Crock Pot Tacos

It's been a long time since I last posted.  Life has been busy.  Work is stressful, and it's hard to make dinner when I come home.  I've been getting by on lots and lots of takeout.  I also never feel like blogging after sitting in front of a computer screen all day.

It's my day off and dinner is in the crock pot, so I thought I'd write about it.

1 pkg chicken breasts
1/2 jar Salsa of your choice.  I used Salsa Verde when I made a similar version of this recipe.  Today I used Newman's Own regular red salsa
juice of one lime
handful of cilantro
Spices (I used cumin,  onion powder, chili powder, and a chili garlic salt)

It's been in the crock pot all day on low and smells terrific!

Crock Pot Cilantro Lime Chicken

I made another crock pot meal tonight!

I started by using this recipe and adding some of my own flair.  Instead of regular salsa, I used salsa verde.  In place of a packet of taco seasoning, I made my own seasoning blend: cumin, chili powder, turmeric, salt, pepper, cayenne pepper, and a southwest seasoning blend.  I like the one by Pampered Chef.  It has red pepper flakes, onion powder and garlic salt.

cook on high for 4 hours.

It makes a great fajita filling or you could just have it as is.  I served it with spanish rice (I like the one by Knorr's), roasted broccoli.  (Prepared the same way as the Roasted Asparagus) and Lime flavored tortilla chips.

Guacamole

2 avocados, peeled and pitted
1 recipe Pico De Gallo
a few dashes hot sauce.  (My favorite is Cholula)

hotshotshotsauce.com

Mash the avocado and stir in the pico de gallo until well incorporated.  Add a few dashes of hot sauce and stir.

simplyrecipes.com

Pico de Gallo

When recipes call for garlic,  I almost always use Spice World's Minced Garlic because I'm too lazy to peel and chop fresh garlic.

hannaford.com

(Also, I'd like to point out that when I searched for a picture of this garlic, most of the results were Spice Girls-related.)

In this particular recipe (another one that I made up as I went along) I like to use the real thing.  It takes more time, but I think it tastes better in this recipe)

1 plum tomato

1/2 onion

1-2 sprigs cilantro

1 clove garlic

1 tbsp. lime juice

1 pinch salt

homesicktexan.blogspot.com

Baked Mexican Dip

You Will Need:

8 oz cream cheese at room temperature
approximately 1/2 jar salsa
a few handfuls of shredded mexican blend cheese
8 x8 baking pan (I love the one-time use ones with lids, found in the baking section of most grocery stores)

1. Preheat oven to 350
2. Spread cream cheese to cover the bottom of the pan
3. pour salsa over the cream cheese
4. cover salsa layer with shredded cheese
5. Bake for 20 minutes or until cheese is melted
6. Serve with tortilla chips (or any other dipper of your choice) and enjoy!