Crock Pot Creamy Italian Chicken

I have always loved to cook with my slow cooker. I definitely did not complain when I received 2 crock-pots as wedding gifts almost 8 years ago. Over time I have learned new ways to use my slow cooker. Often times people think that you can only make soups, stews, or roasts in you slow cooker. There are endless possibilities to that little electric operated pot. If you can cook it in your oven- you can "crock it" in your slow cooker! (You see what I did there?) This is evident with this meal- Creamy Italian chicken. This recipe involves one more step to finish; however, it is still super easy and delicious.

Ingredients:
1-2 lbs of chicken breast (i used tenderloins)
1 stick of buuter (melted)
1 pack of dry italian seasoning
1 can of cream of mushroom
1 8oz pack of cream cheese

Mmmm.... This is gonna be GOOD!!!

Directions:
Mix the italian dressing and melted butter together, pour over the chicken and throw it in the freezer. Like all the freezer recipes, label your bag and lay it flat in the freezer. The night before you will lay it out to defrost. Put it in your slow cooker on low for 6 hours (or high 3-4 hours). 30 minutes before you are ready to eat, you will need to mix the cream cheese and cream of mushroom together and pour it over your chicken.

Even better as leftovers

Along with our creamy italian chicken, we had chicken flavored rice and asparagus. My main squeeze ended up taking some of the leftovers to work the next day and said it tasted even better. This meal will definitely be in the menu rotation per his request. Hope you enjoy the meal and make sure to check out my previous post that include a menu with grocery list. Happy Crockin'!

2 week slow cooker menu and grocery list

Recipe name

Number of servings

Serves  people

Ingredients	Calories	Carbs	Fat	Protein	Sodium	Sugar
Tyson (Sams Club - 100% All Natural Breaded Chicken Breast Tenderloins (Uncooked), 16 oz	840	60	36	72	2,280	12
Aldi's- Chef's Cupboard - Cream of Chicken Condensed Soup (10.5 oz Can), 1 container (1 3/10 cup (123g) ea.)	275	20	18	8	2,175	0
Stonemill Essentials - Aldi - Italian Salad Dressing and Recipe Mix, 1 envelope	40	8	0	0	2,560	8
Blue Bonnett (Correct From Package) - Butter Spread, 4 Tbsp (14g)	240	0	24	0	500	0
Aldi - Fit & Active - Light Cream Cheese, 1 container (8 oz ea.)	560	16	48	16	880	8
Add Ingredient

Total:	1,955	104	126	96	8,395	28
Per Serving:	326	17	21	16	1399	5

Crock Pot Cubed Steak with Mushroom Gravy

Who wants some good comfort food? Wednesday when I got home from work, man was I ready to eat! The kid goes to church with my mom on Wednesday nights, so the better half and I get a mid-week date night- which means we end up eating dinner and watching Tuesday night's episodes of Brooklyn 99 and New Girl (i can sense your jealousy!) This particular "date night" included cubed steak with mushroom gravy, mashed potatoes, and steamed broccoli.

The Ingredients: Serves 6-8
6-8 cubed steak
2 cans of cream of mushroom
1 pack of onion soup mix

Now, remember, on Sunday I made all my freezer meals for the week. For this meal you will place your cubed steak, canned cream of mushroom and onion soup mix in the freezer bag. I took the freezer bag out Tuesday night to defrost, and put it in the crock pot on Wednesday morning.

Cook on low for 6-8 hours, or high 3-4

Just add a pinch of this and a dash of that...

When I told the spouse that this meal included gravy, he changed the menu up and said that we had to have mashed potatoes instead of the planned rice. In the past, I would have NEVER made instant potatoes. Then one day I realized that it was a lot easier and they usually only cost $1 per pack at the store, and the don't grow creepy potato eyes on them. Not only do I make the lazy equivalent of mashed potatoes, I also cook them in the microwave. So, while my potato flakes were gaining a new form, I cut some broccoli up and steamed it over boiling water. Add a little salt and pepper to the taters and broccoli and your meal is complete. 

I think i saw my husband lick his plate

 Too bad after dinner, I got a little motion sick while watching the bobsledders on the winter Olympics. Otherwise, it was a successful mini-date night! Hope you enjoy the recipe!

Ingredients	Calories	Carbs	Fat	Protein	Sodium	Sugar
Aldi - Chef's Cupboard Cream of Mushroom Condensed Soup, 2 container (1 3/10 cups ea.)	500	50	30	5	4,350	5
Cattlemen's Ranch (Aldi - Cubed Steak, 1 container (16 ounces ea.)	960	0	72	168	1,960	0
Chef's Cupboard (Aldi - Onion Soup Mix, 1 container (8 tbsp ea.)	160	32	0	8	4,880	0
Add Ingredient

Total:	1,620	82	102	181	11,190	5
Per Serving:	270	14	17	30	1865	1

Slow Cooker Stuffed Shells

I think Mondays and Thursdays are the days that I am most thankful for my slow cooker. Don't get me wrong, I love my job, but it's still a job. So when I got home and my yummy stuffed shells were already cooked and waiting, I sure was happy. This is probably the most basic/ lazy recipe and it can be modified several ways.
Slow Cooker Stuffed Shells serves:8
Ingredients:
2 bags of frozen stuffed shells (Aldi $1.99 each)- frozen Ravioli works well too!
1 jar of you favorite Spaghetti Sauce (Hunts $1 each)
1 lbs of ground beef/ turkey (optional if you prefer vegetarian option)

Now all you have to do is... wait for it... wait for it... dump it all in a freezer bag and label it.
Like I said before, the ground meat is optional; however, this is not an option in my home seeing as my husband doesn't feel satisfied with a meal lacking in protein (#carnivoreproblems). Just be sure to cook the meat prior to adding it to the freezer bag.

All you have to do is defrost the bag (in the fridge the night before), and then put it in your crock pot- and move on with your life. You have two options, cook it on low for 4-6 hours or high for 2-3 hours. Since the meat is already cooked it really doesn't take too long to cook.

Let me just walk you through my evening. I got home at 5:30 pm, changed into my sweats, put 1/2 loaf of garlic bread under the broiler (Aldi brand $1.40 something) and started a load of clothes, yelled for my husband to check the garlic bread, plated our food, and we were all sitting as a family eating by 5:45 pm. By 6:10 pm I was getting beat by a 5 year old at checkers and then we proceeded to play pokemon battles. (I like to say pokeman, because it really irritates my son... it's the small things!)

You can always add more spaghetti sauce if you want it a little more saucy

Shut your face! This looks delicious!!!

I roughly spent $9.55 for all the ingredients. The hubs and I are now sitting on the couch, teetering carbohydrate comas, watching last nights episode of True Detective. Oh and I'm not cooking tomorrow because we have enough leftovers for one more night!

Ingredients	Calories	Carbs	Fat	Protein	Sodium	Sugar
Aldi Priano Stuffed Shells - Stuffed Shells, 2 shells	170	21	5	11	560	2
Aldi's Reggano - Mushroom Spagetti Sauce, 1 container (2 1/2 cups ea.)	350	70	8	10	2,400	45
Beef - Ground, 85% lean meat / 15% fat, patty, cooked, broiled (hamburger), 2 serving ( 3 oz )	425	0	26	44	122	0
Add Ingredient

Total:	945	91	39	65	3,082	47
Per Serving:	236	23	10	16	771	12