Author Archive
Chicken Enchilada Casserole
Simple and easy slow cooker recipe that is delicious! I have made this and it is excellent, and filling! Recipe is slightly revised to reflect my findings. Link to the shortcut is listed in the Recipe Notes section.
Equipment
- Slow Cooker
Ingredients
Cooked all day
- 3 chicken breasts, boneless and skinless
- 2 cups salsa, Tesco brand works great, two 300 gram jars, Shortcut
Added after 6-8 hours
- 250 grams Cream cheese, this is a block, softened, (8 oz)
- 500 grams tortillas, this is one package, corn or flour will work for this, (1 lb)
- 250 grams Cheddar cheese, this is a block, shredded, (8 oz)
- ½ can black olives, drained and sliced
Instructions
- Add the chicken to the bottom of your slow cooker. I used 3 good sized chicken breasts.
- Pour over the salsa. Cover and cook on Low setting for 6 to 7 hours, check at 6 hours and if tender and shreds with a fork at this point, continue with the next step, if not tender, continue to cook and check at 7 hours. I used the Fast and Simple Fresh Salsa II listed on this site, excellent salsa which makes just a tad over 2 cups, use all of it.
- Plop the cream cheese on top of the chicken. Cover for about 10 minutes to let it get really soft. While the cheese is softening, shred the Cheddar cheese and cut up the tortillas into strips, and slice the olives.
- With the cream cheese softened, shred the chicken with 2 forks right in the slow cooker and stir together.
- Add the tortilla strips, 1 cup of Cheddar cheese, and half of the olives and stir this into the chicken mixture. Flatten this down and clean the sides of the pot.
- Add to the top the remaining cheese then olives. Cover and cook on High setting for another 45 minutes until the casserole is heated through.
Notes
Three chicken breasts cost me about 80 Baht, this would be less if you use thighs or quarters. Cream cheese will run about 120 Baht for a block. Cheddar cheese will run about 185 Baht per block of 250 grams, you only need one, shred the whole block. This can easily make 10 servings at a cost of about $1.15 per serving, overall, very good price.
Shortcut: Salsa.
Slow Cooker Chicken & Gravy I
This is good and really easy. Keep in mind folks, use the shortcuts listed on this site for the gravy mix and soup, not only will this reduce the cost a lot, you eliminate the extra salt and preservatives. I did not take photos when I made this, just think of a slow cooker pot with gravy in it covering the chicken, you get the idea. Links to the shortcuts are listed in the Recipe Notes section.
Ingredients
- 1 kilo chicken breasts, boneless and skinless, OR skinless thighs
- 2 packets dry chicken gravy mix, Shortcut
- 1 can condensed cream of chicken soup, Shortcut
- 1 3/4 cups water
- 1/8 teaspon ground black pepper
Instructions
- Put the gravy packets, cream of chicken soup (or cream of mushroom soup), water, and pepper in your slow cooker and whisk until the gravy and soup are smooth as possible, any lumps will cook out.
- Add the chicken breasts OR thighs.
- Cook on Low setting for 5-6 hours.
- When the chicken is done, use a large spoon to remove chicken to plates, it will be fall apart tender. Serve with mashed potatoes with gravy ladled over the top. Serve with a vegetable for a complete meal.
Notes
Chicken breasts will cost about 88 Baht/Kilo, thighs even less. For 4 people this is about 75 cents per meal, even less for 6 people. Make the gravy mix and soup yourself for a greater savings. If you do not want to make the gravy shortcut, just use 2 tablespoons of flour and 1 rounded teaspoon of chicken stock powder.
Variants would include using thighs or legs instead of breasts. Also adding a handful or two of fresh or canned, sliced mushrooms about an hour before it is done would work well also.
Shortcuts: Gravy Mix, Condensed Cream of Chicken Soup.
Adapted from an internet recipe.
Chicken, Chicken Blood, and Winter Melon Soup
This is a non-spicy soup made with just 3 major ingredients. Excellent taste. Don't let the ingredients fool you. The chicken blood is congealed, not liquid form, and the vegetable, winter melon, is pronounced fuk.
