Pizza Chicken

Rating: 5 stars

Cost: less than $10

Comments: Holy cow. This. Is. Amazing. I had planned on making a pizza dip this past weekend but never got around to it, so I ended up trying this pizza chicken recipe instead and man was it tasty! It truly gave us the feeling that we were eating a yummy pizza, but obviously much healthier! I also recommend sprinkling some parmesan cheese on it right as you're serving. YUM!

Ingredients:
4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
1/2 tsp salt
1/8 tsp pepper
1 tsp dry Italian dressing
3 cloves minced garlic
2 green pepper, diced
1 onion, diced (I didn't feel like chopping an onion so I used a can of sliced olives instead)
1 14oz. jar pizza sauce
2 oz. sliced pepperoni (I used turkey pepperoni for a healthier option)
1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese (I used low fat)

Directions:
Sprinkle chicken with salt, pepper and Italian seasoning and place in a 4-5 quart crock pot. Top with onions, garlic, and bell peppers and pour pasta or pizza sauce over all. Top with pepperoni. Cover crockpot and cook on low 4-6 hours until chicken is thoroughly cooked.

Stir well, then sprinkle with cheese and let stand 5 minutes to melt cheese. Serve over hot cooked pasta or rice, or do as we did and eat as a stand alone dish.

Cream Cheese Chicken

Rating: 4 stars

Cost: less than $10

Comments: From what I understand, this is a very popular and traditional recipe that's been around for quite a while. I hear it's wonderful over pasta, but I also think it would be awesome scooped onto some garlic bread. We had it as a stand alone since I'm not a huge fan of pasta, but I was kind of wishing for something "bread-y" with it to soak up all the yummy cream sauce. Next time I'll be sure to pop in some rolls to have on the side!

Ingredients:
4-6 boneless skinless chicken breast halves
1 packet Italian salad dressing mix
1 can cream of something soup (I used reduced fat cream of mushroom)
1/2 cup chicken broth
1 8oz. package of cream cheese (I used reduced fat)

Directions:
Place chicken breasts in crock pot. Sprinkle with Italian salad dressing mix. Pour soup and broth over top and let cook for 6 hours on low, or until chicken is cooked through. Shred chicken using two forks. Place cream cheese on top and let cook on high for another half an hour. Serve over pasta or as a stand alone.

Super Easy Chilli

Rating: 5 stars

Cost: less than $15

Comments: This is my hubby's recipe and I love it! Great for football season and cold winter days. I'm not a fan of spicy so this is a very mild chilli but it's delicious and really healthy too. Great with some shredded cheese on top and some tostitos scoops!

Ingredients:
1 lb. lean ground turkey (I get the 98% fat free)
2 cans diced tomatoes (I use the kind with basil & oregano already added)
2 green peppers
1 red pepper
1/2 onion
1 package sliced mushrooms
1 packet chilli seasoning (I use mild, but go with medium or spicy if you like it hot!)

Directions:
Dice the peppers and onion. Brown the ground turkey in a pan over medium heat. Drain off liquid and put in crock pot. Sprinkle the chilli seasoning over top. Pour the diced tomatoes over the seasoned turkey. Add in the diced peppers, onions, and mushrooms. Cook on low for 6-8 hours or on high for 4-5 hours.

Cheesy Chicken & Bacon

Rating: 3 stars

Cost: less than $15

Comments: I found this recipe online and saved it right away. We LOVE bacon (who doesn't?) so when I saw this I knew I had to try it. I had really high hopes for this recipe and while it was super good it was way too salty for us. I will definitely attempt this again but I think next time I'll use low sodium teriyaki sauce and less bacon (I used turkey bacon this time... maybe next time I'll try regular low sodium bacon).

Ingredients:

2 T olive oil

4-6 chicken breast halves

12 pieces cooked and crumbled bacon (I used turkey bacon)
1/4 cup teriyaki sauce

1/2 cup Ranch salad dressing (I used fat free)

1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

Directions:
Put the olive oil into the bottom of the crock pot and spread it around. Lay the chicken on top. In a small bowl combine the teriyaki and ranch dressing. Pour sauce over the chicken. Add shredded cheese and crumbled bacon, make sure to get in between the chicken as well. Cook on low for 4-5 hours.

Teriyaki Chicken

Rating: 5 stars (if I could give it more I would!)

Cost: less than $10

Comments: I found this recipe online and was very skeptical, but tried it anyway. I love teriyaki chicken but the "mixture" seemed a little wacky to me. Go figure, it worked and was AMAZING! My hubby's favorite recipe so far, he couldn't stop gushing over it. Side note- I'm not one to waste my sugar intake on dinner (I save that for dessert!) but seriously, this is sooo worth it.

Ingredients:
4-6 boneless skinless chicken breasts (I used 8 chicken tenderloins instead)
1/2 cup soy sauce
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1 1/2 TBSP red wine vinegar
2 TBSP oil (olive is better)

Directions:
Place chicken in crockpot. In a small bowl combine all other ingredients and stir together. Pour over chicken and cook on low for 6-8 hours or on high for 5 hours. Serve over rice.

Red Wine Pork Tenderloin

Rating: 5 stars

Approximate Cost: $15 or less

Comments: This recipe was given to me by my mother-in-law, and its to die for! If I could give it more than 5 stars I would! Just a few simple ingredients tossed into the pot and poof a great family meal!

