In the Kitchen: Crock Pot Italian Chicken

I have Fridays off, which means I typically have the house to myself while my parents work during the day. I was browsing through new recipes Friday morning when my mom called. As we chatted, I offered to make dinner that night - I wanted to try one of those new recipes!

The recipe was, of course, a crock pot recipe. Crock Pot Italian Chicken to be exact. This dish consists of four basic ingredients. We did not have the cream cheese I needed, so I decided to run to Wal-Mart. And when I say run, and I really mean RUN! I ran down the Rail Trail by our house to Wal-Mart to buy cream cheese. While I was there I realized I never checked our supply of chicken (and if we did have chicken in the freezer, I should have set it out to thaw while I was out running). Since I hadn't thought ahead, I grabbed a pack of [thawed] chicken breasts and [literally] ran back home with my Wal-Mart bag of ingredients!

I mixed up the ingredients just in time for them to cook in the crock pot for a full four hours and to serve dinner at 6:15. And this meal was well worth the run to Wal-Mart! My dad commented that the creamy sauce is better than alfredo sauce, and after I took a serving of the dish to Nate, there were no leftovers!

This simple meal is so delicious, easy, and can be paired with a variety of other sides. I served it with cooked pasta and a fruity jello salad.

For chicken or crock pot lovers, I highly recommend this meal! Here's the recipe:

• 4 chicken breasts
• 1 packet dry Zesty Italian dressing (I used regular.)
• 1 (8 oz) package cream cheese, softened
• 1-2 cans cream of chicken soup (depending on how cream cheesy you want it)

Place the chicken in the crock pot and sprinkle Italian dressing over it. Combine cream cheese and cream of chicken soup in a small pot over low heat and pour over chicken. Cook on low in the crock pot for at least 4 hours (you can leave it in there all day). Once chicken is done, stir into the sauce. If you feel the sauce is too thick you can thin it with a little milk. Serve over pasta or rice.

Photo and recipe came from this site. Check it out for other yummy ideas! Maybe you'll find yourself running to the store for some ingredients this week ; )