Another easy recipe from Mom (cheesy variation mine)…

Crockpot Mushroom Chicken

1-2 boneless skinless chicken breasts
1-2 cans cream of mushroom soup

Cook on low 6-8 hours or until chicken falls apart.  Serve over hot white rice.  To make it cheesy, add 1 can of cheddar cheese soup to the above and serve over wide egg noodles or rotini.

Skillet method:  Brown chicken in skillet, add soup, cover and simmer about 20 minutes or until chicken is cooked through. 

To make it cheesy, add some cheese whiz.  To make it like alfredo, add some cream (I use fat free half & half) and some shredded parmesan cheese.

Serves 2.

My family loves a good, hearty chicken casserole.  Let me rephrase that.  I love to cook casseroles because they’re easy, don’t dirty alot of dishes, and I can double them to freeze.

When I haven’t planned ahead and want to pull something together, I find it helpful to keep cooked chicken on hand.  Here’s what you can do:

Put as much boneless, skinless chicken breast (fresh or frozen) as your crockpot will hold.  Add 2-3 cans chicken broth, some water to cover meat and a bay leaf or two.  Turn the crockpot on low and let it sit all day.

After about 8 hours, drain, cool and shred the chicken and put in 2 cup portions in sandwich bags, and freeze. 

Save the broth, too!  Strain through a coffee filter to get any stray chunks or pieces of fat.  Cover and put in the refrigerator over night to let any fat rise to the top.  The next day, skim off fat with a spoon.  Pour 2 cup servings into sandwich bags.  The next time you need a can of chicken broth, you’ve got seasoned broth in 2 cup servings you can pull out of the freezer!

I found a variation of this this on the Weight Watchers site years ago.  It has become a winter staple in our house.

Chicken Sweet Potato Soup

1 lb boneless skinless chicken breasts
3 medium sweet potatoes, peeled, cut into 1″ chunks
2 (14.5 oz) cans diced tomatoes with green chiles (undrained) *
2 (14.5 oz) cans chicken broth **
1 tsp oregano
1/2 tsp cumin
1 1/2 cups frozen corn

This can either be done in the crockpot or stovetop.  For crockpot, cut the chicken into 1″ cubes, cook all ingredients but corn  on low setting for about 6 hours.  Stir in frozen corn for the last 30 minutes of cooking.

For stovetop, I simmer everything (except corn) together with the chicken uncut, then shred the meat when it’s cooked through and return it to the pot (we like the texture of shredded chicken vs. cubed).   This takes about 20 – 30 min on a low boil.  Then add the frozen corn and simmer until corn is heated – about 5 minutes.

*You can substitute plain diced tomatoes for the spicy ones to cut down on the heat.  For a mild soup, just use 2 cans plain diced tomatoes, or tomatoes with italian seasoning.

**Depending on the amount of the sweet potatoes, broth can be adjusted. I just add broth until it has a good ratio of liquid to chicken/sweet potatoes.

Ladle into bowls, sprinkle with mozzarella, cheddar or mexican blend shredded cheese. 

Serves 6-8.