.  I kind of feel like I need to hurry and pin a bunch of random things from websites so it looks like I have interests other than cooking.  I have pinned a few things and instead of overwhelming myself decided to just wait until I come across something I like on a website and then I will pin it.  I also wish everyone couldn't automatically see everything.  What if I want to have a private board?  And pin a bunch of weird stuff I don't want people to know about?  I might be a closet weirdo.  Or maybe I want to pin gift ideas and don't want people to see them.  Can you make a board private?  I just don't know enough about the whole situation to feel comfortable I guess.

Mashed Potatoes in the Slow Cooker

If you can't tell, this is a picture of mashed potatoes in my slow cooker. :)

This is genius.  I feel like the last 20 minutes before Thanksgiving dinner is always a mad dash.  There seems to be 30 different things to do in just those last few minutes.  The rolls need to be baked, the turkey needs to be carved, the gravy made, the potatoes mashed, things taken to the table...
  Maybe it's just me, but I always feel like I have dinner under control until those few moments and I start to feel like a lunatic.  When I saw this recipe a few days ago I couldn't help but share.  It says you can do all the prep the day before and then just put it in your slow cooker the next morning.  I am not sure I would do that since fridge space seems to be hard to come by, but I would definitely love to not worry about the mashed potatoes in those last few crucial moments.  I love that these are ready whenever you need them.  

Chili

 A couple people have brought to my attention that I need more healthy recipes on the blog. So I thought I'd post a recipe for chili.  With sour cream and cheese on top. :)  You can leave it off if you find it offensive.  However, I don't find it offensive, I find it lovely.  I really like this chili recipe for a few reasons.  It's really easy, it really fresh tasting and delicious, it's really healthy (if you just eat the chili by itself), it doesn't take a ton of ingredients, and it keeps so well.  Leftover chili is just as delicious, or maybe more so than the first day.  Tonight, we served it with cornbread and can I just say that it's the first cornbread I have made from scratch that I LOVED, but more on that tomorrow.  Chili is the kind of thing that would be good to double the batch and freeze half.  And I think I have a recipe coming up that you can use the frozen half for. ;)