Slow-Cooker Chicken in a Creamy Italian Sauce

Whipped this up for dinner last night and both the husband and kiddo loved it. Plus, it's a slow cooker meal so you know it's easy to boot!

Ingredients

• 3- 4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
• 1 envelope Italian salad dressing mix
• 1/2 cup water
• 1/2 package (4 oz.) cream cheese, softened
• 1 can condensed cream of chicken soup, undiluted
• 1/3 cup sour cream
• Rice or noodles, cooked according to package directions.

Directions

1. Place the chicken breast halves in a slow cooker.

2. Combine salad dressing mix and water; pour over chicken.

3. Cover and cook on LOW for 3 hours.

4. In a small mixing bowl, whisk together cream cheese and soup until blended.

5. Pour cream cheese mixture over chicken.

6. Cook on LOW for 3 to 4 hours more, until chicken juices run clear.

7. When chicken has 30 minutes of cook time left, stir in sour cream. Allow chicken to finish cooking.

7. Serve Italian chicken over hot rice or noodles.

Sumptuous Slow-Cooker French Onion Soup

The first time I ever had French onion soup was my senior year in high school. My now husband was my boyfriend at the time and had secretly made a romantic, 5 course meal for me. After a fresh green salad, he brought out piping hot, homemade French onion soup.

I was a bit apprehensive, I mean, it's a soup that tastes like onion, for heavens sake! One bite, however, confirmed that not only was it a soup made from onions, it was a delicious soup made from onions!

This isn't the recipe that my husband used that night, but it is fabulously tasty and is a snap to make! Even though this is a slow-cooker recipe, it can be ready in as little as four hours (which is fast for a slow-cooker). The onions come out so tender and the broth is so flavorful, you'll have to have a second helping!

• 5 small onions, thinly sliced (be sure to use white or yellow onions, not red onions for this recipe)
• 2 cans (14 oz) beef broth (I mush prefer to use a low sodium variety so I can control the amount of salt that goes into my soup)
• 2 cans (10 oz) beef consomme
• 1/2 water
• 1 packet of dry onion soup mix
• 8-10 slices French bread, cut about 1 inch thick
• 1 cup grated Gruyere (if you can't find Gruyere cheese, you can substitute it with Provolone, which has a fairly similar flavor)

1. In a slow-cooker, stir together broth, consomme, water, and soup mix. Mix until combined.

2. Add onions to broth mixture. Give a quick stir to coat onions.

3. Cook on HIGH setting for 4 hours or LOW setting for 8 hours.

4. Portion soup into oven safe bowls. Place a slice of French bread on top of each bowl and sprinkle bread with shredded cheese.

5. Put soup bowls under the broiler in the oven until cheese is melted, about 30-60 seconds.

6. Serve warm.

NOTE: If you don't have oven safe bowls or don't want to be transporting soup to and from the oven (with my episodes of clumsiness, this is often a recipe for steaming hot disaster), you can place the bread slices on a cookie sheet, top with cheese, broil, and then move a slice to each bowl of soup once cheese is melted.

Slow-Cooker Pot Roast and Veggies

I remember on Sundays coming home from church to a house filled with the smells of my mother's pot roast cooking in the crock pot. It makes my mouth water just to think of it! I am not sure what her sumptuous recipe was, but this one is almost as tasty! The meat in this will melt in your mouth and the veggies make a nice compliment and side dish. Again, slow-cookers are a great companion on a busy day. Just prep it and walk away! So simple! So delicious!

• 2 (10.75 ounce) cans condensed cream of mushroom soup
• 1 (1 ounce) package dry onion soup mix
• 2 stalks of celery, cut into 1/2 inch slices
• 1/2 medium onion, chopped into bite-sized pieces (optional)
  
• 4-6 potatoes, cubed (I leave the skin on; I feel it serves as a nice "anchor" and adds some texture)
• 2-3 carrots, peeled and cut into bite-sized pieces
  
• 1 1/4 cups water
• Approx. 4- 5 pounds pot roast (I have used this with a roast as small as 3 pounds and it turned out just fine)
  

1. In a slow cooker, mix cream of mushroom soup, dry onion soup mix and water. Place pot roast in slow cooker and coat with soup mixture.

2. Cook on low for 3 hours, then add vegetables. Cover veggies with liquid (as much as possible). Replace lid and cook for another 5-6 hours on low or until the meat is done and the veggies are tender.

Note: You can cook this on high, just add meat and veggies all at once and cook for 4-5 hours or until the meat is done and the veggies are tender.

Slow-Cooker BBQ Chicken

Ok, so some may argue that making a slow-cooker meal doesn't really count as "cooking." I say just because you aren't slaving in the kitchen for hours, doesn't mean that you can't take credit for a delicious, homemade meal! This chicken is perfect in a sandwich and can be thrown together in no time. Also, if you use a crock pot liner, clean up is a breeze! *

• 4-5 large chicken breasts (I use flash frozen)
• 1 1/2 bottles of BBQ sauce (I like a sweet and spicy BBQ sauce, but any BBQ variety will work)
• 3/4 cup water
• 1 tsp onion powder

1. Coat bottom of pan with 1 cup of BBQ sauce.

2. Place chicken in slow-cooker (if using frozen, no need to defrost).

3. Sprinkle onion powder over the top of chicken.

4. Pour in water and remaining BBQ sauce.

5. Cook for 8 hours on low.

6. Shred chicken with a fork and coat in sauce mixture.

7. Pile on a toasted bun and enjoy!