Crockpot Chicken Tortilla Soup

ok, so this soup is inspired by my cold....i love soup when I am sick and I am hoping the extra spice will clear me up. I looked at a bunch of recipes to come up with this one...and the best is if you are sick it can cook all day while you lay around on the couch. I am posting now bc people indicated interest, I have not made this yet and will add pictures later. ***USE CROCKPOT LINERS...U WILL THANK ME LATER...ALMOST NO CLEAN UP!*
 Karen's Crockpot Chicken Tortilla Soup
 1 Tbsp olive oil
 2-3 cloves garlic, minced
1 Jalepeno, chopped (optional, but highly recommended)
 1 (14.5 oz can) black beans, rinsed and drained
 1 (14.5 oz can) small white beans, rinsed and drained
1 C of frozen white corn kernels
 2 cans (14.5 oz) Rotel diced tomatoes with green chilis
 1 packet mild taco seasoning mixabout a tsp of Adobo
2 cans low sodium chicken broth (there is a lot of sodium in the taco seasoning)
3 boneless, skinless thin cut chicken breasts
 juice of a lime
 2 Tbsp fresh cilantro (optional)
 cornstarch slurry (1 tsp cornstarch and 1 Tbsp dry sherry, chicken broth or white wine, mix and add at the end)
1/2 C sour cream (optional)
 Garnishes: Tortilla strips (can find in salad dressing aisle near croutons), shredded cheese, avocado

Saute garlic and jalepeno over medium heat for 1-2 minutes. Place crockpot liner in crock, and put in beans, corn, jalepeno/garlic mixture, diced tomatoes, chicken broth, taco seasoning and adobo. Mix well and add chicken breasts. Cover and cook on low for 5 hours (6 hours if you use regular skinless, boneless chicken breasts instead of thin cut) or high for 3-4 hours. When chicken is cooked through, remove and shred with two forks. Put chicken back in soup, squeeze lime juice in and add cilantro and mix. **I thought the soup was a little thin so I mixed 1 tsp cornstarch and 1 Tbsp dry sherry and put the crock on the keep warm setting for an hour to thicken...can use chicken broth or white wine instead of dry sherry, but the liquid has to be cold when you mix or it wont work). *****today I used a roux (equal parts flour and butter and then add some chicken broth and add and whisk into soup) Shut off crockpot and stir in sour cream. Serve with optional tortilla strips, shredded cheese, avocado.

Crockpot Bruchetta-Feta Chicken

This is a recipe that I made up, it was semi inspired by salsa chicken in a crockpot. This comes out so moist! I ended up using chicken tenders and it came out fine too. I also started using crockpot liners which are a godsend!

Crockpot Bruchetta-Feta Chicken

2 boneless skinless chicken breasts

approx 2 C prepared Bruchetta (I used Costco's Hannah Brand)

A couple of glugs of white wine

Sliced feta cheese ( slice as thin as you can from the block of feta) enough to cover the top of the bruchetta.

Place chicken in bottom of crock and season with a little salt and pepper. Spoon bruchetta topping over chicken, using enough to cover it. Pour a couple of glugs of white wine (or approx 1/2 c) over it and cook on high for 3 hours. A half hour before the dish is done, place sliced feta on top of bruchetta and continue cooking. The bruchetta makes a great sauce with the wine and oil, etc. This would be great over pasta.

Crockpot Mushroom Chicken

I made this last night for dinner and it was so great! I got the original recipe from a great website called: http://www.my-crockpot-recipes.com/ but I modified it a bit (I never follow a recipe). Those modifications are in bold. The only thing I would do differently next time is use an extra pkg of mushrooms. I served it with roasted sweet potatoes and steamed green beans.

Mushroom Chicken in a Crockpot

1 lb boneless skinless chicken breasts (I used 2 large chix breasts and they equaled about 1lb total)

1 pkg chicken gravy mix (the powdered kind)

1 C White Wine (I used dry sherry, and used half to saute the mushrooms and 1/2 in the crock)

1 can cream of mushroom soup (I used cream of chicken)

8 oz cream cheese (I used 6 oz of low fat cream cheese)

1 pkg sliced mushrooms (use two!!!)

1-2 cloves garlic

1 T EVOO

garlic powder and onion powder (your pref--I used a couple of shakes of each)

Saute garlic 1 min in EVOO and add mushrooms and saute another minute, add 1/2 C dry sherry and salt and pepper and cook until there is very little liquid left. In the meantime, place chicken breasts in the bottom of crock and season with salt and pepper, onion and garlic powder and sprinkle dry gravy mix over chicken breasts (I only used about 1/2 the pkg), turn heat off of mushroom mixture and add can of cream of chicken soup and 1/2 c dry sherry and whisk until combined. Pour over chicken and set crock on high for 3 hours. In the last 1/2 hour add cream cheese, cubed and recover and cook for remainder. When done check the chicken for doneness and remove from crock. Whisk sauce together and serve over chicken.

Pulled Pork in the Crockpot

I made the rootbeer pulled pork---it was a hit with my husband---Im not a pork fan, but it was really easy. I made some minor adjustments with amount of root beer, here is the recipe. Too many blogs to credit.

Root Beer Pulled Pork

2 (20oz) bottles of Root Beer

1 lb Pork Loin

1 bottle your fave bbq sauce

Place the pork loin in the crockpot and pour the rootbeer over it. Cook for about 6 hours on low. Take pork loin out of crock and shred with two forks. drain crockpot and clean out---then put pork back in and pour bbq sauce over top and cook another 1 1/2 hours on low. I put it on hamburger buns and served with coleslaw.