Ahira's Hangar

You really have to know your crockpot for this recipe. If it's one that's older than five years old, and follows the older long term cooking temperatures crockpots were famous for, the dish can take six to eight hours to cook. If it's five years old or newer, they tend to cook so hot it can be done in as little as four hours on LOW. But the finished dish is worth playing around with. I've had posters on other boards tell me it's good enough to be considered 'company food.'

Cream Cheese Chicken with Broccoli or Peas
(Pam/Menolly)

4 lbs. boneless, skinless chicken breasts, frozen
olive oil
salt and pepper to taste
1 package of dry Italian salad dressing mix (Good Seasons is fine)
1 can condensed low-fat cream of chicken soup
1 8 oz brick of low-fat cream cheese or Neufchatel, cut up in cubes
1/4 cup dry sherry or dry white wine (optional, can use all chicken juices instead)
1 large onion
1/2 lb. sliced fresh mushrooms
crushed garlic to taste
10 oz. frozen broccoli florets or frozen green peas

Spritz chicken breasts with olive oil from a mister and sprinkle with the dry Italian salad dressing mix (I did two layers in my Crock-Pot to make sure that the Italian seasoning got on all the chicken and not just those pieces on top).

If using a newer Crock-Pot bought within the past five years, cover and cook on LOW for 3-4 hours. If using an older model that doesn't cook as hot, cover and cook on LOW for 6-8 hours.

About 45 minutes before done, sauté the onion and sliced mushrooms in a pan with cooking spray and then add the cream cheese, soup, and sherry to the saucepan, along with 1/4 cup of the juices that accumulate in the Crock-Pot, heat gently. If you have a fat separator, be sure to use that on the juices first. Add the crushed garlic and stir all ingredients until smooth. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Pour sauce mixture over chicken in Crock-Pot (do not drain out the rest of the juices, but use a fat separator on them if you can), add frozen florets or peas and cook an additional 30-45 minutes. Remove chicken to platter and stir sauce before putting in gravy boat.

Serve over mashed potatoes, boiled egg noodles or fettucini noodles.

This is a lower fat version of a classic crock pot recipe. I do not recommend using any non-fat substitutions, they just do not blend together as well in the end. Do not defrost the breasts first, it helps keep them from drying out.

One thing I had started doing not noted above, is cubing the chicken, misting with the olive oil and tossing with salad dressing mix prior to freezing it. I then just toss it frozen into the Crock-Pot to cook for three to four hours on LOW and proceed with the recipe from there. Done this way, no knives are needed to eat the recipe.

Jane's note: Using diced chicken, this made about 13 cups.
1 generous cup = 5 points (13 servings = 227 cal., 6 g. fat, 1 g. fiber; 12 servings = 246 cal, 6 g. fat, 1 g. fiber)