"Crack" Chicken

My friend, Elena, introduced our family to this recipe. "Crack" chicken is truly addictive!...AND, it's so so easy. You can serve this in a variety of ways...over pasta or rice or zoodles, as a dip, or just by itself with some veggies on the side. These days I'm looking for through my pantry and trying to come up with recipes to use things I already have on hand. I would venture to guess that if you're not a vegetarian, you probably have MOST of these things in your pantry/fridge. The exception may be the ranch packet. The next time you're getting groceries, grab a couple of these and some Italian dressing packets...you never know when they may come in handy. Hope you enjoy this as much as we did!

Ingredients:
3 lbs chicken breasts (or thighs, whatever you have is fine)
8 oz cream cheese
1 Ranch seasoning packet
1/2 cup water
8 oz shredded cheddar cheese (again, whatever you have on hand will work)
8 slices cooked bacon (Kirkland precooked bacon is a great shortcut...just heat it to crisp it)

Method:
You can make this either in the Instant Pot or the Crockpot. Just add the chicken, cream cheese, Ranch packet and water to your device. Set Instant Pot to high pressure for 15 minutes then let it release on its own. Set Crockpot for 8 hours on low or 4 hours on high. Once the chicken is cooked, shred it, return it to your cooking device, add the cheese and bacon, and stir. THAT'S IT! Voila! Dinner is served.

Happy Cooking!

Egg cups (instant pot)

These egg cups could not be easier. If you are looking for a quick, protein packed breakfast, this is it! you can substitute the bacon with sausage, spinach, broccoli, onions, or any other fillings that you like. I have made these and served them immediately, and I have also made them ahead of time and popped them in the fridge. You then can heat in the microwave, and, Voila! instant breakfast.

Happy Cooking!

Egg Cups:

Ingredients:
4 slices cooked bacon
4 eggs
1/2 cup cottage cheese
1/4 cup milk
1/4 cup cheese (I used cheddar, but you could use gruyere, swiss, mozzarella, etc.)
salt & pepper to taste (1/2 tsp salt, 1/4 tsp pepper)
dash hot sauce if you'd like
(you will also need 4 small ramekins)

Method:
Spray ramekins with cooking spray or grease with butter. Crumble one piece of bacon into each ramekin. Whisk together remaining ingredients. Pour egg mixture evenly into ramekins. Cover each ramekin lightly with foil. Place 1 cup water in bottom of instant pot. Add trivet. Place ramekins on trivet. Set instant pot to steam for 8 minutes. Allow pot to slow release for 5 minutes then quick release. Serve either in ramekins or turn egg cups out onto individual plates. Enjoy!