Crockpot Chicken Tacos

Jake and I received 3, yes 3 crockpots as wedding gifts. Luckily, I was able to get credit for 2 of them and I kept the 3rd. Fastforward to 6 years later, I finally opened and used the crockpot for the first time! Some girls on my favorite online community had been raving about this recipe so I had to see what all the fuss was about.

The recipe was pretty good and I've made it 3 times so far. Also, I'm hooked on crockpot recipes now; they're SO easy! Why did it take me this long to discover??

Anyways, here's the recipe:

Crockpot Chicken Tacos

1 chicken taco seasoning packet (you can use a reg. taco seasoning packet but the chicken kind is best)

6 FROZEN chicken tenderloins (or 3 frozen breasts)

1 container of fresh pico (or can of Rotel)

1/4 c. Olive Oil

1/4 c. Water

Cover the bottom of the crockpot with the taco seasoning.Lay frozen chicken on top.

Pour Pico/Rotel over chicken.

Pour Oil and Water over everything.

Cook on Low for 4-6 hours. If home, turn meat half way but not necessary.

Shred chicken with a fork and stir into juices.
Let cook/simmer for 30 minutes more (if time is tight, I skip this step)

Serve on tortillas with a shredded Mexican cheese blend, sour cream, guacamole, salsa.....whatever you want!

One tip: the tortillas can make or break this meal. I don't recommend store bought, unless you get the freshly made package from HEB. I usually make a quick trip to Taco Cabana and get 1/2 dozen, because theirs are my favorite.

*putting ingredients in the crockpot

*after shredding the chicken

Cookies & Cream Cupcakes

I'm a sucker for anything flavored Cookies & Cream so I HAD to try this recipe that I found here. Only I used my muffin pan, not the silicone baking cups, so I got around 30 cupcakes instead of 24.

We took them to our Mother's Day celebration at the Schmidt Jrs. house and of course had left-overs. We let the Jrs. keep 5 and I sent the rest with Jake to work. I've already gotten one email from him asking for the recipe so I figured this was the best way to share it with others.

Grade: A+ per Jake and Maddie :)

30 Oreo cookies
1 package plain white cake mix
1 cup sour cream
1/2 cup vegetable oil
3 large eggs
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1. Place a rack in the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 350°F. Line 24 cupcake cups with paper liners. Set the pans aside.
2. Count out 12 Oreos and separate the top and bottom wafers. Make sure each has some of the icing on it. Place one wafer, icing side up, in the bottom of each paper liner. Set them aside. Place the remaining 18 Oreos between sheets of waxed paper or in a large, closed zipper-lock bag and crush them by rolling over them with a rolling pin. Set these crumbs aside.

3. Place the cake mix, sour cream, oil, eggs, and vanilla in a large mixing bowl. Blend with an electric mixer on low speed for 30 seconds. Stop the machine and scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula. Increase the mixer speed to medium and beat 1 1/2 minutes more, scraping down the sides again if needed. Measure out 1 1/2 cups of the crushed Oreos and fold these into the batter until well incorporated. Set aside the remaining crushed Oreos for the frosting. Spoon or scoop 1/3 cup batter into each lined cup­cake cup, filling it three quarters of the way full. (You will get between 22 and 24 cupcakes; remove the empty liners, if any.) Place the pans in the oven.
4. Bake the cupcakes until they are lightly golden and spring back when lightly pressed with your finger, 18 to 20 minutes. Remove the pans from the oven and place them on wire racks to cool for 5 minutes. Run a dinner knife around the edges of the cupcake liners, lift the cup­cakes up from the bottoms of the cups using the end of the knife, and pick them out of the cups carefully with your finger­tips. Place them on a wire rack to cool for 15 minutes before frosting.

Store these cupcakes, in a cake saver or under a glass dome, at room temperature for up to 3 days or in the refrigerator for up to 1 week. If you plan to freeze them, don't add the cookie-crumb topping. Wrap them in aluminum foil or in a cake saver and freeze for up to 6 months. Thaw the cup­cakes overnight in the refrigerator and top with cookie crumbs before serving.

COOKIES AND CREAM FROSTING

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 3/4 cup confectioners sugar, sifted
pinch of salt
1/3 cup whipping cream
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
remaining crushed Oreos

Mix together butter, confectioners sugar, and a pinch of salt until it’s creamy. Increase your mixer speed to high and beat until its light and fluffy. Add whipping cream and vanilla. Beat until its smooth. Fold in crushed Oreos. Makes enough to frost 24 cupcakes.

Debbie's Banana Dessert

No, I have no idea who Debbie is. But I thank her for making this super duper banana pudding dessert. My Nanny gave me a cookbook for 2006 Christmas which was compiled by a bunch of ladies from her church. She lives in a pretty small town in Central Texas which happens to have a very large population of German-Texans. With names like Koepp, Bierstedt, Tschoepe and of course Schmidt......you can't go wrong with these ladies recipes.


