Chicken Burrito Bowls

I've been reluctant to embrace crock pot meals for the past few years. The majority of the crock pot meals I remember from my childhood involved cream of _____ soups or other heavy ingredients that I have tried to remove from my diet. This recipe includes none of those items but all of the benefits of throwing ingredients into the crock pot in the morning and coming home to dinner almost ready.

Robert loves Chipotle and their burrito bowls. I love the concept, but I have found that more often than not the servers give me far too much rice, meat and cheese so that the proportions are not to my liking. I always end up picking things off and leaving way too much food behind. This recipe allows me to get the burrito bowl combo I enjoy with the ability to control the portions.

What I really love about this meal is that by slow cooking the chicken the meat falls apart so readily that shredding the chicken is effortless. One thing of note, once you shred the chicken, put it back in the crock pot and let sit and soak up the cooking juices for a few minutes before serving, otherwise you'll miss out on a lot of flavor!

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Chicken Burrito Bowls


Ingredients
4 frozen boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 cup frozen white kernel corn
1 can black beans, rinsed
2 cans Ro-Tel tomatoes
Rice
Monterrey Jack Cheese
Lettuce
Salsa

Instructions
Begin by placing the chicken breasts into your crock pot.

Top with the corn,

Ro-Tel tomatoes

 and black beans.

Cook on low for 8 hours. Go to work, and take joy in the fact that dinner is practically done!
When you get home, remove the chicken from the crock pot and shred with two forks.

Place the chicken back into the crock pot and let sit for 15-20 minutes (while you cook the rice) to allow it to soak up the cooking liquid.

Once you're rice is ready, (I made cilantro lime rice, here's my favorite recipe) begin assembling your burrito bowl.

Start by placing the rice in the bottom.

 Then place the shredded chicken on top,

 followed by the black bean and corn mix from the crock pot,

 cheese and lettuce.

Enjoy with your favorite salsa for an added kick.

Quick Fix Meal: Tacos and Guacamole

From time to time life can seem to get in the way of cooking dinner. Whether it's working late, sports practice for the kids or just sheer exhaustion, there are days when the task of cooking dinner for you and your family seems impossible. When I have those days, one of my go to quick fix meals is tacos.

I almost hesitated to post this meal on the blog because it's so simple, but I also thought that there is value in sharing a quick meal that can be easily completed in 30 minutes or less. While my recipe calls for a homemade taco seasoning mix, you could very easily substitute the packets of seasoning sold in supermarkets and your time in the kitchen would be even less.

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Ingredients

1 lb ground meat (beef, turkey, pork, chicken)

1 package pico de gallo (sold in most grocery stores pre made)

2.5 T chili powder

1 T cumin

2 t garlic powder

1.5 t onion powder

1/4 t cayenne

1 T paprika

1/4 t crushed black pepper

1 avocado

1/2 lime

1/4 t garlic salt

Instructions

Combine the chili powder, cumin, paprika, garlic powder, onion powder, cayenne and black pepper in a bowl. Stir to combine.

Place the ground meat (I used ground turkey) in a large skillet over medium high heat and begin to brown.

After the meat has begun to brown, but before it is browned completely, add 3/4 cup premade pico de gallo. 

Continue to saute until the meat is cooked through and the onions are soft.

Add 3 tablespoons of the spice mix to the meat. Store the rest in an air tight container for future use.

Add 1 cup of water and stir to combine.

Bring to a boil and cook until most of the liquid has been cooked off, about 5-10 minutes.

While the taco meat is simmering, make the guacamole. Scoop the avocado out of its skin and chop into small pieces. Place in a bowl.

Mash with a fork until smooth.

Add 1/4 cup of the remaining pico de gallo to the avocado.

Stir to combine.

Squeeze the juice of 1/2 a lime into the avocado mixture and stir.

Add about 1/4 teaspoon of garlic salt and 1/2 teaspoon of black pepper and stir.

When taco meat is done place on a small flour tortilla, top with cheese and guacamole and serve.