Dinner in a Pot: Kale & Tortellini Soup

In a large sauce pan add:

2 C Chicken Broth
1/2 C Cooked, Cubed Chicken
1/2 C Cubed Ham
1 1/2 C Uncooked Cheese Tortellini
Garlic to taste (1-3 cloves)
Thyme to taste (1/2 t)
Celery Salt to taste (1/2 t)

Place on stove and cook until it begins to boil, turn down to a simmer and add:

4 oz Cream Cheese

Cook until the tortellini is soft then add:

1/2 C Milk
1/2 C Chopped Spinach
1 C Pieces of Kale

Cook until the Kale is bright green and the Spinach is wilted.

Serve with fresh croutons!

Cranberry-BBQ Chicken

I've seen many versions of this, but here is my own take on the Cranberry-BBQ Chicken:

3 Large Skinless/Boneless Chicken Breasts

1 Can (14 oz) Whole-berry Cranberry Sauce

1/2 C BBQ Sauce of your choice

1/3 C Dried or 1/2 C Fresh Diced Onions

1 t Diced Garlic

1/4 t Five Spice (an Asian spice that is found in most grocery stores in the spice aisle)

1/4 t Dried Basil Flakes

1/8 t Red Pepper Powder

Salt and Black Pepper to taste

In a medium bowl mix all the ingredients except chicken breasts.

Put frozen chicken and sauce mixture in a crockpot. Cook: 4-5 hours on high or 6-8 hours on low.

After the chicken has begun to thaw/cook, pull it out and slice each breast into 4-5 pieces. Return to crockpot for remaining time.

Serve with baked potato or shred the chicken and serve over a bun.

This recipe can be prepared in advance and then frozen: mix sauce as directed, put chicken breasts in freezer bags, pour sauce over the chicken, freeze. The night before you plan to cook it, take a bag from the freezer and thaw it out in the refrigerator. Cook as directed (times can be lowered an hour with thawed chicken).