So here’s what’s left of the 2 pounds of Cafe Rio chicken that I made for lunch/dinner today.  Cafe Rio is one of my husband’s favorite restaurants so I thought I’d give this recipe a try and I was not disappointed!  It was really easy to make and tasted awesome!  The recipe comes from a blog called “Chef in Training”.

2 pounds chicken breasts

1/2 small bottle of Zesty Italian dressing (which is 8 oz or 1 cup), I used Zesty Free Italian dressing to cut down on calories and I don’t think you can taste the difference

1/2 tablespoon minced garlic (I used 2 cloves of fresh garlic)

1 package Ranch dressing mix, mixed with 1/2 cup water

1/2 tablespoon chili powder

1/2 tablespoon cumin

Place all ingredients in crock pot.  (I put the chicken in the crock pot and then mixed the remaining ingredients in a large measuring cup with a whisk and then poured it over the chicken.)  Cook on high 5 – 6 hours or on low 8 hours.  Shred with fork.  (Here’s the best tip I’ve ever learned from going to many years of “Taste of Home Cooking Schools” –   put the cooked chicken into the bowl of your mixer and then with paddle attachment, mix on low speed until chicken is shredded, I didn’t time it but I’m pretty sure it took less than a minute and it works like a charm!)  Here’s what I did with the sauce left in the crock pot after removing and shredding chicken, since it had lots of chicken bits and stuff in it, I strained it and then mixed it into the shredded chicken.