Creamy White Chicken Chili
a la Mel's Kitchen Cafe

1 T oil
1 lb boneless, skinless chicken breasts cut into 1/2 inch pieces (leave whole for crock pot method)
1/2 c chopped onion
1 1/2 t garlic powder, or 2 cloves fresh garlic, finely minced
2 cans (15.5 ounces each) Great Northern beans =, or cannellini beans, rinsed and drained
1 3/4 c chicken broth (14.5 oz can) 
2 cans (4 oz each) chopped green chilis
1 t salt
1 t ground cumin
1 t dried oregano
1/2 t pepper
1/4 t cayenne pepper
1 c sour cream
1/2 c heavy cream
fresh cilantro, for garnish
shredded cheese, tortilla chips, other toppings

Stovetop: in 4-5 quart pot, heat the oil over medium heat. add the chicken, onion, and garlic. Cook, stirring occasionally for 1-2 minutes, until the onion starts to soften (it's ok if the chicken isn't completely cooked) 
Add the beans, broth, chilis, and spices. Bring the mixture to a simmer and cook, uncovered, for 15-30 minutes. Remove from heat, stir in sour cream and cream. Garnish with toppings. 

For Crock Pot: Place chicken in whole, adding onions, garlic, beans, chilis and spices. Reduce the chicken broth to 1 1/2 c and add to slow cooker. Cook on low for 5-7 hours. 
Shred or cut up chicken. Mix together cream and sour cream in a separate bowl, and add to crock pot. Garnish to serve. 

Cowboy Bacon Beans
a la the Pioneer Woman

4 cups dry pinto beans
1 pound thick-cut bacon, cut into pieces
2 whole green bell peppers, diced
1 whole onion, diced
1 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup ketchup
2 tablespoons mustard
1 tablespoon chili powder, optional
2 teaspoons salt, more to taste
2 teaspoons black pepper, more to taste
4 cloves garlic, minced

Rinse the beans under cold water, sorting out any rocks/particles. Set aside.

In a heavy pot (cast iron), saute the bacon pieces until halfway cooked and the fat is rendered. Add the green peppers and onions to the pot and cook until starting to get brown, about 3 minutes. Add the beans and cover with water by 1 inch. Bring to a boil, and then add the brown sugar, ketchup, mustard, chili powder, salt, pepper and garlic. Reduce the heat to a simmer, place on the lid and cook until the beans are tender and the liquid is thick 3 to 4 hours.

chef's note: i did this the quick way, and used canned pinto beans. the flavors were great! i also only used half of the brown sugar- it was plenty sweet for me, especially with the ketchup

Frozen Beef Enchiladas
a la the Sister's Cafe

1 eye of round roast
1-2 cans Red Enchilada sauce
1 1/2 c shredded cheese
1 can diced green chilis
about 15 tortillas
1 additional can enchilada sauce and cheese

Leave roast in Crock Pot all day with a cup of water or broth, and shred. Add sauce, cheese and chilis to meat. Roll in tortillas and place in gallon ziplock bag(s).

Defrost, and place in 9x13 pan. Pour 1 can sauce over the top and sprinkle with cheese. Bake 350 for 35-40 minutes.

Chef's note: this made plenty for 2 servings. Divide and put in 2 bags.

Crock Pot Minestrone Soup
a la Mom

1/2 onion, chopped
1 c carrots, chopped
1 celery stalk chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 (28oz) can diced tomatoes
1 (15oz) can white beans, drained and rinsed (cannellini or navy)
3 c fat free chicken broth
1 oz chunk of good Parmesan cheese rind
1 fresh rosemary sprig
2 bay leaves
2 T chopped fresh basil
1/4 c chopped fresh Italian parsley leaves
salt and fresh pepper
1 med zucchini, chopped
2 c chopped fresh or frozen (defrosted) spinach
2 c cooked small pasta like ditalini or elbows (al dente)
extra Parmesan cheese to top

Rinse and drain beans. Puree beans with 1 cup of the broth in a blender.
In a crock pot, combine broth, tomatoes, pureed beans, carrots, celery, onion, garlic, herbs, cheese rind, salt and pepper. Cover and cook on low for 6-8 hours. Forty minutes before soup is done cooking, add zucchini and spinach. Cover and cook 30 minutes more. Add cooked pasta, cook 10 minutes more. Remove bay leaves, rosemary sprig, parmesan cheese rind, and season to taste with salt and pepper.

Crock Pot Pork
a la Barbara Wright

2 lbs pork tenderloin
2 c salsa
2 c brown sugar

Toss it all in crock pot on low for 6 hours. Shred and serve over rice, or in tortillas.

