Tag: Slow Cooker

Ridiculously Easy Chicken Tacos (Crockpot Recipe)

chicken-taco

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Typically, the best things in life are free.

My son’s infectious laughter
The beautiful bond between my husband and my daughter.

Or close to free.

In many cases, at least pretty darn cheap.

However, sometimes the best things in life cost a lot of money and are worth every single penny (a vacation or two come to mind!).

Lucky for you, this recipe falls into the “pretty darn cheap” category.

3 ingredients + 1 crockpot= delicious dinner your family will rave about!

Plus, unless you have a very large family…this recipe easily makes enough chicken for TWO meals. (you could use the leftover meat to make baked taquitos!)

Which makes it practically a freebie, right? 😉

Enjoy!

Ridiculously Easy Chicken Taco Crockpot Recipe

Ingredients: 

  • 3-4 large bone in chicken breasts (or you can use boneless skinless chicken breasts…I just had some frozen bone in chicken breasts in the freezer!)
  • 1 packet of taco seasoning (or make your own homemade taco seasoning) *If you are sensitive to salt, look for a lower sodium taco seasoning packet*
  • 1 jar of your favorite salsa

Directions:

  1. Throw all the ingredients into your crockpot and turn on low for 8-10 hours (less if using boneless chicken).
  2. If you use bone in chicken, take it out and shred it (around 30 minutes before you plan to eat) and return it to the juices for another 30 minutes or so.
  3. Serve with your favorite taco fixings!

Enjoy!

Ridiculously Easy Chicken Tacos
Ingredients
  • 3-4 large bone in chicken breasts (or you can use boneless skinless chicken breasts…I just had some frozen bone in chicken breasts in the freezer!)
  • 1 packet of taco seasoning (or make your own)
  • 1 jar of your favorite salsa
Instructions
  1. Throw all the ingredients into your crockpot and turn on low for 8-10 hours (less if using boneless chicken).
  2. If you use bone in chicken, take it out and shred it (around 30 minutes before you plan to eat) and return it to the juices for another 30 minutes or so.
  3. Serve with your favorite taco fixings!
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Find more family friendly recipes here: 

Chicken with Rice: A One Pot Meal

Pecan Pie Bites

Cheesy Ground Beef Bean Dip

Easy Weeknight Lasagna

Tasty & Sweet Slow Cooker OR Instant Pot Sweet Potato Casserole

Slow Cooker OR Instant Pot Sweet Potato Casserole

Are you a fan of sweet potato casserole? Typically when I make sweet potato casserole, I am making a TON of other dishes. This slow cooker or Instant Pot sweet potato casserole recipe frees up your stove and oven for other things! You will not regret making this. This sweet potato casserole recipe will make even the sweet potato HATER in your family fall in love!

These are my FAVORITE Thanksgiving recipes:

Creamy Parmesan Spinach Recipe

Easy Creamy Mashed Potato Recipe

Black Eyed Pea, Shoepeg Corn and Avocado Salsa

Old Fashioned Easy From Scratch Stuffing Recipe

A few years back my sister in law made a sweet potato casserole dish that knocked my socks off!

This was pretty remarkable because I’ve NEVER been a fan of sweet potato casserole.

Ever.

I’m not a marshmallow fan (unless it’s in Rice Krispy treats) and was only a moderate sweet potato fan in general.

These were so tasty though!

I found out later that they are tasty because half the dish is actually sugar 😉 . It’s Thanksgiving though, so I say…live  a little! It’s more “dessert” tasting than side item, but who doesn’t need a bit more sweetness in their life?

This recipe is actually inspired by Reba McEntire’s Sweet Potato Casserole with just a few tweaks from me.

Tasty Sweet Potato Casserole

Ingredients: 

  • 3 large sweet potatoes (soften them in the microwave and peel and cube them)
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 1/3 cup granulated sugar
  • 1/4 cup butter, melted

***Topping***

  • 1/4 cup butter, melted
  • 3 tablespoons flour
  • 3/4 cup brown sugar
  • 1/4 cup pecans, chopped

Directions:

  1. Place the cubed sweet potatoes in the slow cooker with the salt, vanilla extract, cinnamon, granulated sugar and butter.
  2. Mash the potatoes as well as you can and stir it all together.
  3. Cook on low for about 2-3 hours
  4. Mix the topping ingredients and add the topping about 30-45 minutes before you plan to serve.

