Hot chicken queso dip

Ingredients:

1 block (32 oz) of velveeta cheese.

1 package (8 oz) of cream cheese.

1 can (10 oz) of rotel.

1 can (10.75 oz) cream of chicken soup

1 pound of shredded chicken

2 Tbsp hot sauce

¼ cup salsa

In a crock pot, pour the cream cheese and add in the velveeta cheese after you cut it into cubes. Stir in all ingredients and cook on low for an hour.

**You can substitute the chicken for ground beef or sausage and the cream of chicken with cream of mushroom.

This was ooey gooey cheesy goodness.  Personally, next time I would add a little more hot sauce or use hot instead of mild rotel but I like things spicy.  

Crockpot cheesy chicken & rice

Guest blog by Kristin O’Meara

Ingredients:

1 (8 oz) box Zatarain’s yellow rice, cooked according to package

4 boneless chicken breasts

2 cups shredded cheddar cheese

1 medium onion, chopped

1 (10.5 oz) can cream of chicken soup

1 (15 oz) can of corn, drained

2 cups chicken stock

Place chicken in crockpot and season with salt and pepper.  Sprinkle with chopped onions.  Mix together chicken broth and cream of chicken soup.  Pour over chicken.  Cover and cook on low for 7-8 hours (or 4 hours on high). 

Before serving, shred the chicken with 2 forks.  Add in cooked rice, shredded cheese and corn.  Mix well until cheese is melted and serve. 

Easy to make warm meal for winter.  And who doesn’t like chicken and cheesy goodness?  This was great plain and I also tried with chips.  I bet it would be good on a bun too, like a sandwich.  

Ritz Chicken Casserole

Review by Lyndee:

5 cups chicken breast, cooked and cubed

1 cup sour cream or room temperature Greek yogurt

2 cans cream of chicken soup

2 cups Ritz crackers, crushed

1/2 cup melted butter

Optional- poppy seeds, garlic powder, other seasonings, to taste, shredded cheese

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Season chicken and cook. You can boil or bake it. I baked it the night before for 30 minutes at 350.  Cool slightly then cut into 1 in. cubes. Place cubes in a greased 9 x 13 casserole dish. Stir together cream of chicken and sour cream/yogurt. Stir in any other desired seasonings. Pour over chicken.  In a bowl stir crackers, butter (and poppy seeds, if using). Sprinkle over casserole. I added some shredded Colby jack cheese on the top as well.  Bake 30 minutes, until browned and bubbly. Serve. 

This was creamy and warm.  Perfect for a cold fall evening in Iowa. The flavor was great and the crushed crackers added a fun texture.  Super easy to put together.  I will definitely make this again. 

The Ultimate Crockpot Cheesy Hashbrown Casserole

Review by Lyndee:

Warning…these are not healthy but they will win your heart and belly.

It was one of those days I was ill prepared to take a dish to share to a friend’s BBQ.  It was one of those days I didn’t feel like cooking.  So I looked through the fridge and the freezer and came up with this twist on tradition hashbrown casserole and it was mind boggling.  We went through the majority of this huge batch at the party with only 10 people and the rest warmed up perfectly the next day for lunch.  

Ingredients:

1 (10 3/4 oz) can cream of chicken soup

1 c. sour cream

1/4 cup bacon french onion sour cream from Anderson Erickson (or a squeeze of a bacon ranch dressing)

1/2 cup diced velveeta (or a 1 inch thick slice)

1/4 c. butter, melted

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp pepper

1/4 onion powder

1/4 garlic powder

1 (32 oz) frozen shredded hash brown potatoes

2 c. sharp cheddar cheese

1/2 c. crushed Ritz crackers

Instructions

In a large saucepan, melt cream of chicken soup, sour creams, butter and velveeta.  Add hash browns to crock pot.  Cover with melted sauce.  Add 2 cups of shredded cheese to the top.  Sprinkle with crushed crackers.  Cover and cook for 4-5 hours on low or until potatoes are tender.  Spoon and enjoy! 

Crockpot Italian chicken

Review by Lyndee:

Ingredients:

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

1 block cream cheese

2 cans cream of chicken

1 packet Italian seasoning

Salt & pepper to taste

Combine all ingredients in the crockpot.  Cook on low for four hours.  Serve over pasta or rice. 

It doesn’t get much easier than this recipe.  I love the dump it in the crockpot and go method.  And this was delicious! I added a sprinkle of garlic and some parmesan cheese over egg noodles and I’ve been eating it for lunch all week.  Yum! 

Fiesta chicken

Review by Lyndee:

Ingredients:

2 cups grilled chicken breast (or 2 cans of chicken breast chunks)

2 cups medium shell pasta (cooked)

2 cups cheddar/jack shredded cheese

1 can cream of chicken soup

1 can Rotel

½ cup milk

1 can diced chilies (optional)

Preheat oven to 350.  Mix all ingredients except cheese.  Pour into a 9x13 pan, cover with cheese and bake at 350 for 20 minutes. 

My oven was full of other things when I was making this so I decided to just do it as a stove top recipe.  I halved the shredded cheese and used some velveeta to make it creamy.  I opted not to use the diced chilies and I’m glad I did.  This has some good kick to it with just the rotel.  Mine was a bit soupy but it was really good.  This is super easy to make via skillet or baking, I’m sure.  Kid and husband friendly quick recipe for dinner.