Ingredients:
1 pork tenderloin
1 envelope Lipton Dry Onion Soup Mix
1.5 cups water
1 cup red wine
3 tbs minced garlic (I think this is a bit much, so I use 1.5 tbs)
3 tbs soy sauce

Directions: Place pork tenderloin in crock-pot. Sprinkle soup mix on top of pork. In a separate bowl mix water, wine, garlic, and soy sauce. Pour mixture over pork. Turn to coat. Cook on low for 4.5-6.5 hours.

Chicken with Peppers (not crock!)

Rating: 4 stars

Cost: less than $10

Comments: Growing up I watched my mom grab random ingredients from the pantry, put them together, and out came something yummy. I was always too scared to attempt cooking without a recipe until recently. I hadn't gone food shopping in a while so I scoured the pantry and fridge only to find a can of cream of mushroom soup and a pepper. I decided to be adventurous and it actually worked! It made for a quick, super easy, very yummy meal.

Ingredients:
4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
1 can reduced fat cream of mushroom soup
1 green pepper
salt & pepper to taste

Directions:
Heat oven to 350 degrees. Place the chicken in a baking dish and sprinkle with a little salt & pepper. Pour the cream of mushroom soup over the chicken. Slice the pepper in to strips and lay on top and surrounding the chicken. Bake for 40 minutes or until chicken is cooked through.

Nacho Chicken and Rice Wraps

Rating: 4 stars

Approximate Cost: $10 or less

Comments: I found this easy recipe online and it quickly became a family favorite. I was very nervous about putting rice in the crock-pot but it turned out fine! Goes great with a side of chips and salsa!

Ingredients:
1 can Campbell's condensed cheddar cheese soup
1/2 cup water
1 cup salsa
1/2 cup uncooked white rice (I use Uncle Ben's)
2 boneless skinless chicken breasts
2 flour tortillas (I use the 10 inch tortillas)

Directions:
Place chicken breast in crock-pot. In separate bowl, mix soup, water, salsa, and rice. Pour mixture over chicken. Cook on low for 4.5-6.5 hours (or until chicken is cooked through). Shred chicken. Fill tortilla with chicken and rice mixture.

Super Easy Pulled Pork

Rating: 5 stars

Approximate Cost: less than $10 (depending on the size of the tenderloin)

Comments: Got this super easy, two ingredient recipe from my mom. It's so simple and so delicious... it literally takes less than 2 min prep time and it's a huge hit with everyone who tries it. Great on it's own or serve on some whole wheat rolls. It definitely makes a lot so be prepared to be eating this for a couple days... it makes for super yummy leftovers.

Ingredients:
Pork tenderloin (the unseasoned kind)
Honey BBQ sauce (i've also tried this with a brown sugar bbq sauce and it was equally good!)

Directions:
Put the pork tenderloin in the crock pot. Pour the bbq sauce over the tenderloin until it's completely covered. Cook on low for 6-8 hrs. Pork will naturally start to pull apart on its own, but if you want to help it along take 2 forks and gently pull it apart at about 5.5 to 6 hrs. in.

Crispy BBQ Chicken

Rating: 5 stars

Approximate Cost: Less than $10

Comments: I found this recipe right on the back of the Shake n' Bake box. This is a super easy recipe that takes less than 10 minutes to prepare and 20 minutes to cook! I served it with sweet potatoes and corn.

Ingredients:
1/2 cup BBQ sauce
1 packet of Shake n' Bake Extra Crispy Mix
4 boneless skinless chicken breast halves (I used 6 boneless skinless tenderloins instead)

Directions:
Heat oven to 400 degrees. Place BBQ sauce in bowl and the Shake n' Bake mixture in a separate shallow dish. Dip chicken in BBQ sauce and then dip in Shake n' Bake mix, turning to coat both sides. Bake in a foil-lined pan for 20 minutes or until chicken is done.

Mushroom Chicken in Sour Cream Sauce

Rating: 5 stars

Approximate Cost: less than $25 (the white wine was the added cost, but replace with a cheaper wine or chicken broth for a much more cost effective option)

Comments: This was a little higher on the difficulty scale due to all the spices involved to create the chicken rub, but overall it really only took less than 5 min. prep time... it just seems like a lot of ingredients compared to some of the other recipes, but it was actually very easy and really yummy. I served it over some quick instant roasted garlic mashed potatoes and it made for a great meal. Hubby LOVED it!

Ingredients:
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
1/4 tsp lemon pepper
1/2 tsp paprika
1 tsp garlic powder
4 boneless chicken breasts
1 can reduced fat cream of mushroom soup
1 8oz. container reduced fat sour cream
1/2 cup dry white wine (I used Riesling) or chicken broth
1/2 lb. fresh mushrooms, sliced

Directions:
Mix salt, black pepper, lemon pepper, paprika, and garlic powder. Rub the mixture on the chicken and place in the crock pot. Combine cream of mushroom soup, sour cream, and white wine. Mix together and add mushrooms. Pour mixture over chicken and cook on low for 6-8 hours or on high for 5 hours. Serve over mashed potatoes, spaghetti, or couscous.

Black Bean Chicken

Rating: 5 stars

Approximate Cost: less than $10

Comments: I found this recipe online as I was trying to figure out an idea of how to get rid of some of the black beans we had in our pantry. I was a little skeptical about mixing black beans and cream cheese, but it was phenomenal and I will definitely make this again! It was also good the next day with some tostito scoops.

Ingredients:
4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
1 cup salsa
1 can of black beans
1 can of corn
1 8oz. package of reduced fat cream cheese

Directions:
Put the chicken, salsa, black beans, and corn in the crock pot and cook on high for 5 hours. With a half hour remaining, add the cream cheese (just plop it on top and break it up with your spoon a bit) and let that cook for the remaining half hour. Stir all the ingredients together and serve.