My sister just moved into her very own apartment! No more roommates. No more college lifestyle. She’s a grown woman now!
I’m super excited for her and maybe a little excited for myself that I get to help her decorate the place to make it her own :)
I’ve already scored her a free loveseat that coordinates perfectly with her existing couch! Not that I’m bragging.
Except that I am :)
Anywho…now that she’s on her own with her very own kitchen, she’s feeling more inspired to cook for herself. No more chips and dip dinners for my little sis.
She has a crockpot now and she’s ready to break it in!
In honor of her new kitchen appliance, I’ve decided to post a short series of slow cooker recipes to get her started.
Well, also to get her to read my blog ;)
This one captured my eye because of the gorgeous photo that Beth over at Budget Bytes posted with the recipe. I’m not going to show it here because I don’t want to put my lame photo to shame, but you should totally go check it out along with the original recipe.
Andy LOVES Mexican food and requests some variety of it each week when I ask for meal ideas, so I figured this dish would be a hit.
Also, my friend Diana is a crock pot queen and uses hers many nights each week to reduce dinner prep stress allowing her more time to write. As much as I love cooking, there are definitely days that I wish I didn’t have to do anything but open the lid of the crockpot and fill up my bowl!
Favorite things about this meal:
1. Throw everything in and forget about it for 8 hours
2. Relatively healthy (especially served with brown rice – or quinoa!- and moderate cheese)
3. MEXICAN
Slow Cooker Taco Chicken Bowls
I adapted the original Budget Bytes recipe slightly because we love beans :)
- 1.5 lbs. chicken breasts (you could use less or more depending on the size of the package you buy)
- 1 (16 oz.) jar salsa
- 2 (15 oz.) cans black beans, drained
- 12 oz. frozen corn
- 1 Tbsp chili powder
- 2 tsp cumin
- 3 cloves minced garlic
- ½ tsp dried oregano
- cracked pepper to taste (and salt if you're not a salt nazi like me)
- 2 cups dry rice (or quinoa!)
- 8 oz. shredded cheddar
- ½ bunch cilantro or green onions (optional)
- sour cream and salsa for topping
- Add everything except the rice, cheese, cilantro and/or onions and toppings to the slow cooker along with ½ cup of water (to make sure things stay moist). Give everything a good stir and make sure the chicken is covered in the mixture. You can even throw rock-hard, frozen-solid chicken in and it will be just fine!
- Secure the lid on your slow cooker and cook on low for 8 hrs.
- Near the end of the cooking time, or when you get home from work, cook the two cups of rice (or quinoa!) according to the package directions.
- After 8 hours of cooking, remove the lid of the slow cooker. Take two forks and shred the chicken (it should be super tender and will shred easily). Build the taco bowls by placing rice on the bottom, then the taco chicken mix, shredded cheese and fresh cilantro, green onions, sour cream and salsa!
- Enjoy!
I made this tonight and it was a hit! I made spanish rice and mixed it in the crockpot after I shredded the chicken. The kids ate theirs on tortillas and the grown ups in bowls. Thank you for such a great recipe!
Sounds delicious! I’m so glad you enjoyed the recipe :)
Bec, I can so make this! Thank you for this post, the recipes, the crockpot, the decorating help, the loveseat and just being the most grounded & bestest sister in the world. I don’t deserve it, and I don’t measure up.
OH YUM!! And since I SO need guidance in my slow cooker talents, I’m adding this in!
Yum that looks great I am going to try it soon!!!
I make this all the time! Even Aaron loves it and he is not a big fan of mexican food. :)