Planning A Easy Dinner: Crockpot Cream Cheese Chicken

Do you ever have one of those days when you are just too tired to cook, too tired to go out to eat, too tired to even think about what's for dinner? Have you ever found yourself standing in front of the refrigerator just staring at the shelves just waiting for something to jump out and look appetizing?

Oh, I have plenty of times. And on those days around my house, I am quick to announce that we are having a YOYO night. You're On Your Own. Needless to say, Steve is never too thrilled at that announcement. More on this another day....

You can take a little of the stress off of yourself by planning ahead and using your handy dandy crockpot. I did just that when we were at our Mountain Retreat this fall. Believe me, it was a lifesaver. Because at our cabin, after a day of work, and I am too tired to cook, it is just not like we can go around the corner to the neighborhood cafe for a nice hot meal.....the neighborhood cafe is miles away, and by the time you would arrive you would be too exhausted to eat....trust me on this.

My husband is a meat and potatoes type of guy, you know the type. Simple, beefy meals that leave no questions to the mind as to what is actually in the dish. So when I broke out of the norm and tried this new to me crockpot dish, he was skeptical to say the least.

In fact, several times he asked "What is that again?" or "Have we had this before?" I could tell he was dreading coming to the dinner table, hungry as a bear, and having a plate of something he was not familiar with presented to him for dinner. I swear, I could tell he was already thinking he was going to have to put a smile on his face no matter how unappetizing this was, eat what he could and then anticipate the long wait until breakfast. Stick with the familiar, go-to dinners is Steve's philosophy. It's Safe that way and everyone is happy.

Well, I am happy to say, this was a success. Really a success. This was so very good it passed the taste test for a go-to dinner with Steve and that is saying a lot from a meat and potatoes type of guy. Not to mention, with a little planning, this is a great hot meal when you are too tired to stand in the kitchen and cook, and it's very easy to make.

Here is the recipe below.....so the next time when you have a day of this or something similar:

You can quickly sit down without too much of a fuss and enjoy a hot meal just like this one:



Crockpot Cream Cheese Chicken

You will need:
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1/2 cup chicken broth
package of frozen chicken tender strips
1 package Italian Salad dressing mix
2 cloves of garlic
1 large block of cream cheese

How to:
Put all of the above ingredients in the crockpot, all EXCEPT the cream cheese, save this for later. Cook on low for about 6 hours or until done. Now, shred the chicken in the crockpot using a fork. Mix cream cheese in the crockpot and turn crockpot on high for about 30 minutes or until cheese melts. It usually takes about 15 tops in my crockpot. Serve over pasta of choice.

I used bow tie pasta because that is what I had on hand, and it was great. I Steamed some vegetables and dinner was on the table really fast. I might also suggest you could add some fresh mushrooms during the final step of cooking.

Tip: If you use a crockpot liner in your crockpot, this is even easier because clean up is a snap, just toss liner and wipe crockpot off with a wet towel. ~easy peasy~.

Trust me, you just can't beat this on a day when you are dog tired, and dreading standing in the kitchen trying to put a hot meal on the table. With a little planning, you can get out of the kitchen quick, and that will leave you with more time for things like this....