Slowcooker Creamy Mexican Chicken

Slowcooker Creamy Mexican Chicken
Adapted from Food.com
Makes 4 Servings

1 pound boneless skinless chicken breasts
1 can fat-free cream of chicken soup
1 cup salsa
1 package taco seasoning
1 cup fat-free sour cream
Cilantro, optional topping
8 oz. pasta (dry)

Put chicken, soup and salsa in slow cooker. Sprinkle taco seasoning over everything. Cook on high for 2.5 hours. After 2.5 hours, pull the breasts out and shred. Return them back to slow cooker and stir in the sour cream. Cover and heat for another 20 minutes. While it’s heating, cook pasta in boiling water on stovetop per package instructions.

Nutritional Information: 458 calories, 64 carbs, 3 fat grams and 35 protein grams.

Review: Excellent! Interesting that it was creamy and spicy. It was like an thick, heavy alfredo sauce - but instead of an alfredo flavor it was taco flavored! We're fans. We tried it reheated and frozen and it kept its thickness very well. You could easily do a smaller shape, but we liked the long noodles. To reduce the calories a bit, I would consider 3/4 cup sour cream and salsa, and you could probably take the pasta down a 1/2 ounce or ounce.

Burrito Casserole

Burrito Casserole
Makes 6 Servings
Recipe adapted from Blog Chef

1 pound 96/4 ground beef
1 package taco seasoning
9 small Mission flour tortillas
1 can fat-free refried beans
1 can fat-free cream of mushroom soup
½ cup fat-free sour cream
hot sauce (optional)
80 grams Cabot 75% reduced fat cheddar (a little less than 3/4 cup)
Optional Toppings: 1 cup shredded romaine lettuce and 6 cherry tomatoes, divided

Preheat oven to 350. In a large skillet brown ground beef. Once it’s almost done, add taco seasoning and stir in refried beans. Mix until evenly blended. In a bowl, mix cream of mushroom soup and sour cream. Spread ½ of the sour cream mixture onto the bottom of a rectangular casserole dish sprayed with nonstick cooking spray. Tear up 3 tortillas and spread them over the sour cream mixture (I typically lay 2 tortillas down side by side without tearing - then tear up the third to fill in blanks to make a solid layer!). Put ½ of the meat mixture on top of it. Sprinkle on hot sauce. Add remaining layers as follows: 3 tortillas; sour cream mixture; 3 tortillas; meat mixture; hot sauce. Sprinkle cheese over the top and place in oven uncovered for 25 minutes. Serve with lettuce and tomatoes as toppings.

Nutritional Information: 403 calories, 47 carbs, 7 fat grams and 29 protein grams.

Review: Two words: OH MY. This recipe seriously may trump my top Mexican recipe. No joke! I LOVE the layers, the use of flour tortillas, how that sauce mixture clings to the tortillas and makes it all taste just meshed together and creamy. I also love the hot sauce kick on those layers- perfect! Yes, time to update my top 10 - this one takes the cake. And the calories are great - love that it makes six too. Winner, winner. Austin loved it too! For less heat, simply leave out the hot sauce. You could even top with salsa if you want to leave the heat level up to each person!

Here's a pic of the full dish - how it looks coming out of the oven!

Slowcooker Chicken Parisienne

Slowcooker Chicken Parisienne
Recipe adapted from Erica’s Kitchen Adventures

Makes 4 Servings

1 pound chicken
¼ tsp salt and pepper
¼ tsp Paprika
½ cup chardonnay or dry white wine
1 can fat-free cream of mushroom soup
8-10 oz. mushrooms
1 cup fat free sour cream
¼ cup flour
8 oz. pasta, cooked per package instructions

Add chicken to crockpot, and sprinkle with salt, pepper and paprika. In a medium bowl, combine wine, mushrooms and cream of mushroom soup. In a small bowl mix together the sour cream and flour. Add the sour cream mixture into the mushroom mixture and mix well.Pour sauce over chicken and add more salt, pepper and paprika if desired. Cook on high for 3-4 hours. Serve over pasta.

Nutritional Information: 472 calories, 62 carbs, 4 fat grams and 37 protein grams.

Review: Loved! I figured I would though - I heart a slowcooker dish, mushrooms and cream of mushroom mix! It reminded me a bit of Bacon Ranch Slowcooker chicken, but more 'mushroomy' and it almost had a marsala influence. It also kind of tasted like the Chicken Tortellini Bake, but less cheesy and more 'pastay.' Either way, this one was great and regardless of its subtle similarities to other dishes I've made, this one is a winner and will be made again. It's also a very budget friendly recipe!

Ranchero Macaroni Bake

Ranchero Macaroni Bake
Recipe adapted from a Recipes for Moms recipe
Makes 6 Servings

1 can (14.5 oz.) fat-free cream of mushroom soup
½ cup skim milk
3 oz. Cabot 75% reduced fat Cheddar cheese, shredded
1/4 cup red salsa, medium

1/4 cup green salsa, hot
10 oz. elbow macaroni, uncooked
2 oz. tortilla chips, coarsely crushed
16 oz. chicken
1 packet taco seasoning
½ cup fat-free chicken broth

Cook macaroni according to package directions. While it cooks, cook chicken in a large skillet sprayed with nonstick cooking spray over medium heat with chicken broth and taco seasoning. Cook for 7-8 minutes until no longer pink. Drain macaroni. Combine soup and milk in a large bowl. Stir in cheese, salsa and cooked macaroni. Stir in chicken. Spoon into a baking dish sprayed with nonstick cooking spray. Bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes. Stir; sprinkle with crushed chips. Bake for an additional 5 minutes, or until hot and bubbly.