Enjoy!

Tip: To make this in the instant pot, you would use the “slow cooker” function.

This is so tasty! I think you’ll love it too!

Tasty & Sweet Slow Cooker Sweet Potato Casserole
Ingredients
    • 3 large sweet potatoes (soften them in the microwave and peel and cube them)
    • 1/4 teaspoon salt
    • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
    • 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
    • 1/3 cup granulated sugar
    • 1/4 cup butter, melted
    • ***Topping***
    • 1/4 cup butter, melted
    • 3 tablespoons flour
    • 3/4 cup brown sugar
  • 1/4 cup pecans, chopped
Instructions
    1. Place the cubed sweet potatoes in the slow cooker with the salt, vanilla extract, cinnamon, granulated sugar and butter.
    1. Mash the potatoes as well as you can and stir it all together.
    1. Cook on low for about 2-3 hours
  1. Mix the topping ingredients and add the topping about 30-45 minutes before you plan to serve.
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Portable Hamilton Beach 5 Qt Slow Cooker Just $14.88 Shipped!

Walmart has this Portable Hamilton Beach 5-QT Slow Cooker for only $14.88! You can get red or silver and FREE shipping with Site to Store, or just $0.97 shipped to your home. I LOVE using my slow cooker, especially in the fall and winter months. This is a bargain and it’s portable too!

Thanks I Heart the Mart !

Check out ALL the great “Holiday Shopping For Less“ Deals on Family Friendly Frugality!

Subscribe to the FREE Holiday Shopping for Less Newsletter  AND be sure to check out all the HOT Black Friday coupon codescurrently available! 

Homemade Applesauce (With A Twist!)

Applesauce w/ a Twist!

Guest Post by Cheryl Siens

What do you consider Fall weather?  After the scorching summer we have had in Texas, I was getting the Fall decorations out when the temperatures dropped into the low 90’s! Today, the high was in the 70’s and we are wearing sweaters. 😉 This kind of weather makes me want to pull out all of my “cold weather” recipes.  Since I found apples on sale last week, I had to start with applesauce.  This is a very kid friendly recipe.  My daughter was making it, with apples that I peeled and cored, when she was 8 years old.  It’s a Fall tradition  at our house.  Let me know what you think.

Homemade APPLESAUCE (with a twist!)

Ingredients

  • 8 – 10 medium apples (you can use more or less – it really doesn’t affect the recipe too much)
  • 1 bag Red Hot candies (or several boxes if you can’t find a bag)
  • 1 cup water

Directions: 

Peel and core apples, then chop them into fairly small pieces.  Put in crock pot, top with Red Hot’s and a cup of water.  Cook on low for about 8 hours.  We like them in large chunks, but you can mash them with a potato masher or spoon them out of the liquid and put them in the blender to make a saucier consistency.  If you like wassail or spiced cider, try dipping some of the juice into a mug.

It is delicious!

Be sure to check out all the frugal recipes here on Family Friendly Frugality!


Are you interested in guest posting on Family Friendly Frugality? Please email me heather @ familyfriendlyfrugality.com. I’m looking for anything in the family friendly/frugal niche, but specifically how-to’s, DIY posts and RECIPES! Must be original content not posted elsewhere.

 

Crock Pot Roast w/ Only 4 Ingredients!

My mouth is watering just looking at the pic!

This is a guest post by Cheryl Siens

I know there are thousands of recipes for crock pot roast, but this is one of the easiest I have ever cooked.  My husband complimented it THREE times, and though he always tells me thanks and that dinner was good, he never goes out of his way to give an extra compliment, much less three!

Crock Pot Roast

Ingredients:

  • 2-3 pound roast (I use whatever is on sale or in the freezer)
  • 1 can cream of mushroom soup
  • 1 can condensed tomato soup
  • 1 envelope onion soup mix
  • Salt and pepper

Directions:

Salt and pepper your roast, then place in crock pot (cut in pieces to make fit, if you need to). In a separated small bowl, mix tomato and mushroom soups, then pour on top of roast.  Next, sprinkle the envelope of onion soup mix over the top of soup-covered roast.  Put the lid on your crock pot and set to cook for 8-10 hours.  Even the toughest roast will come out fork-tender.

 Enjoy!


