Café Rio Chicken
1 small bottle Kraft Zesty Italian Dressing
1 TB chili powder
1 TB cumin
3 cloves garlic--minced
5 lbs chicken breasts
Combine ingredients in crock-pot and cook on low 4-6 hours. Shred meat and cook one additional hour. Freeze in quart bags. Here are the recipes I used for dinner tonight. They are all from Kara's Kitchen Creations.
We love this chicken on salads, quesadillas, burritos, and chimichangas
Chimichangas
I got this recipe from the 30 Day Gourmet Freezer Cooking Manual and have made a few adjustments to improve the taste and make it easier to assemble. It calls for ground beef, but I find they are much tastier with Cafe Rio Chicken. The following quantities make 32 chimchangas.
5 cups cooked chicken (use the Cafe Rio Chicken recipe)
32 oz salsa
32 oz refried beans
2 4-oz cans diced green chilies
2 envelopes taco seasoning (I buy my taco seasoning in a large container from Sam's Club and just mix it in to taste)
32 8" flour tortillas
8 cups shredded cheese (we like pepperjack)
In a large bowl combine chicken, salsa, refried beans, and green chilies. Stir in taco seasoning. Assemble by placing about 1/2 cup meat mixture in the center of a tortilla. Sprinkle with cheese. Fold in the sides and then roll up. Wrap in heavy foil to freeze. Wrap individually for one serving or bundle several together for a family dinner. We bundle 6 chimichangas for our family.
Reheat in the microwave or bake. I generally bake for about 30 minutes at 350. I then pour a can of enchilada sauce over top, sprinkle with more cheese, and bake an additional five minutes.
These next 3 recipes aren’t for freezing, but work great for a salad with the Café Rio Chicken:
Crock-pot Black Beans
2 cups dried black beans
About 3 cups of water
2 cloves of garlic
1 Tbsp salt
1 tsp cumin
Wash the dried beans pick out any rocks or beans that look funky. Pour them into a pan and add water till it is at least 2 inches above the beans. Let soak overnight (or for 8 hours.)
Drain off the water and pour beans into a crock pot. Add the 3 cups of water and the remaining ingredients. Cook on LOW for 8 hours. During the last couple hours of cooking, you can add extra water if you want them saucy.
(I added about 1 1/2 cups more water than the recipe called for. I also cooked them on high for about 6 hours and then turned them down to low for another 3-4 hours. I'm not sure that 8 hours on low would be enough. They are also a tad salty. I will probably decrease it just a bit next time.)
Lime Rice
4 cups water
2 cups white rice
½ cups fresh cilantro, chopped
4 TB butter
2-3 cloves minced garlic
4-5 tsp chicken bouillon
Juice of 1 lime
Saute rice in butter with garlic, cilantro, bouillon and lime juice over low heat until rice just begins to brown. Stir in water, reduce heat, cover and simmer until rice is tender.
Cafe Rio Salad Dressing
1 cup mayo
1 packet of Hidden Valley Ranch mix
1 cup buttermilk
1/3 of a bunch of cilantro with stems chopped off
1/2 - 1 small jalapeno (if you don’t like it spicy, remove the seeds)
1 tsp lime juice
1-2 tomatillos (remove outer papery skin and cut up)
1 garlic clove
Blend all ingredients in food processor or blender.
Bran Muffins
5 tsp baking soda
2 cups boiling water
½ cup shortening
½ cup applesauce
2 cups sugar
4 eggs
1 TB salt
1 qt milk (I just reconstituted dry milk)
5 cups flour
2 cups bran flakes
4 cups all bran cereal
2 TB cinnamon
½ TB nutmeg
Dissolve soda in boiling water. Cream shortening, sugar and eggs. Combine salt , flour, cinnamon and nutmeg. Add flour mixture and milk alternately into shortening mixture until well blended. Blend in water and soda mixture. Stir in cereals. Let batter sit in fridge overnight to soften cereals. Bake at 375 for 15-17 minutes. Freeze in gallon ziploc bags. Makes 4-5 dozen muffins.
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