2 boxes vanilla wafers
1 stick butter, melted
2 (8 oz) pkgs. cream cheese, softened
1 cup powdered sugar
3 (8 oz) containers of whipped topping
1 large pkg instant vanilla pudding mix (prepare according to directions)
1 bunch of bananas - (I use 4 bananas)

Crush 1 box of vanilla wafers & mix with the cup of melted butter - press this mixture into a 13x9 pan. Blend cream cheese, powdered sugar & add 1.5 containers of whipped topping - spread this mixture over crust. Cut up 3-4 bananas in round slices and place side-by-side over this layer. Layer prepared instant pudding next. Top with remaining whipped topping. Crush 1/2 the other box of vanilla wafers and sprinkle on top & line the sides of the dish with the remaining whole wafers. Refridgerate.

I've made Debbie's Banana Dessert on a few different occasions so I decided to share it with you. I made the latest batch last weekend for the Schmidt Jrs' Annual Crawfish Boil. Unfortunately, I forgot to take a picture of it before I put it out. So I put it out on the table, turned around to grab my camera and this is all that was left in that minute of time, I'm not kidding.

ice cream + cupcakes = genius

Coldstone Creamery must have Einstein working in their R&D department because they have created the most perfect, yummy thing ever; Ice Cream cupcakes!!!

If you've had a piece of Coldstone's ice cream cakes, you already know they're delicious. But the cupcakes are perfect portioned sized and did I mention they're yummy? Well they are.

The only bad thing is that the store by me only makes them once a week (sometimes every other week) and when they hit the shelves, they sell fast. So I've been calling like a mad woman to see when they had some for sale and I finally got some! They're sold in packs of 6, I lucked out and got a pack with 2 of each flavor (another bad thing, they only offer 3 flavors right now) so Jake, Maddie and I got to sample each. Sadly, I didn't get a picture of the inside Cake Batter Delux, but it was yummy!

If you like ice cream and cupcakes (who doesn't?) you must give these a try!

Ziploc Omelet

I got this email from my mother-in-law about making a super easy omelet so I gave it a try. Here's the email:
----------------------------------------------------------------------------

This works great !!! Good for when all your family is together. The best part is that no one has to wait for their special omelet !!

• Have guests write their name on a quart-size Ziploc freezer bag with permanent marker.
• Crack 2 eggs (large or extra-large) into the bag (not more than 2) shake to combine them.
• Put out a variety of ingredients such as: cheeses, ham, onion, green pepper, tomato, hash browns, salsa, etc.
• Each guest adds prepared ingredients of choice to their bag and shake.
• Make sure to get the air out of the bag and zip it up.
• Place the bags into rolling, boiling water for exactly 13 minutes. You can usually cook 6-8 omelets in a large pot. For more, make another pot of boiling water.
• Open the bags and the omelet will roll out easily. Be prepared for everyone to be amazed

I followed the directions exactly but I had a bit of a problem. My ziploc bags melted on the bottom and egg started leaking in the boiling water. So if you try this recipe, I would suggest double bagging your omelets. But all in all, they turned out delicious! I made bacon and cheese, here's the pics:

Happy Mardi Gras!!

I've only been to Mardi Gras once but I had a fantastic time! I was in college and a bunch of my sorority sisters decided to make a trip to New Orleans. It was my first time to NO and I fell in love. The old architecture, food, friendly people; I just loved it all.

My sister-in-law's mom and dad live in Slidell, just north of NO, so I've been exposed to Mardi Gras pretty consistently for the past 10 years or so. I would get so excited when they brought us real, Louisiana King Cake. So last year I decided that I was going to do it myself, since I love to bake and all.

A nestie friend of mine married a good 'ol cajun boy and inherited his momma's recipes. She graciously shared her king cake recipe with me and the rest is history, I was HOOKED!

This year I made: 2 blueberry cream cheese, 2 strawberry cream cheese, 1 regular cream cheese and 1 cinnamon cakes.

Laissez les bon temps rouler!!

I miss you Kerbey!!

When I lived in Austin, I loved going to Kerbey Lane for pancakes and queso (weird combo I know). Since they're open 24 hours a day, I could eat pancakes whenever I wanted. But not just regular pancakes, gingerbread pancakes, yum!! Luckily, they sell pancake mix so I can make my very own Kerbey pancakes in the comfort of my home, 200 something miles away from Kerbey.

The last time we went to Austin in November for the big football game, Maddie had her first Kerbey experience; awesome food and a long wait for it (never fails that you have to wait forever to get your food, that's why you get the queso!). Naturally, I ordered the gingerbread pancakes but I bought the pumpkin pancake mix to take home. And I'll tell you what, the pumpkin are giving the gingerbread a run for their money!! They turned out so delicious! Maddie ate 3 of them, she's definitely her mother's daughter.