Ingredients
- 1/2 chicken, chopped into small pieces
- 2-3 cups congealed chicken blood, cut into large cubes
- 2 winter melon, peeled and cubed
- 1 teaspoon powdered chicken stock
- 4-5 shallots, smashed
- 3-4 cloves garlic, smashed
- salt, to taste
Instructions
- Chop the half chicken and blood. If you do not have a half chicken, use thighs, legs, breasts, chopped into smaller pieces.
- Peel the winter melon, chop into large pieces, soak in some water for a few minutes then drain. If it has small seeds that is ok, if the seeds are large, remove them.
- Bring a medium pot of water to a boil and add the smashed scallions and garlic.
- After it is boiling, add chicken pieces and chicken stock powder.
- When cooked through, about 10-12 minutes, add the chicken blood. Continue to boil until the blood is cooked through about 5-10 minutes.
- When the blood is cooked, add the winter melon and reduce heat to a simmer to heat the melon through. When melon is tender, remove from heat and serve with a bowl of rice.
Notes
Chicken would run about 100 to 140 Baht for about 1 kilo of chicken. Blood and melon, very cheap. This is about 70 cents per meal for 6 people, even less for 8 people. Nutritious and healthy.
Provided courtesy of my wife, Rrayada Thayer.
Thailand.
Thailand.
White Beans & Peppers
A basic recipe with lots of possibilities. The inspiration for this recipe came from a recipe that listed canned beans and frozen veggies, I have changed it up to use dry beans, and the instructions are for Stove Top or Pressure Cooker preparation of the beans. This is a 2 for 1 recipe, you make bean broth as well, save that for soup or even cooking rice in it. This is listed as a side dish, add a ingredient or two and you have a main dish.
Ingredients
Prepare beans
- 500 grams dried Great Northern Beans, rinsed, soaked at least 6 hours, rinsed again
- 1 onion, quartered
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 teaspoon salt, for pressure cooker preparation
- 2 tablespoons cooking oil, for pressure cooker preparation
Cook the dish
- 1 teaspoon olive oil
- 1 red bell pepper, chopped
- 1 yellow bell pepper, chopped, or green
- 1 onion, chopped
- 1 teaspoon orgeno
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- cayenne pepper, to taste
- salt and pepper, to taste
Instructions
Prepare the Beans - Stove Top
- Drain soaked beans and rinse then transfer to a large pot. Cover by 2 inches with cold water, add a quartered onion and bay leaves and bring to a boil; skim off and discard any foam on the surface. Reduce heat, cover and simmer, gently stirring occasionally, until beans are tender, 1 to 1 1/2 hours. Drain beans, discard onions and bay leaves and season with salt and pepper.
Prepare the Beans - Pressure Cooker
- Drain soaked beans and rinse then transfer to a your pressure cooker. Add the quartered onion and bay leaves, add 8 cups (2 quarts) water.
- Place the lid on the pot, add the weight (jiggler), and bring the heat up to high. When the jiggler starts moving and releasing pressure, start timing this for 6 minutes, and turn the heat down to low or medium low to maintain the jiggler moving and releasing pressure.
- At 6 minutes, turn off the heat and move the pressure cooker to an unused burner and allow a natural release of pressure. When the pressure is released, open the lid, discard the onion and bay leaves.
- Place a strainer on another pot and pour the beans and liquid into the strainer. Let the liquid cool and pour into quart jars, you just made bean broth. Place the cooled bean broth in the fridge, use as a base for soup or even cook rice in it. (I made just over 1 quart of broth, beans soak up a lot of water.)
Cook the Dish
- Dice the bell peppers, onion, and set out the spices needed.
- Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Stir in onion and bell pepper, and cook until tender.
- Add the drained beans. Season with oregano, cumin, cayenne pepper, salt, and black pepper. Continue cooking, stirring occasionally, until beans are heated through.
- Serve as a side dish with a main of your choice.
Notes
Low cost per serving.
Variant: 1. Add in some boiled chopped chicken or cooked spicy pork sausage (think Kielbasa or mixed scraps) and you have a meal.
Adapted from an internet recipe.
