Crock Pot Freezer Meals Part 3

Here are a few more of my favorite crock pot freezer meals (click here for Part 1 and Part 2)

QUINOA CHILI

In crock pot or zip lock:
- 1 (28 oz) can crushed tomatoes
- 1 can rotel
- 4 (16 oz) cans black beans
- 16 oz frozen corn
- 1 large bell pepper, seeded and chopped
- 1 large onion, diced
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder (can use fresh minced)
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- 1 teaspoon crushed red pepper
- 1 teaspoon chili powder
- OPTIONAL: 2 large chicken breasts

(I eyeball the spices and adjust to the taste buds of my family)

Day of cooking:
- 1 cup quinoa, rinsed
- 2 1/2 to 3 cups chicken broth

Cook time: 6 to 8 hours LOW

(if used chicken, shred it before serving)

Serving suggestion: cheese, sour cream, favorite chili toppings.


BLACK BEAN AND CHICKEN TACOS

In crock pot or zip lock:

-  1 lb skinless chicken tenders or breasts
- 1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
- 1 can rotel
- 1 teaspoon chili powder
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/2 teaspoon oregano

Cook time: 4 to 8 hours LOW

Serving suggestions: Shred chicken and serve with corn taco shells and favorite taco toppings and/or slaw.

For slaw:
- 1 1/3 cups shredded red cabbage
- OPTIONAL: 1 red onion thinly sliced
- 1 teaspoon red wine vinegar or lime juice
- salt and pepper to taste


KOREAN BEEF TACOS

In crock pot or zip lock:
- 10 cloves garlic, minced
- OPTIONAL: 3 inches of fresh ginger, peeled and minced
- 1 1/2 cup soy sauce
- 1 cup + 6 tablespoons brown sugar
- 3/4 cup rice vinegar (also called rice wine vinegar)
- 4 tablespoons sesame oil
- 2 teaspoons red pepper flakes

Mix well then add:
- 6 pounds beef

Cook time: 6 to 10 hours LOW  (remove sauce and thicken on stove.  Replace sauce to serve)

Serving suggestion: soft corn or flour tortillas, sour cream, and slaw (also good if you fry the soft corn tortillas)

For slaw:
- 4 teaspoons rice vinegar
- 2 teaspoon sugar
- couple pinches of salt
- - pinch red pepper flakes
-2 teaspoons sesame oil
- 2 teaspoons lime juice
- OPTIONAL: 1 handful of cilantro, chopped
- OPTIONAL: 1 teaspoon fresh ginger, finely minced
- 1/2 onion, thinly sliced
- 2 large carrots, peeled and shredded
- 1/2 head cabbage, thinly sliced
- 1/4 cup toasted sesame seeds

To toast sesame seeds, heat a small pan over medium heat.  Add the sesame seeds and stir for about 4 minutes, until golden brown and aromatic.  Remove immediately and set aside.  In a small bowl, mix vinegar, sugar, and salt.  Add onions, mix and let stand about 15 minutes.  Combine remaining ingredients, reserving sesame seeds until just before serving.  Can be made a few hours ahead and kept in fridge, sans sesame seeds.

Buffalo Boneless Tacos

I saw this recipe on Pinterest and had to try it !  I'm so glad we did ! They were delicious !  

We didn't follow her recipe exactly though.  Here's how we made ours ...

2 chicken breasts, skinless, boneless, cut into small pieces
whole wheat flour ... to coat the chicken
olive oil
1/2 cup hot sauce (I used Franks)
1 Tablespoon butter

For serving ...
shredded lettuce, I used mesculin as I have it in the garden at the moment.
1/4 of a red onion, diced and mixed with fresh coriander
2 tomatoes, chopped
1 avocado, chopped
ranch dressing or sour cream
spring onions, sliced thinly
shredded tasty cheese
flour tortillas


Coat chicken pieces with flour and cook in a frying pan with a bit of olive oil. 

While the chicken is cooking, chop, dice or shred all your other bits and pieces to serve ...

Once chicken is cooked, toss in mixture of butter and hot sauce.

All that is left to do is assemble ... and eat !! 

Chicken Taco Salad a la Bon-Chan

I wanted to make taco salad but taco beef often gives me indigestion. Not fun. So ... I wanted to try it with chicken. I love chicken soft tacos from taco bell. Gasp. I don't know that I could eat one now, knowing what I know about fast food, but I do love that flavor. Well, I don't need to anymore because this chicken totally did it for me. I don't know that it's a taco bell replica but it doesn't need to be because it was delicious and totally filled that taco bell spot.

The salad itself was really simple. I made individual plates (and made lunches straight into tupperware containers at the same time) for each of us !

chopped lettuce leaves
a spoonful of black beans
sliced avocado
sour cream
a chunk of lime
corn chips
simple homemade salsa
chicken

for the salsa
chopped tomatoes
chopped cilantro (coriander leaves)
finely diced red onion
crushed garlic
lime juice
salt and pepper

mix the above to taste

for the chicken
300g chicken ( I'll do more next time )
1/2 Tablespoon paprika
1/2 Tablespoon cumin
1/2 Tablespoon garlic powder
1/2 Tablespoon onion flakes
1/2 Tablespoon sea salt

mix spices.
add to chicken when frying in olive oil.
i didn't use all of the spice mix ... saved about 1/2 for next time !

