Freezer/ Crock Pot Santa Fe Chicken- Healthy and SO GOOD!

Every so often I find a recipe that just hits home. This is one of those recipes!!

Don't you love that? This is easy, SUPER tasty, healthy, reheats well, and you can make it up in a "pack" for the freezer so that you can just plop it into your crock pot the day you want to cook it and go on your merry way! (What does it mean to "go on your merry way"? It sounds to me like that involves skipping of some sort....) (I would not skip. I have enough trouble not falling down when I am simply walking or running....)

We're on spring break. I am really, really trying not to overbook myself, even though I have extra time, so that I am able to try new recipes, get some things done around the house, and relax (Imagine that, relaxing on a break....). It's been fun collecting recipes and ingredients, knowing I'll have time to enjoy in the kitchen.

So, back to the recipe we're talking about here....

It's basically a super delicious burrito/taco bowl. 

Here's what you need:

Santa Fe Chicken

From: Skinny Taste

• 1.5 lbs boneless, skinless chicken breasts- I just used 2 large (mine were frozen, and I put them into the crock pot that way. I rarely thaw meat before cooking it in the crock pot)
• 1 can (14-15 ounce) diced tomatoes with green chiles
• 1 can (15 ounces) black beans, drained and rinsed (bean juice is nasty)
• 8 ounces (1 cup) frozen corn
• 1/4 cup fresh, chopped cilantro
• 3 scallions, thinly sliced
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 1 tsp onion powder
• 1 tsp cumin
• cayenne pepper to taste (I did 1/4 tsp, we're spice wimps)
• 1 can (14.4 ounces) fat-free chicken broth
• optional- for serving- hot, cooked rice, cheese, salsa, sour cream

Have you tried these things yet? They ROCK!! Basically it is that material they make turkey baking bags from, but you line your crock pot with the bag instead! At the end of your meal, you simply throw the bag away, and the inside of your crock pot is totally clean! If you have ever made the Overnight Crockpot Oatmeal and had to scrub that sucker out, you know what an awesome invention these liners are!!

So, what I did was make one full recipe in the crock pot, then made another- putting all of the ingredients except the can of broth into a Ziploc bag, so I have a meal ready to stick into the crock pot on another day! I propped my Ziploc bag up in a tall bowl so it wouldn't slump over and dump all the ingredients out.

See?? All ready! What I will do is take it out of the freezer just for a half hour or so, so it "unsticks" from the bag, then dump the whole frozen block into the crock pot with the can of broth and cook it! I love that it is all chopped and ready to go!

This is a VERY difficult recipe- you dump all the ingredients into the crock pot, and turn it on. 

*WHEW*

Now go take a break for a second. You'll be exhausted from all the labor-intensive instructions.

And here's the crock pot version:

So after I put all the ingredients (except the broth) into my Ziploc, I sealed it, then sort of squished everything around so it was flat-ish. Then I sucked the air out of the bag, so that ice crystals wouldn't form in the bag. 

Of course I labeled it:

So this is what I will need to make this meal a second time, later!

This smelled amazing the entire day! Cook it on low for 10 hours, or high for 6 hours. Right before serving, shred the chicken breasts- you can either pull them out and shred them on a plate, or just grab two forks and shred them right in the crock pot. I use the latter method, in the interests of having less dirty dishes.

Everyone in the family LOVED this!! Wade doesn't like beans, but he happily picked them out, still declaring this meal a winner!

It froze well!! I may make a freezer batch for lunches, we had two "burrito bowls" leftover, and Christopher and I both loved having a filling lunch!!

Enjoy!