Santa Fe Chicken

This recipe is from my friend Shanda, who is the ultimate stay-at-home mom. She soars with Fly Lady (I sort of flop with Fly Lady) and is an expert meal planner. When I got married, one of the best gifts she gave me was a girl-to-girl talk on how to meal plan cheaply and easily. One recipe she gave me I still go to regularly (at least once or twice a month). There are two versions, vegetarian and non-vegetarian. I'll give you the vegetarian one that I made up and then mention how to change it for meat eaters....

Ingredients:
2 cans of black beans
1 can corn
1 cup salsa
1 bag of Morningstar chic'n strips (fake chicken, really yummy)
1 block of cream cheese

Directions:
Put all of ingredients except creme cheese in a crock pot. Cook for 1-2 hours on low (or since it is fake chicken, just until everything is heated through). Add a block of cream cheese and heat on low for an hour more.

Serve over brown rice, in tortillas or as a nacho topper. Delicious. I usually serve with a green salad or raw pepper strips to round out the Mexican theme. Jason loves this and it will feed the two of us at least two dinners and two lunches for the week, usually even more. It is cheap and goes a LONG way!

Carnivore Version:
Omit ONE can of beans and add four chicken breasts (better thawed but I have done it frozen and it works great! Anything that requires as little forethought as possible is my kind of meal!)

Put beans, corn, and 1/2 cup of the salsa in crock pot. Mix together. Arrange chicken on top and cover with other 1/2 cup salsa (sometimes I add more salsa to either version because I love salsa). Cook on low for FOUR hours. Add cream cheese and cook for another hour. Ta da! You are now a cook!

What is nice about this is that it is done in a crock pot. Set your timer and take off for work. The real chicken will shred into tiny pieces (you can help it along with a fork if needed).

Enjoy and let me know if you make it and how you like it!