Tuesday, March 26, 2013

Spicy Chicken Mac in the Deep Covered Baker

Last month I went to a Pampered Chef party and couldn't believe how amazing the Deep Covered Baker dish was! I went to the party with my Hubby thinking no way am I gonna get sucked into buying anything. Their stuff is amazing but lets be honest, I'm a big time cheap-o! (my husband and I are both super frugal to the point where its kind of ridiculous sometimes haha) and their products can be pretty pricey, so I really didn't think I would get anything. But after seeing the host make a full pasta and chicken meal, completely in the DCB and all in the microwave, (cooking time was only 20 minutes!!!!) I was sold. Cooking frozen chicken in the microwave in just 12 minutes!? Yeah that had to happen.

I had been looking for easy quick dinner recipes to make lately in the crock pot, and the DCB just looked too good to pass up. (especially when the bundle price included the Salad Choppers (or as I now call them, my amazing super easy chicken choppers!) and the cookbook.

When it arrived I was kind of intimidated but Preston wanted to put it to immediate use (make sure we got our money's worth of course) so I looked up recipes online and found TONS! We picked out a few and went and got the ingredients. So this is the first one I tried and I was insanely happy with how FREAKING easy and quick it was!!! This recipe was also delicious, husband and I heartily approved, its going on my list of meals I will now make on a regular basis.

*For anyone interested in more recipes I am going to try and make a post for all the recipes I make in the DCB on here, it will be a new goal of mine so hopefully I can stick with it if I think people will be interested in the recipe posts! (please note most recipes can be modified to be cooked in a crock pot as well)

*And for my frugal friends out there, I will also post the price of the ingredients and the total meal cost at the end of each post. 


Spicy Chicken Mac

1 (10 ounce) can tomatoes and green chilies, diced (Rotel)
1 1/3 cup water
2 large chicken breasts
Southwest seasoning of your choice
1 (12 ounce) package Velveeta shells and cheese
1/2 cup sour cream
1/2 cup cheddar cheese, shredded (opt.)
salsa (opt.)

Sprinkle seasoning liberally over chicken. Place in Deep Covered Baker, cover, and microwave for 8-10 minutes, until cooked through. Remove and chop chicken into bite sized pieces.

To the chicken already in the baker, add macaroni, tomatoes, and water. Mix well.

Cover and microwave 10 to 12 minutes or until macaroni is tender.

Remove and stir in cheese sauce from Velveeta box and sour cream until well blended. Top with shredded cheese, additional sour cream and salsa, if desired.





*note: I used frozen chicken and it was completely cooked after 12 minutes 


(My super amazing easy chicken choppers!!! Ahhh!!! So in love with them. Chopping that chicken took like 90 seconds. No more shredding chicken with two forks for me!)



 Before cooking


Added extra cheese and salsa and sour cream to Preston's but mine was good for me just the way it was :)


And there it is! After adding the sour cream and Velveeta Cheese packet it did look pretty watery, next time I make it I will probably cut the water down to a single cup. 
(However when I heated up leftovers it was not watery at all)

Such a great, easy meal!




Total Meal Cost: Approx $5.01 

Feeds: 4-5 people

Great Value tomatoes and chilies: .63
Great Value Shells and Cheese: 1.68
Chicken two pieces: approx 2.29  (5lb. bag of Frozen Boneless Skinless Chicken: 11.48) 
1/2 cup Sour Cream: .37  (16oz Sour Cream: 1.48)
1 tbsp McCormick Southwest Seasoning: approx .04 (Bottle of seasoning: 1.62 )


Hope you enjoy! 
.xoxo.