Louisiana Smothered Shrimp
Recipe name is actually Louisiana Shrimp Etouffee (etoufee means smothered, but I am not teaching French class here so let's just go with smothered). Shrimp would be the easiest to obtain for this recipe, crawfish are here in country being raised, but that may be a challenge to find them however. Shrimp in a thick creamy sauce served over rice, a must try for me. Lot of ingredients and I am not normally a fan of say a 1/2 cup of diced pepper is needed, I use the whole pepper, but I think for this recipe, I will follow exactly and see where it can be tailored, which should be easy. Link to the shortcut is listed in the Recipe Notes section.
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup butter
- 5 tablespoons all purpose flour
- 1/2 cup celery
- 1/2 cup green bell pepper, chopped
- 1/4 cup spring onion, chopped
- 1 cup chicken stock, fresh or from powder
- 1/2 cup water
- 2 tablespoons fresh parsley, minced
- 1 tablespoon tomato paste
- 1 bay leaf
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
- 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/4 teaspoon Creole seasoning, OR make from a shortcut
- 1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 500 grams shrimp, cooked, and peeled, including tails removed, see note on this
Instructions
- In a pot, melt the butter and then stir in the flour. Cook and stir constantly over low heat for about 20 minutes, until mixture is a caramel colored paste. Add the celery, pepper, and onions; stir until coated.
- Add the broth, water, parsley, tomato paste, bay leaf, salt, pepper, garlic powder, Creole seasoning, and cayenne. Stir the pot well to make sure that the roux is well incorporated and there are no lumps.
- Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove and discard the bay leaf. Add shrimp and heat through. Serve over rice.
Notes
Shrimp from say Tesco, small whites, will run about 100 Baht for 500 grams. If you can source ocean prawn from a local fisherman, even less, even open markets for shrimp is very low cost. For this dish, for 4 people, the cost is about 75 cents per person, even less for 6 people.
Shortcut: Creole Seasoning Mix.
Adapted from an internet recipe.
Chicken, Chili, and Basil
No set recipe here, and no measured ingredients per say. This is a typical Thai meal, spicy, and goes together quickly. Photos are mine that I took yesterday while my wife cooked this.
Ingredients
- 4 chicken legs, skin and bones removed, slightly chopped
- 20-30 Bird's Eye Chilis, slightly mashed, seeds and all
- 4-6 cloves garlic, smashed and chopped
- fresh Thai Basil, several good handfuls
Instructions
- Heat a heavy non-stick pan (or a wok) with some oil and add the chilis and garlic and cook for a few minutes.
- Add the chicken meat and stir to combine with the chili and garlic and cook until juices run clear, about 10 minutes, stir occasionally.
- Rinse the basil and squeeze dry and add to the pan.
- Cook until the basil is wilted, serve with rice.
Notes
The cost for the 4 chicken legs is minimal, the chilies came from our garden. This is probably a 30 to 50 cent meal per person, for easily 6 people.
Provided courtesy of my wife, Rrayada Thayer.
Thailand.
Thailand.
Creole Seasoning Mix
Can be used as an ingredient to a recipe or as a rub. This recipe makes a lot, just store in an airtight jar and use as desired.
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons onion powder
- 2 tablespoons garlic powder
- 2 tablespoons dried oregano
- 2 tablespoons dried basil
- 1 tablespoon dried thyme
- 1 tablespoon ground black pepper
- 1 tablespoon white pepper powder
- 1 tablespoon cayenne pepper
- 5 tablespoons paprika
- 1 tablespoon salt
Instructions
- In a medium bowl, combine all ingredients. Store in an airtight container.
Notes
If a recipe calls for say, 1 tablespoon of creole seasoning, use 1 tablespoon, if a recipe calls for a rub, then use this as a rub, as easy as that.
Basic Vegetable Stock
This is a good basic stock, no preservatives or extra salt or sweeteners found in canned or boxed stock, and is easy.
Ingredients
- 8 cups water
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 large onion
- 2 stalks celery, plus leaves
- 2 carrots
- 1 bunch spring onions
- 8 cloves garlic, smashed
- 8 sprigs fresh parsley
- 8 sprigs fresh thyme
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 teaspoon salt
Instructions
- Wash all vegetables, skin on is ok for root vegetables, chop everything into 1 inch pieces.
- Heat oil in a large pot, add all the ingredients except the water, cook on high heat for 5 to 10 minutes, stirring constantly.
