Slow Cooker Chicken Fajitas

As you may know, chicken fajitas are one of my favorite foods. They are also the food which made me realize that any food made with chicken, peppers, and onions is probably delicious (as long as it's kept simple). Now that have a slow cooker (and the added benefit of someone being at home to tend to the slow cooker when needed), I've decided to find new recipes so I can use the thing. One of the first recipes I found to try was for a "mexican style chicken" which I modified to be more like fajitas!

I found this recipe during a random Google search. While not exactly fajitas, they are amazingly delicious (and they also seem healthy!). I'll include instructions for cilantro lime rice at the end since I can't have fajitas without rice. I like to use fresh veggies when cooking, but you can skip the first few steps if you buy them frozen. I do all the prep work for this the night before and place everything in the freezer or fridge. All of the ingredients in this recipe can be adjusted to taste.

As a final note, this reheats extremely well.

Slow Cooker Chicken Fajitas (cook time: 7-8 hours on low)
1 lb of chicken, frozen
1 to 2 C bell peppers, sliced and frozen
1/2 of a white onion, sliced and frozen
4.5 oz can of chopped green chilies
14 oz can of diced tomatoes
1 C chicken broth
1 to 2 T taco seasoning

Clean and slice up the bell peppers. I suggest getting a mix of colors.

Clean and slice up the white onion.

Place the peppers and onions in a freezer bag and place in the freezer.

(One day I might use fresh tomatoes and chilies, but for now I buy them in a can.)

Spray the inside of the slow cooker insert with cooking spray. Pour in the chicken broth, tomatoes, chilies, and taco seasoning.

Stir up the contents, put the lid on the insert, and place it in the refrigerator overnight.

8-ish hours before you plan to eat, assemble the slow cooker. Add the frozen chicken, peppers, and onions. Stir the contents and turn the slow cooker on low.

After 6 or 7 hours (whenever the chicken is fully cooked), pull apart the chicken with a fork. You want the chicken to be shredded, not in chunks. (No pictures of this since I'm not the one who does it!)

Stir up the contents and let it cook for another hour.

Warm up some tortillas and scoop the chicken onto the tortillas. Enjoy!
(Note: The final product is a bit soupy, so you may want to strain the chicken before placing it on your tortillas. Or just eat it with a fork, like I do.)


I like to have this chicken with cilantro lime rice, so here is a recipe for that:

Cilantro lime rice
1 C water
1/2 C rice
1/4 lime
1 t cilantro (or to taste)
salt (to taste)

(Optional) Sauté the uncooked rice in oil over medium heat until lightly brown.
Add the water, heat until boiling.
Reduce heat to a low simmer. Cook for 15-20 minutes (until tender and water is evaporated).
Remove from heat, fluff the rice with a fork.
Add the juice of the lime, the cilantro, and salt. Stir.

Chicken Stuffed Dumplings

I found a version of this recipe several years ago. I've since modified it so that it suits my tastes better. This is one of my favorite recipes when I want something that is warm and very filling. I always double the recipe because it reheats very well. It makes a good dinner and lunch for the following day!

The preparation for this recipe is somewhat time consuming and I recommend using a mini chopper for the celery and chicken. I think the effort is worth it, but if you are in a hurry, this most likely will not be the recipe for you. I use canned chicken broth that has no msg and is low in sodium. I don't have many choices for the cream of chicken and mushroom, unfortunately. The soups make this recipe somewhat salty, so I advise against adding any salt.

Chicken Stuffed Dumplings (Printable PDF Version)
1 can chicken broth (12 or 14.5 oz. It doesn't matter)
1 can cream of chicken and mushroom soup
1 medium sized chicken breast
Onion (to taste)
1 T oil (olive or vegetable)
1 T celery, chopped
1/2 t parsley
1 C flour
1 T baking powder
1 t sugar
1 T shortening
6-8 T water

Pour the contents of the cans of soup into a pot and start to heat it up on a low heat. This will need to simmer later, but I've had best results slowly warming it from the start since cream of chicken and mushroom is very thick compared to the broth. Remember to stir it occasionally.