Butternut Squash Soup for the Crock Pot
a la Wendybird

1 medium onion, chopped
2 T butter
2 lbs butternut squash, peeled and cubed.
2 c water
4 cubes chicken bouillon
1/2 t marjoram
1/4 t black pepper
1/4 t red or cayenne pepper
1 package cream cheese, softened

Saute onions in butter until soft. mix all ingredients in crock pot, except cream cheese. cover an cook on low until squash is tender. puree in batches and return to pot. add cubed cream cheese. cover and cook 30 minutes more, then whisk in cream.

note: wendy usually doubles this, but doesn't double the cream cheese, maybe only 1 1/2 bricks. and you have to use the FULL FAT cheese since the lowfat will curdle and not blend well.

Spinach Artichoke Dip
a la Janelle

1 box frozen chopped spinach (I made the mistake once of not getting the chopped kind and it was BAD!)
1 box cream cheese, 8 oz I think, cubed
1 can green chilies, don't drain
1 can artichoke hearts, drained and chopped
1/4 c mayo
1/4 c parmesan cheese
1/2 c grated mozzarella cheese, or more based on your cheesiness
1-2 cloves garlic, pressed
dash cayan pepper
dash salt and pepper
shake of dried basil leaves

Turn on oven to 350. Get a good size pan on the stove and first put in the spinach to loosen it up and get it thawing.... medium heat. I throw in the cream cheese too to get that melting process going too. After 5 minutes of stirring it around periodically, I throw the rest of the stuff in. Stir it around a bit to combine ingredients. Put the mixture in a serving dish that can go in the oven, 9x9, 9x13 or an oval glass one... whatever.
You can top with some mozzarella if you want. Bake about 20 minutes, or until bubbling. I'm sure you can do the whole thing in a crock pot too...??
Serve with artisan bread, thinly sliced, fancy crackers, tortilla chips, or celery sticks perhaps.

Cafe Rio Pork

1 large pork roast
1 bottle honey BBQ sauce
1 T honey
1 liter coca cola

Crock pot on low all night. In the morning, take the pot roast out, leaving the juice. Shred the roast. Place shredded meat back into crockpot and leave on low temp until serving.

Cafe Rio Chicken

5 lbs. chicken breast, skinless
1 small bottle Zesty Italian Dressing
1 T chili powder
1 T cumin
3 cloves garlic, minced

Crockpot for 5-7 hours

Creamy Crock Pot Chicken
a la Wendy Kempton

4 frozen chicken breasts
1/2 onion, chopped
1 package ranch dressing mix, or Italian
1 can cream of chicken soup, or any cream soup flavor
1 package cream cheese, cubed

All chicken, onion, ranch mix and cream soup to crock pot. Cook 5-6 hours on low, or 3 hours on high. In the last 20 minutes, add cream cheese chunks to the top until melted. Stir up all together. (I cut the chicken pieces in to bite size chunks) Serve over rice or pasta, or as is.

Picante Chicken
a la Janelle

4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
16 oz jar of salsa
3 T brown sugar
1 T mustard
Place chicken in shallow baking dish. In a small bowl, combine salsa, brown sugar and mustard. Pour over chicken. Bake uncovered at 400 for 30-35 minutes or until chicken juices run clear.
Yields: 4 serving. Serve over rice.
You could do this in the crock pot, I bet.

Chalupa
a la Erin

1 pork roast
1 lb. pinto beans, about 3-4 cups
2 cloves garlic
2 T. chili powder (jer's family swears by gephardts, but I think any brand is fine)
1 T cumin
1 T oregano
1 can green chilis, diced

Put it all in a Crock Pot and fill to the top of the roast with water. Cook until you can shred the pork. Put on top of tortilla chips and top with lettuce, cheese, salsa, whatever you want.
Sometimes you have to add water to this since the beans soak up so much water. Again, let it sit in the Crock Pot for as long as you want, and it freezes well.

Green Chili Burritos
a la Erin

Cook 1 pork roast in Crock Pot until it's soft enough to shred. Shred and remove fat. save 3-4 cups broth.
Saute together until soft:
1 tomato, diced
1 white onion, diced
1 serano chili, diced
beef/chicken bouillon
reserved broth
diced garlic, 2 cloves or 2 T.
Set Crock Pot to warm, add meat and liquid with 1 can of green chilis.

This is a super easy recipe. The trick to the broth is that you just want to put enough to make the shredded pork moist (it dries out fast) so you kind of have to eyeball it. The great thing is you can serve it right away, or let it marinate and I swear it just keeps getting better. At the end you have to add salt and pepper, and I usually have to add a lot of salt. You can also freeze it in freezer bags.