- Add water and salt and stir to mix, bring to a boil then reduce to a simmer, uncovered for about 30 minutes. Strain liquid into a pot and discard vegetables. When stock cools, put in containers and refrigerate until needed, should keep for several days refrigerated, can also be frozen.
- Use vegetable stock as a soup base, boiling chicken, cooking beans, etc. If a recipe calls for water, use the stock to add a bit of flavor, and nutrition.
Notes
This is a great way to use up old veggys sitting in the fridge, if you want to maximize the use of your veggys, save all trimmings and put in the freezer, when you have a good amount, make some stock. Trimmings can include: mushroom pieces, butt ends of asparagus, corn cobs, bell pepper pieces, pea pods, celery root ends, potato, and carrot peelings.
Adapted from an internet recipe.
Pinto Bean Chili
An easy chili using our Chili Beans recipe listed on this site. The chili beans are the bulk of the recipe, just add ground meat, an onion, tomatoes and chilies. I made this on 1 Aug 2016, excellent, my comments below. Link to the shortcut is listed in the Recipe Notes section.
Ingredients
- 4 cups Chili Beans and Sauce, Shortcut
- 750 grams ground beef, OR pork, OR chicken, (1 1/2 lbs)
- 1 onion, diced
- 1 can whole peeled tomatoes, chopped plus juice
- 1-2 Bird's Eye Chilis, chopped
Instructions
- Cook the ground beef in a large pot along with the onion, when cooked, drain off fat, not all, just most of it. Add the chili beans, chopped tomatoes, juice from the can, chilies, stir to mix and simmer for about 20 minutes to heat it through.
- Serve and enjoy.
- Or serve topped with shredded Cheddar cheese, diced onions, sour cream, well, you get the point. Enjoy.
Notes
The chili beans would cost about 65 Baht for 8-10 cups worth, 3-4 cups is minimal. Ground beef would be about 75-100 Baht for 500 grams, pork and chicken would be less. Easily less than $1 per meal for 4 people.
Shortcut: Chili Beans.
Variants: 1. Use a 1 lb 8 oz (680 g) can of ground pork or beef, drained, in place of fresh beef or pork. 2. Use a can of diced tomatoes in place of chopped whole tomatoes.
Adapted from an internet recipe.
Chili Beans (Slow Cooker)
I like to cook with dried beans, they are nutritious and versatile. This is the homemade version of canned Chili Beans, healthier and more nutritious. These can be served as a side, as a main, or as a base for chili. Takes some time but well worth it. I made these on 30 July 2016, very good! The recipe is a total rewrite to make into a slow cooker recipe. Link to the shortcut is listed in the Recipe Notes section.
Equipment
- Slow Cooker
Ingredients
- 500 grams dry Pinto beans, (1 lb)
- 1 large onion, minced
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- ½ cup taco seasoning mix, (two 1.25 oz packets), Shortcut
- 1 can tomato paste, the small 170 gram can
- 4 cups chicken stock, or vegetable stock for vegetarian
Instructions
- Pick through and discard irregular beans or stones. In 5 quart container, add dry beans and soak for at least 8 hours and up to 24 hours. Drain beans, discard soaking liquid, rinse and drain beans.
- In your slow cooker add the chicken stock, or 4 cups of water and stir in the stock powder, add in the taco seasoning and whisk well. Add the tomato paste and whisk more so no lumps, then add the onion and garlic. Add the beans and give a quick stir. Add salt to taste. Cook on High setting for at least 8 hours up to 12 hours, depends on the age of the beans so you will need to check them (this is based on my slow cooker) and the beans will still have a bit of bite to them but are not mush either.
- Serve as a main dish as a soup with topping just like chili, such as grated Cheddar cheese, diced onions, and sour cream, with crackers or cornbread on the side. Serve as a side dish with Mexican dishes, burgers, pulled pork, or as a base for other recipes listed below.
Notes
A bag of 500 grams of beans will cost between 50 and 65 Baht. Make the stock from scratch or from stock base powder. For 10 cups of beans and sauce, this dish is well under $1 per person per serving.
Shortcut: Taco Seasoning.
Used in Recipe Listed on this Site:
- Mexican Casserole.
- Chili Cornbread Pie.
- Pinto Bean Chili, made it, GO-TO recipe.
- Taco Soup.
- Slow Cooker Cowboy Casserole.