Chop up your onion. I like white onions and I used maybe 1/5 of an onion for this. (Note: I add half of the onions to the soup mixture and half to the chicken. How you distribute it is up to you!)

Cut the chicken into small pieces while the pan heats up. Pour the oil in, add the onions and chicken. Cook until the chicken is done. Once the chicken is cooked, let it cool for a few minutes.

Meanwhile...

Chop up the celery. A tablespoon of celery (post chopping) is approximately half a stalk of celery. Having a bit more isn't going to hurt the recipe.

In a bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder, and sugar. Cut the shortening in with a fork. This amount of shortening isn't enough to make the flour crumbly, cutting it in just distributes it better than mixing it in with the water.

Slowly mix in the water until you have a soft dough that isn't too sticky. Sometimes I have to use more water, sometimes I have to use less. I fill a glass with water and add tablespoons of water at a time to the flour mixture. Set this aside for the moment.

When your chicken has cooled to a nice warm temperature, place it into the chopper and chop it into chicken crumbles.

In another bowl, mix together to chicken crumbles, celery, and parsley. At this point, turn up the temperature of the soups and bring it to a simmer.

Take a small chunk of the dough and flatten it with your hands. Place a scoop of chicken crumbles onto the center of the flattened piece of dough.

Close the dough into a bundle by wrapping and pinching the sides together. You can take the dough, roll it out, and cut it into pieces if you want.

The amount of chicken filled dumplings you will have depends on how big you make them. Mine always vary in size, which is fine. If you have any extra chicken crumbles, add them to the soup mixture.

Place all of the dumplings into the simmering soup mixture. Simmer the dumplings for 15-20 minutes. Stir this occasionally and carefully. I usually end up with at least one dumpling that opens up.

I suggest making mashed potatoes while the dumplings cook. The soup gravy goes very well with garlic and cheese mashed potatoes, if that interests you.

The dumplings will plump up while cooking. When they are finished cooking, let everything cool for 5 to 10 minutes before serving.

Enjoy!

Barb's Shepard's Pie

This is a recipe that I mostly made up a few years ago and I now consider it to be my version of shepard's pie. I've never had actual shepard's pie, but I've read recipes for it. From what I can tell I added an ingredient or two and flipped it upside down.

It doesn't look too amazing, but it is very good. Most ingredients are added "to taste". I'm not positive how much I usually add of those so I'll just estimate. Feel free to adjust it to your tastes! I also make this in the easiest ways possible, which means I use instant potatoes for the mashed potatoes and Bisquick for the biscuits! The order of making the layers will vary depending on how you make the potatoes and biscuits. This also reheats very well so be sure to refrigerate any leftovers.

Barb's Shepard's Pie

1/4 onion, chopped
1 lb ground beef
Salt & Pepper to taste
4 cups mashed potatoes
1/2 T garlic powder
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 T Worcestershire sauce
1 lb bag of frozen diced veggies (I recommend a bag with carrots, corn, and peas)
8 biscuits

Chop the onion and preheat the oven to 425 degrees.

Brown the meat with the onion, salt, and pepper.

Make your mashed potatoes. Stir in the garlic powder. Adding cheese to the mashed potatoes is also delicious!

Start baking your biscuits. You want to only cook them halfway. If you skip this step, the final baking step will take a very long time and the bottom of the biscuits will remain gooey.

Once the meat is browned, stir in the cream of mushroom soup and Worcestershire sauce.

Also add the frozen veggies and warm them in the meat mixture. This helps reduce the baking time.

In a 13" x 9" baking dish or pan, spread the mashed potatoes into a nice and even layer.

Next spread all of the veggie and meat mixture on top of the potatoes.

By this time the biscuits should be half baked, so place those on top of the meat and veggies.

Bake this in the oven for at least 15 minutes or until it starts to bubble.

Enjoy!