Other things I might also add to the salad but didn't this time ...
black olives
grated cheddar cheese
cilantro lime rice

The Fish Taco Verdict

A week ago, I'd never had a fish taco.
I've now made them TWICE !

I've gotta tell ya, I'm glad my parents made me eat whatever they put in front of my face and that I grew into a person who will try just about anything. I draw the line at brains and things still alive. BUT ... had I not grown up all over the world, eating new foods and discovering many culinary delights, I may not have tried this. I mean, seriously, fish AND taco ?? Together ?? Nah. BUT ... I did try it and I love it !!! My cousin Jill invented this recipe and I'm so glad she did ! My whole family is. The kids love this ... although, Alia prefers her in a bowl with the tortilla on the side, and we make the kid's batter a bit less spicy than ours ...

Here's take one ... last Sunday night.
I made the batter and I did not do a good job of it.
It was watery.
As well, I forgot to dip the fish in the flour before the batter.
Sometimes I get so excited, I forget to read the recipe thoroughly !
It was still delicious ...

But tonight ...

Uh, yeah, Sunday night again ...maybe a tradition is starting (??)
we made them again only this time Rory did the batter.

And he did a better batter.

He didn't forget the flour.

And it was even more delicious !!

If you haven't tried these, you should ... I'm serious.

Don't let the fish and the taco scare you off.

PS ... the recipe looks complicated, but it isn't ... as long as you don't get too excited !!

Jill's Fish Tacos

It's only fair to warn you that this is an original recipe and all the amounts are my best guesstimate. I hardly ever measure anything unless I'm baking. But I trust that everyone reading this recipe is already a competent cook and will forgive me!

Although the idea of fish in a taco is weird, stay with me, these are amazing blow-your-hair-back yummy!

Ingredients:

Fish – I used Dover Sole, but any mild flaky white fish will work

Corn Tortillas

¼ cup flour

½ tsp baking powder

Pinch salt

½ tsp chili powder

Water

Flour for dredging

Oil for frying

Marinade:

¼ cup lime juice

1 T water

Pinch salt

1 tsp sugar

1 tsp chili powder

For the sauce:

½ cup mayonnaise (real mayo, no miracle whip of nastiness)

¼ cup half and half or cream

1 clove garlic*

1-2 Serrano chilies, seeded

Salt and pepper to taste

Cilantro Lime Rice:

1 cup short grain rice

1½ cups water

1-2 T fresh cilantro, chopped fine

2-3 T Lime juice

Salt

Step 1:

Cook rice and water on high until it begins to boil, then turn it down to low heat and cook for 20 minutes or until water is absorbed and rice is tender. Add cilantro, lime juice, and salt.

Step 2:

Cut fish into taco-sized pieces, about 1 ½” x 2 ½” (thin pieces work best). Mix marinade ingredients and add the fish pieces. Let stand.

Step 3:

Put all the sauce ingredients into a blender and blend until smooth. If desired, you can add some parsley or cilantro to the sauce. Put in fridge.

Step 4:

In shallow bowl, mix flour, baking powder, salt, and chili powder. Add water until a thick batter forms.

If you have a deep fryer, skip to step 6.

Step 5:

Heat about 2” of oil in a skillet. Put on a jacket.

Step 6:

Dredge the fish pieces in flour, coat liberally with batter and deep fry until golden. (It is okay if your fish does not get completely opaque, if your pieces are thin enough, the lime juice will have already cooked them) Drain on a paper towel.

Step 7:

In a dry skillet or griddle, heat tortillas for about 30 each side. The tortillas MUST be heated or they will crumble in a most untoward fashion.

Step 8:

Lay fish on a bed of the rice on a tortilla, top with sauce. Try not to gobble.

* usually when recipes say 1 clove garlic I put in 3-7, but in this case, I really really mean ONE clove.

Tasty Lentil Tacos

I got this recipe HERE.
(I've made a few modifications though so I'll post the modified recipe here)

Ingredients:
1 cup finely chopped onion
1 garlic clove, minced ( I used 3 cloves and I finely diced rather than minced)
1 teaspoon canola oil (I used olive)
1 cup dried lentils, rinsed
1 tablespoon chili powder (I didn't use this much since the kids were eating it too !)
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 teaspoon dried oregano
2 & 1/2 cups chicken broth
1 cup salsa
12 taco shells
1 & 1/2 cups shredded lettuce
1 cup chopped fresh tomato
1 & 1/2 cups shredded reduced-fat Cheddar cheese
6 tablespoons fat free sour cream

optional extras :
1 avocado, mashed
mild green peppers and extra onion - saute
flour tortillas

Directions:

1. In a large nonstick skillet, saute the onion and garlic in oil until tender. Add the lentils, chili powder, cumin and oregano; cook and stir for 1 minute. Add broth; bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 25-30 minutes or until the lentils are tender. Uncover; cook for 6-8 minutes or until mixture is thickened. Mash lentils slightly. ( I didn't mash - oops !! ) Stir in salsa.

2. While the lentils are cooking ... towards the end, sautee the green pepper and onion, if using.

3. Serve with lettuce, tomato, sour cream, avocado, cheese, pepper/onion mixture in either taco shells or flour tortillas.

We all liked these.
No, the lentils are not the same as ground beef ... but they are a suitable substitute.

~~~~

Want to see where I got the lovely onions and green peppers for this meal ??
From our garden !!! I picked them today and I'm so excited about it, I just had to share !


Here's what they looked like all cooked up ! Yum !!!
They were really really good !!