Are you interested in guest posting on Family Friendly Frugality? Please email me heather @ familyfriendlyfrugality.com. I’m looking for anything in the family friendly/frugal niche, but specifically how-to’s, DIY posts and RECIPES! Must be original content not posted elsewhere.

Slow Cooker Eat-Those-Vegetables Soup

Mmmm, this here is FALL food!

I love soup. I don’t love veggies as much as I should though. Throw some veggies in a soup though? I’ll eat practically any variety. Something about veggies in soup just makes me feel good and wholesome. Not sure what it is.

This slow cooker Vegetable Soup is ridiculously easy and VERY tasty. It’s also incredibly versatile. I hesitate to even suggest ingredients, because really…any veggies will do.

I do brown my veggies for a bit in a pot with some olive oil, but it’s not totally necessary. I just love the flavor it adds to the finished soup.

Ingredients:

  • Veggies of your choice (I used 1/2 eggplant, 1 zucchini, 1 squash, 1 onion & 2 carrots); cut them all the same size. I like them on the smaller side.
  • 6 cups beef broth (or you can sub vegetable stock, but I like the flavor of the beef)
  • 1 28 oz can of diced tomatoes
  • 3 fresh bay leaves
  • 1 teaspoon italian seasoning
  • Salt & Pepper to taste
  • Olive oil for browning (drizzle)

Directions: 

  1. Once your veggies are all chopped up, you’ll want to heat some olive oil in a pot on the stove. Brown your veggies in batches and salt and pepper each batch. You aren’t looking for them to be fully cooked, just get a nice brown color on them.
  2. Throw the veggies into the slow cooker.
  3. Pour your beef broth into the pot you browned the veggies in and scrape the bottom to get all the yummy goodness into the broth.
  4. Meanwhile, dump your diced tomatoes into your slow cooker on top of your veggies.
  5. Pour the broth on top of the veggies.
  6. Add the bay leaves and italian seasoning.
  7. Cook on high for 4 hours or on low for 6-8 hours. Taste the broth about an hour before you intend to serve it and salt and pepper as needed.
Enjoy!

Be sure to check out all the Frugal Recipes available on Family Friendly Frugality!

I’ll be linking this recipe up to the Slow Cooker Squad’s Monday Linky!

If you enjoyed this recipe, I’d LOVE if you pinned it!

Pin It

 

Slow Cooker Southwest Chicken Recipe

So with all the hub-bub of the Crockpot Girls on Facebook.  Some blogger friends and I decided to start our own page called the Slow Cooker Squad and combine it with a Slow Cooker  Linky.  We would love it if you would join us on Facebook- make sure you like the Slow Cooker Squad!

Today’s Slow Cooker Squad recipe is brought to us by Cheryl Siens.

This crock pot meal is so easy and delicious.  I usually put it on when my husband leaves for work and it is done by mid-afternoon.  It just takes a few minutes to throw in the crock pot, so it’s good for one of those days when you have lots of things to do away from the house.

Southwest Chicken

Ingredients

  • 1 can corn, drained
  • 1 can black beans, rinsed and drained
  • 16 oz jar salsa
  • 6 boneless chicken breast halves (I use frozen)
  • flour or corn tortillas

Directions:

  1. Dump corn, then beans, then ½ jar salsa into crock pot.  Add chicken breasts and top with remaining salsa.
  2. Cook 3-4 hours on high or 7-8 hours on low in crock pot.
  3. Break up chicken breasts with a fork and serve on tortillas.  You can top with cheese, add jalapenos, or whatever else you like on a taco.

I hope you’ll try and enjoy this yummy slow cooker recipe!

Be sure to check out all the great recipes from the Slow Cooker Squad this week in the linky below and feel free to link up your own Slow Cooker recipe! (Don’t have a blog? You can post your recipe right on our Facebook page, or just hop along the linky and enjoy the recipes!)

Come back every Monday to share your delicious slow cooker recipes AND feel free to post recipes and tips on the Facebook page all week long!


Are you interested in guest posting on Family Friendly Frugality? Please email me heather @ familyfriendlyfrugality.com. I’m looking for anything in the family friendly/frugal niche, but specifically how-to’s, DIY posts and RECIPES! Must be original content not posted elsewhere.


Slow Cooker Chicken, Brocolli & Dressing (Stuffing)

Throw them in the slow cooker and let everyone think you slaved all day!

