Easy Ranch Chicken

I was so happy to find this recipe because it was so simple and easy that I felt there was no way I could screw it up. It only called for 4 ingredients! So I put slices of my half onion on the bottom of the crock, then the chicken on top, and finally poured my packet of Ranch dressing over it. Then I poured water over and underneath the chicken to keep it moist. I put the lid on and left the house. When I came back 5 hours later, it looked and smelled fabulous. 

Only a few ingredients! So easy to make!

I served it with some left over rice and made a quick salad and paired that with a glad of Chardonnay and had myself a tasty lil dinner. My only criticism of this recipe is that although I loved the flavor of the chicken, it wasn't really "Ranchy" meaning, it didn't taste like ranch seasoning had been put on it, it just seemed like well seasoned chicken. And I was looking forward to a more Ranchy flavor. 

But that aside, it was still really tasty and the overall rating for this dish is: GOOD!

Chicken, long grain white rice and salad. Good dinner, I'd say!

All the ingredients in the crock!

3 Cheese Tortellini w/ Sausage Marinara Sauce

 I was VERY excited about trying this recipe because I got to use my new toy!!! My Food Chopper!! Haha I never thought I'd understand why men love their power tools but ever since I got my electric mixer and my food chopper I TOTALLY understand where dudes are coming from hahaha.

Anyways, This recipe was extremely cheap, extremely easy and extremely delicious. This photo to the right shows all of the ingredients that I need. I think the most expensive thing was the tortellini.
This was very simple, just putting the diced tomatoes, pasta sauce and seasonings in to the crock and mixing them. I cooked it in there with the browned turkey sausage+onion combo. I think it was in the crock for 5 hours on low. Then I added the tortellini and cooked it on high for 45 minutes. When I plated it, I sprinkled parmasean cheese on top and it looked, smelled and tasted ridiculously good. This was another one of those times where I actually laughed out loud because I couldn't believe that I had made something so good! haha

Healthier choices are important! 

 I cried like a baby a I cut the onion into one inch chunks but once I got them in the food chopper it was great!! Now I can't believe that I ever lived without one. So the rating for the food and the utensils used to make it is a good one. Overall this recipe was DELISH!!!

Mexican Beef and Beans

I was feeling very under the weather today and didn't want to have to cook anything at all. But, since it's Monday AND there's no school, I wanted to take advantage of my time and make more food so that I'd have all my lunches for the week. I kept searching and searching for recipes but every recipe I found kept calling for 1 or 2 ingredients that I didn't have and didn't have a substitute for. But eventually I came across this recipe and even though it called for something I didn't have, I was just like "eehhh screw it. I'm using black beans."

What you need:

6 corn (or flour) tortillas, in pieces

1 can (15 ounces) Ranch style beans or pinto beans--I used black beans bc it's all I had!

1 can cream of mushroom soup

1 can cream of chicken soup

1 can Rotel tomatoes (with juice)--Screw name brands, I used Winn Dixie brand tomoatoes with diced green chilies

1 lb. ground beef or turkey, browned with chili powder and garlic powder to taste, then drained

8 oz. Velveeta cheese, cubed or shredded

Add all ingredients to crock pot in the order given above. Cook on LOW for 3-4 hours. Serve with salad.

I'm going to serve mine over tortilla chips and salad, kind of like a snazzy way to top taco salad I guess. This could also be a dip, I think, because it's got a lot of meat in it but it's still kind of a weird consistency  It smelled...interesting while it was cooking lol. Kinda like farts(hey, just bein' honest).

It tasted really good and made a TON OF FOOD. I had it many different ways: as a dip for chips, as the topping for taco salad, as the filling for soft tacos... it was yummy any way I served it.
Rating for this dish: DELISH!