Salsa Chicken - Freezer to Crock Pot (Repost)

This is a repost of the most popular recipe from this blog, so far.  Please forgive the reposting, as I am still sick, not feeling well, and my blog posts are lagging.

This is another easy and yummy freezer to crock pot meal.  Salsa Chicken can be made many different ways by substituting or adjusting the ingredients.  Once finished, it has a taste that resembles chicken chili and is a great meal for cold, blustery nights. 
This recipe makes one 5 quart crock pot full.  Here's the recipe:

Salsa Chicken

3, 4, or 5 boneless skinless chicken breasts (however many work for your family)

1 15 oz. can of black beans, drained

1 15 oz can of kidney beans, drained

1 15 oz can of corn, drained 

1 can Ro-Tel tomatoes or any brand tomatoes with green chiles

1 small jar of salsa of your choice (around 15 oz.; size varies by brand)

1 packet taco seasoning 

When ready to serve add:  Cheese, tortillas, lettuce, tomatoes, and sour cream. 

Place ingredients in a 1 gallon zippered bag and freeze.  When ready to cook, place frozen chunk in crock and cook on low for 8 hours or high 6 hours.  Serve in bowls with cheese and tortilla chips, or scoop into tortillas and add cheese, lettuce, tomatoes, and sour cream.

(Note:  The photo above is midway through the cooking process.  It thickens up as it cooks further.)  

Freezer to Crock Pot - Pork Green Chili

We love spicy food.  This recipe for pork green chili fits the bill.  It is not a heavy chili but is very flavorful and uses broth and other spices to create interesting and satisfying flavors.  

This works well in the crock pot  and can be cooked straight from the freezer.  It also works equally well when made stove top.  Serve it with tortillas or spoon it over rice.  Top with a dollop of sour cream, and you'll be in heaven. 

Pork Green Chili

2 Tablespoons olive oil or cooking oil

3 lbs. pork, cut into medallions (I used pork tenderloins)

Ground black pepper

1 large onion, chopped

2 minced garlic cloves

2 green (bell) peppers, chopped

2  (4 oz.) cans green chiles, chopped

1 teaspoon oregano

½ teaspoon ground cumin

¾ teaspoon salt

2 Tablespoons dried cilantro (If using fresh cilantro, increase to ½ cup).

1 teaspoon vinegar

1 cup chicken broth (or 1 cup water and 1 chicken bouillon cube)

Lightly brown meat in oil over medium heat.  Lightly pepper meat and place in the bottom of a 1 gallon zippered freezer bag.  Add remaining ingredients.  Squeeze air out, seal, and massage ingredients to distribute. 

When ready to cook, place in crock pot and cook on high for 6 hours or low for approximately 8 hours.  Serve with rice, tortillas, and sour cream. 

Stovetop version:  Lightly brown meat in oil over medium heat.  Add onion, garlic, and peppers and saute until onions are translucent.  Add remaining ingredients.  Bring to a boil, cover, and simmer 1-1/2 hours. Stir periodically and check liquid level.  Add water as needed.  

Chili Redux - Frito Chili Pie

Hungry?  Have stuff that you need to use up in your fridge?  This is a great example of how to do that.  It's called Frito Chili Pie.  I'm sure my local friends are groaning and saying, "Really?  You're using that as a recipe of sorts?"  Well, yes.  Because I realize not everyone knows how to make this awesome stuff.  Technically, it might also be classified as what we call broke food, but sometimes broke food is the best.  (Broke food:  Anything that is yummy, filling, sometimes made from weird ingredients, and will feed you until payday.) 

I made a pot of crock pot chili a couple of days ago.  Now there's a little bit left, and we're tired of just eating straight bowls of chili.  This is our way of changing things up while still using the leftover chili.  I'll also have some things for substitutions/additions below.  

Traditional Frito Chili Pie 

A handful of crushed Frito's corn chips*

About 3/4 to 1 cup prepared chili

Shredded cheese 

Diced onions 

Additions and substitutions:   

Crumbled tortilla chips instead of Fritos 

Sour cream

Sliced black or green olives

Shredded lettuce and diced tomatoes or your little bit of leftover salad 

Wrap it all in a tortilla, and cover with salsa 

*If you want a real tailgate party, ballgame concession stand Frito chili pie, then you get an individual-size bag of Fritos (those tiny ones you get in the mlutipacks), crush the Fritos inside, slit it open lengthways, and dump your chili fixings in.  Eat straight out of the bag with a plastic spoon while wrapped in a fleece throw, sitting at a football game.

Enjoy!!

Michelle's Freezer to Crock Pot Chili

I dearly love a hot bowl of chili on a cold night.  While it's not been all that cold lately, it's been cool enough that I've just wanted something hot and spicy for a meal.

I've made this chili numerous ways.  I'm posting this recipe not because it's anything special but instead to talk about making freezer-to-crock pot items and to also talk about substitutions.

For crock pot meals, I make recipes based on a 5 quart crock pot. 

Michelle's Chili 

1 to 1.5 pounds ground beef, browned, drained, and rinsed*

1 to 2 14.5 oz. cans of kidney beans drained and rinsed**

1 to 2 packets of chili seasoning (enough to season 2 pounds ground beef)***

1 15 oz. can tomato sauce

1to 2 15 oz. cans diced tomatoes with green chiles (we like hot, but adjust to your taste)****

1 4 oz can diced green chiles (optional; this makes it very hot)

Brown the ground beef until there is no pink, drain, and rinse thoroughly to remove fat.  To freeze, place ground beef and remaining ingredients into a bowl and stir thoroughly to combine.  Spoon into a 1 gallon Ziploc freezer bag.  Squeeze all air out, seal, and place in freezer.

For crock pot chili, remove frozen chili from freezer.  Run hot water over exterior of bag in order to loosen enough to remove the block from the bag.  Place in crock pot and cover.  Cook on high 2-3 hours or low for 6-8 hours.

If you wish to just cook this in a pot, then return ground beef to pot and add remaining ingredients.  Simmer on low for about 30 minutes.  Add water as needed to keep chili from burning or becoming too thick. 


*This is up to you, but I recommend draining and rinsing the meat, even if it is extra lean.  Because you may be putting this in a crock pot, more fat will cook out in the process, and if you do not drain and rinse it thoroughly, you might find your chili with a little too much grease floating on the top.

** Substitution alert:  Substitute any canned cooked bean you like such as pinto, black, or even navy beans. Just make sure the beans are drained and rinsed.  I say 1-2 cans because some beans are bulkier than others.  Put one can in, eyeball the chili, and then decide if you want another can of beans. We like 2 but less is OK.  Any bean will work, and you might find an interesting combination that you like even better than the original recipe.  Different types of beans also make the dish more visually appealing.

***I use Williams Chili Seasoning, but it may be a regional thing that is not available to you.  The Williams Original Chili seasoning is made to season 2 pounds of ground beef.  Use whatever you like, just make sure it seasons 2 pounds of beef. My pet peeve is to find a great recipe but it contains some obscure ingredient that makes cooking not worth it.

****I use Ro-Tel tomatoes, but again this might be regional.  You can use any brand that is canned with chopped green chiles.  As a substitute, you can use one can of diced tomatoes in juice, 1 tsp. onion flakes, and about 1 tablespoon canned diced green chiles.