Full Dish - 6 servings

Nutritional Information: 401 calories, 47 carbs, 6 fat grams and 32 protein grams.

Review: Very good. The green salsa really added some extra fire that I think I would have missed if I hadn't added. The soupiness helped - I was nervous at first to stir before adding the chips, but it made a big difference and helped it cook more evenly. I liked the chip layer too - very crunchy, especially against the pasta/soupiness of the rest of the recipe. All in all, I would make this again and wouldn't change anything, great pastsa bake!

Calzone Supreme

Calzone Supreme
Inspired by For the Love of Cooking
Makes 1 Calzone (double, triple, etc. for more)

4 oz. Trader Joe’s Pizza Dough
6 tbsp Naturally Preferred Mushroom Pasta sauce, divided
25 g Fat-Free Mozzarella cheese, shredded
15 g Fat-Free Feta cheese
½ cup mushrooms, diced
1 Fresh basil leaf, chopped
10 baby spinach leaves, chopped
12 Hormel Turkey pepperonis, chopped
1 tsp olive oil
Olive oil flavored cooking spray
Red pepper flakes to taste

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Spray pizza tray with olive oil. Roll dough out to form a 8” pizza and place on pizza tray. Spread 2 tbsp sauce over half the dough. Add 1 tsp olive oil and toppings (cheeses, mushrooms, pepperonis, spinach, basil, flakesl). Fold the other half of the dough over the toppings and carefully fold and crimp the ends of the dough so it's sealed. Use a knife to make a few slits on the top and spray with cooking spray. Place in the oven and cook for 20-22 minutes or until crisp and golden brown. Remove from oven and let rest for 2-3 minutes before slicing into wedges. Serve with 4 tbsp sauce for dipping.

Nutritional Information: 447 calories, 64 carbs, 9 fat grams and 20 protein grams.

Review: I thought the TJ’s dough was GREAT! Next time I’ll rub the olive oil on top instead of having it inside, I’ll use more red pepper and I may even sprinkle some garlic salt on top! Also - the guy at TJ's strongly encouraged you to let it sit out for 30 minutes before starting (less sticky; easier to work with). We loved them though! I think I’ll definitely keep the dough in the house and will be making pizzas and calzones a lot! My next one will definitely be veggie with lots of tomatoes and basil – woo!

Portobello Tetrazzini

Adapted from Cooking Light

Portobello Tetrazzini

Makes 2 Servings

8 oz. chicken
4 oz. uncooked spaghetti
Cooking spray
12 oz. sliced Portobello mushrooms, coarsely chopped
3/4 cup condensed reduced fat, reduced sodium cream of mushroom soup
½ cup fat-free milk
3 tbsp sherry
½ tsp salt
¼ tsp pepper
1 tbsp parmesan cheese
Salt and pepper to season
1 tsp olive oil

Cook spaghetti according to package; drain and set aside. Heat a large nonstick skillet coated with cooking spray over high heat. Add 1 tsp olive oil, then cook chicken seasoned with salt and pepper. Remove from heat, then add mushrooms and sauté 4 minutes or until tender. Add soup and next 4 ingredients; reduce heat to medium and simmer 5 minutes or until thickened. Add spaghetti, chicken and parmesan. Stir for 1-2 minutes then serve.

Nutritional Information: 513 calories, 57 carbs, 9 fat grams and 45 protein grams.

Review: Talk about comfort food my friends – loved it. Perfect for a lazy Sunday afternoon (i.e. I would never eat this if I thought for 2 seconds I had to go anywhere else that day!)

Cream of Mushroom Breakfast Bake

Adapted from Real Mom Kitchen

Cream of Mushroom Breakfast Bake

Makes 6 Servings

1 package Jimmy Dean Reduced Fat Sausage
1/3 cup chopped onion
½ cup fat-free grated cheddar cheese
½ cup 75% fat free cabot cheese
10 eggs, lightly beaten
1 tbsp milk
1 can (10-3/4 ounces) fat-free condensed cream of mushroom soup
Tony’s creole seasoning to taste

In a large skillet, cook sausage and onion over medium heat until meat is no longer pink; drain. Transfer to a greased 13-in. x 9-in. baking dish. Sprinkle with cheese. Combine eggs and soup; pour over cheese. Sprinkle with tony’s creole seasoning. Bake, uncovered, at 400° for 30-35 minutes or until a knife inserted near the center comes out clean. Let stand for 5 minutes before cutting.

Nutritional Information: 312 calories, 8 carbs, 19 fat grams and 25 carbs.

Review: Super good and flavorful! I liked how it was eggy, but also creamy due to the soup. I couldn’t taste the cheese very much but think I would have noticed if it wasn’t there. Next time I may add a bit more creole seasoning (and to the eggs rather than on top) – but that’s it – this is a keeper!