Don’t miss out on these other super simple meals: 

Cabbage with Turkey Sausage Recipe

Copycat Hamburger Helper Cheeseburger Macaroni

Chicken with Rice: A One Pot Frugal Family Meal!

I’m all about easy 1 pot meals. This is why I have a very special and intimate relationship with my slow cooker. Dump a bunch of ingredients in the slow cooker in the morning and by dinner time all you have to do is spoon it onto plates. Then complain about how you cooked ALL DAY LONG (because you did. Most slow cooker meals take 5+ hours!), and let everyone else do the cleaning.

A slow cooker meal is most efficient if you don’t have to cook any sides to balance the meal out, so I tend to look for recipes that include a protein, a veggie or two and a starch. This recipe for Slow Cooker Chicken, Brocolli & Dressing is just that. It’s a full meal made by dumping ingredients haphazardly into your slow cooker and leaving it alone (go take a bubble bath).

That’s my kind of meal. 

This recipe is incredibly versatile. Try a different protein (I could see pork chops or turkey breasts) or a different veggie. Use a different creamy soup or if you have some homemade cream of chicken soup on hand, definitely use that!

You know those people that say they can’t cook? Hand them this recipe and dare them to mess it up. It’s pretty much impossible.

What kind of slow cooker do I have? Well I have a small no frills Rival Crock Pot that I can’t even find online it’s so old. I want one of these babies though.

Slow Cooker Chicken, Brocolli & Dressing (Stuffing)

Ingredients:

  • 1  10 3/4 ounce can of cream of chicken soup (or homemade will work great as well…we’re doing easy  here. Remember to buy reduced sodium cream of chicken soup so you can control the salt of your dish)
  • 1/4 cup butter (melted)
  • 1/4 cup water
  • 16 ounces of frozen brocolli (you can thaw if you want, I don’t)
  • 1 (8) oz box of stuffing (dressing)
  • Chicken Breast (I usually do (1) 4 oz breast per person)

Directions:

  1. Pour the soup, water, butter and stuffing into the slow cooker and stir
  2. Add the broccoli and chicken on top
  3. Cook for 5-6 hours on low. (I usually stir the dressing at least once during this time period)
It’s not drop dead gorgeous, but it tastes incredible!

Super easy! Now, slow cooker meals are never that much to brag about in terms of appearance, but man oh man is this a tasty meal!

If you have a large family, you might want to double up the recipe. OR you can (*shudders*) cook another side to go along with the meal and serve smaller portions.

Enjoy!

Braised Short Ribs & Creamy Polenta (Super Easy!)

Missing a few ingredients here…but still love ingredient pics!

My husband and I thoroughly enjoy The Food Network. Our favorite show on this network is The Next Food Network Star. I’m not sure why we love it so much, but we happened upon it during it’s second season. Our favorite did not win that particular season, in fact our favorites didn’t fair so well (even the ones that won) until Season 5.

Melissa d”Arabian

Season 5 was the season of Melissa d’Arabian, and the first season that I knew from Day 1 who I wanted to win. Melissa is a mom, like me, who loves to cook but has always had to cook around her budget (although I sincerely doubt she has many budget issues nowadays!).

We started watching her show, Ten Dollar Dinners with Melissa d’Arabian, from the very first episode. To be honest though, we’re not generally the type to make recipes from the shows we love to watch. We watched the entire first season without making a single recipe shown. However, one day I watched Melissa make Braised Country Style Pork Ribs (from this episode), using cheaper pork as an alternative to beef short ribs. I’ve always loved the way she throws budget friendly coupon-ese into her shows, it makes her incredibly relate-able to me and my husband always smiles knowingly my way whenever she drops a frugal tip (he luckily really gets my inner geek).

A Lucky Find

What a steal!

The very next day I went grocery shopping, and lo and behold…beef short ribs were on sale. I picked up a 2 lb package and quickly looked up the recipe on my phone to make sure I had all of the ingredients.

The next day, I set about to make Melissa’s recipe and decided I wanted the full effect of the meal. So, even though I’ve never really been a Polenta fan before (and I only had regular old corn meal on hand), I also was determined to make the creamy polenta as well.

The Results?

Continue reading Braised Short Ribs & Creamy Polenta (Super Easy!)

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