Crock Pot Make Ahead Shredded Chicken and a Taco Recipe

The closer I get to the holidays, the harder it is to find time to cook.  Last March, we posted a recipe for make ahead meat mixture.  Read about it here. 

This is a make ahead meat my family likes even more.

Shredded Chicken

3 lbs chicken breasts, frozen
1 1/4 cup Italian salad dressing
1 Tbsp crushed or minced garlic
1-2 Tbsp lemon pepper, or crushed red pepper, or seasoned salt, or a combination, or your favorite seasonings (we like lemon pepper mixed with seasoned salt)
2 Tbsp lemon juice
1/4 cup of your favorite barbecue sauce



Place chicken in the crock pot. Cover with salad dressing, garlic, and lemon pepper. Cook on low for about 5 hours, until the chicken is cooked through, and shreds easily.



Shred chicken, and place back in the crock pot. Add lemon juice and bbq sauce. Cook for about 30 minutes more. Freeze in portion sizes handy for your family. A doubled recipe makes 7 2 cup baggies for the freezer.  When ready to use, thaw for quick tacos, enchiladas, quesadillas, nachos, sandwiches, or other chicken dishes.
Notes:  I always double this recipe.  It needs to cook for around an hour longer when doubled.  If using thawed chicken, cook for less time.

Here is the way we ate this chicken tonight.  This meal is a family favorite and I love it because everything can be done in advance, including the salsa.  It makes a quick meal for a busy night.

Chicken Tacos with Black Bean Salsa

Using hard taco shells, add make ahead chicken, top with black bean salsa, avocado, and sour cream.

Salsa:
1 15-ounce can black beans, rinsed
4 radishes, cut into small pieces
1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro or parsley
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
salt and black pepper to taste
Combine; store in fridge for up to a week.

Inexpensive Christmas Gifts

Oatmeal Pancakes in a Jar

(recipe follows)

Mixes in a jar are an inexpensive and fun gift to give as a Christmas present.  A wide variety of mixes can be put in jars for giving: cookie mixes, cake, hot chocolate, almost anything you can imagine.  Assembly is simple; you need:

1 canning jar or other appropriate container

a scrap of fabric for the top (optional)

cotton batting to add dimension for lid (optional)

ribbon

tag with instructions

This is a jar full of oatmeal chocolate chip cookie mix.

Using a plate or bowl, trace a circle on the wrong side of the fabric. Cut out.

Use the lid to trace on the batting. Cut out.

Center on lid and screw on band.

Make a tag with instructions for using the mix.

Tie the tag on with a ribbon.

This is a recipe I recently got from my daughter.  It's really good- and uses food storage items.

Oatmeal Pancake Mix

3 1/2 cups dry oats (Quaker oats)

3 cups wheat flour

2 cups white flour

3 tablespoon sugar

3 tablespoon baking powder

1 tablespoon salt

1 tablespoon baking soda

1/2 cup vegetable oil

Mix all ingredients until crumbly. Store in an air tight container in refrigerator for maxium freshness. When ready to make a batch of pancakes, mix 1 1/2 of mix, 1 egg, and 1 cup of buttermilk. (Instead of buttermilk you can take 1 tablespoon of lemon juice put it in bottom of a cup and pour 1 cup of milk on top of it and let set for 5 min, stir and add add to mix). Cook.



1 1/2 cup of mix will serve 3-4