CrockPot Creamy Italian Chicken

My sweet friend Leslie gave me this recipe a few months back and it quickly became one of our favorites. This simple meal is hearty and delicious! We also love it because while it tastes very rich and creamy, it is really low in fat!

CrockPot Creamy Italian Chicken

4-5 boneless skinless chicken breasts
1 package Good Seasonings dry Italian seasoning
8 oz cream cheese
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 can milk (use empty soup can)

Salt and pepper to taste

Place chicken in crock pot (I always just throw the chicken in frozen and it turns out great!)

Sprinkle with Italain seasoning.

Cube cream cheese over chicken.

Add soup and milk.

Cook on high in CrockPot for 5 hours.

Serve the chicken over white rice. Enjoy!!

BBQ Chicken Pizza

Last night, Patrick declared this "THE GREATEST PIZZA ON EARTH!"

That's a lot to live up to, people! So much pressure! ;)

But seriously, this pizza was absolutely delicious! The best part is, he left this morning for the weekend so the leftovers are ALL MINE! Hehe!

BBQ Chicken Pizza

1 package of pizza dough (I used Trader Joe's fat free garlic and herb pizza dough.)

2 chicken breasts, cubed

1 tablespoon sesame oil

3/4 cup bbq sauce (I used my homemade bbq sauce. Love it!)

2/3 cup pizza sauce

16 ounces mozzarella cheese (I used low fat cheese)

1/2 red onion, chopped

Italian seasoning

Red pepper flakes

Fresh cracked black pepper

Marinate cubed chicken in 1/4 cup bbq sauce for at least 30 minutes.

Spread pizza dough over lightly greased cookie sheet or place onto a pizza stone.

If you like crunchy pizza, bake dough for about 3 minutes without anything on it.

In a frying pan, heat the oil and then saute chicken until cooked through. Throw the onions in at the last minute to cook just a little. You can use any ol' oil you want for this, but I'm a big fan of the sesame oil.

Mix 1/2 cup of BBQ sauce and 2/3 cup of pizza sauce in a bowl. Spread over warm pizza dough.

Spread cheese over the sauce.

Add chicken and onion.

Sprinkle with italian seasoning, red pepper flakes and fresh black pepper as desired.

Bake until cheese is melted and dough is cooked through.

Now I'm starving! Off to heat up the leftovers! :)

Low Fat Chicken Tequila Fettucini

I found a recipe for California Pizza Kitchen's Chicken Tequila Fettucini stuffed away in my recipe box a few days ago and I almost threw it out when I saw that it called for butter and heavy cream. It just sounded way too fatty for us, since we typically try to eat only low fat foods. But, I decided to make it anyway and see if I could modify it to be a low fat recipe. Success! This was packed with flavor and spice!

Low Fat Chicken Tequila Fettucini

1 16 ounce package of dry spinach fettucini

1/3 cup chopped cilantro (I cheated and used frozen cilantro cubes)

2 tablespoons garlic, minced

2 jalapenos, minced (you can use less jalapeno and remove the seeds to cut down on spice)

3 tablespoons Can't Believe It's Not Butter Fat Free Spread

approximately 1 1/2 cup unsalted chicken stock

approximately 1/3 cup tequila

approximately 1/3 cup lime juice

3 tablespoons soy sauce

1 pound chicken breasts, cubed

1/2 red onion

1 red bell pepper, sliced

1 green bell pepper, sliced

1 yellow bell pepper, sliced

1/4 cup asiago cheese

In a small bowl, mix chicken, soy sauce, 3 tablespoons tequila and 3 tablespoons lime juice. Marinate in the fridge for about an hour.

Saute 2 tablespoons butter, cilantro, garlic and jalapeno for about 5 minutes. I included the seeds from one, for extra spice.

Add chicken stock, remaining tequila, and remaining lime juice. Add additional stock, tequila, and lime juice as you see fit. I added more of each because I wanted more sauce.

Bring mixture to boil and thicken sauce for about 5 minutes.

In another pan, saute onions, peppers and 1 tablespoon of butter until cooked through, but be sure to not overcook them. A little crunch in the peppers is really nice in this recipe.

Add chicken and marinade, mix well.

Add sauce from other pan, bring to a gentle boil until chicken is cooked through.

Add asiago cheese and stir until well blended.

Prepare pasta as directed.

Add pasta to the chicken and veggie mixture.

Squeeze some fresh lime juice in at the last minute, for a little more flavor.

Isn't the green pasta fun?

Serve and top with your favorite cheese. I used asiago, again.

Whew! This stuff was spicy, just like we like it! I've never had the CPK version of this dish, so I can't really compare my recipe to theirs, but this was definitely delicious without the fatty butter and heavy cream! I want to try this recipe again soon and add some more veggies. Maybe some artichoke hearts? Any other suggestions?

Laurel's CrockPot Chicken with Garbanzo Beans

Since I created this blog, my sweet friends have sent me a bunch of delicious recipes to try out! I started with Laurel's middle eastern chicken recipe, since I was intrigued by the idea of middle eastern food in the CrockPot. Thanks so much for this great recipe, Laurel!

Laurel's CrockPot Chicken with Garbanzo Beans

1/4 cup olive oil

4 cloves garlic, pressed

1 tablespoon smoked paprika

1 teaspoon ground cumin

1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes

3 large chicken breasts

2 cans garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed

3 small zucchini, quartered lenghtwise and sliced into 1/2" slices

1 12 oz container cherry tomatoes

1 cup chopped cilantro

Plain yogurt - two 12 oz. containers (I used fat free yogurt)

Mix olive oil, garlic, paprika, cumin, and red pepper flakes.

Coat chicken with oil mixture and throw in crock pot.

Add remaining ingredients plus any additional marinade.

Cook on high for 4 hours or on low for 6 hours.

I love how the paprika gave this dish a beautiful red color.

I served this with sun-dried tomato couscous, some plain yogurt to cut down the spice and I fried up some falafel.

Laurel said she typically doubles everything, especially the marinade, so I might try that when I make this again. This time I followed the recipe exactly and it was great! Try it, you'll like it! :)