Crockpot Asian Chicken

Cold, cold day working from home.  What to have for dinner?  I surfed through Pinterest for "healthy crock pot chicken" recipes and came up with this one.  I had all of the ingredients to throw this in the crock pot.  The original blogger stated that she put it under the broiler before serving; I tried this and it really didn't do anything other than start to dry out the chicken; however mine also didn't come out as "saucy" looking as the picture that was posted.  But, I did use some of the extra sauce from the crockpot to spoon over the chicken.  I served the chicken with some jasmine rice that I made, with some peas and sauteed onions mixed in.  A little bit of the sauce mixed into the rice, and the meal was delicious -- got thumbs up from the hubs!

• 1 cup pineapple juice
• ½ cup brown sugar
• 1/3 cup light soy sauce
  (I only had regular so I used that, and the nutritional information below is based on that)
• 2 lbs. boneless, skinless chicken breast

DIRECTIONS

1. Cook in crock pot on low 6-8 hours and it should just fall apart.
2. Serve

Adapted from Life in My Empty Nest blog

Serves Approximately 8
Nutritional Data:
(click to enlarge image)

Chicken Taco Soup

THANK YOU CHARLOTTE!  Ok, so you may not have created it, but you introduced me to it and you shared the recipe with me.  So YOU ROCK!

Me + Spicy = YUM!  (Jim + Spicy = Not So Much, but he partook... counting down the minutes until I see the first Tums come out... doh!).  Anyway, I LOVE this, and so easy since you just dump it all in the crockpot and 7 hours later, viola... awesome dinner ready to serve!

• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 (16 oz.) can pinto beans, UNDRAINED
  (the recipe called for "chili beans")
• 1 (15 oz.) can black beans, UNDRAINED
• 1 (15 oz.) can whole kernel corn, drained
• 1 (8 oz.) can tomato sauce
• 1 (12 oz.) can or bottle of beer
  (I used Sam Adams Boston Lager .... SORRY HONEY!)
• 2 (10 oz.) cans diced tomatoes with green chilies, UNDRAINED
• 1 (1.25 oz.) package taco seasoning
• 3-4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
  (the recipe calls for 3 whole chicken breasts; I used split breasts and I thought there was plenty)  I now make it with only TWO chicken breasts halves and think that is plenty... anymore, it is more of a "stew" than a "soup" in my opinion.

DIRECTIONS

1. Place the onion, pinto and black beans, corn, tomato sauce, beer and diced tomatoes in a slow cooker.
2. Add taco seasoning and stir to blend.
3. Lay chicken breasts on top of the mixture, pressing down slightly until just covered by the other ingredients.
4. Set slow cooker for low heat, cover and cook for 5 hours.
5. After 5 hours, remove chicken breasts from the soup and allow to cool long enough to be handled.
6. Shred/pull the chicken and add back into the soup.
7. Continue cooking on low for another 2 hours.
8. Serve with optional condiments:

• shredded cheddar cheese
• sour cream (shown in picture)
• crushed tortilla chips

Adapted from allrecipes.com

Nutritional Data:
(click on image for larger view) 

Corn Casserole

We had our first taste of this sweet corn goodness back in June when we celebrated the Triple Thanksgiving in June Birthdays.  LaDawna brought this fantastic side dish, that is probably not something you would want to count the calories for, but it's oh-so-good!  Catherine and I decided we just had to have it as part of our Feast of Christmas Eve, so as LaDawna was rushing up to her own family's Christmas up in Maine, she sent me the recipe for us to enjoy.  Thank you LaDawna (and Darolyn)!

• (3) 16 oz. packages of frozen yellow and white corn mix
• 8 oz. cream cheese
• ¼ cup butter
• 3 Tbsp. water
• 2 Tbsp. milk
• 2 Tbsp. sugar
• 4 slices of processed cheese, cut into small pieces
  (We used Sargento's Cheddar/Mozzarella slices)

DIRECTIONS

1. Combine all ingredients in a slow cooker, mixing well.
2. Cover and cook on low for 4 hours or until heated through and cheese is melted.

Note:  I goofed and forgot to get this going by 9:00 a.m.  I didn't realize until 11:00.  DOH!  We quickly put everything in the crock pot and put the setting on high, for about two hours.  As it got closer to eating time, and it still wasn't quite heated through, we transferred everything into a casserole dish, wrapped it in tin foil, and put in the oven at 400° for about 30 minutes.  It was perfect!

Southern Swedish Meatballs

What's the common theme in a lot of my recipes?  MARTHA, MARTHA, MARTHA.  Guess what?!  This recipe DID NOT come from Martha.  But... it was made BECAUSE OF Martha.  Yesterday, we had a celebration for the most anticipated event of the past 3+ years -- Martha and her husband welcoming a beautiful baby boy into their family and our group joyously showering them with (hopefully) everything they could need!


Our theme for the shower was to try and cater to Martha's love of the Muppets.  This turned out to be a little harder than we thought, but one of the easy things was thinking of the Swedish Chef and making Swedish Meatballs.  I asked LaDawna and she said she had a great recipe, but they were not just Swedish, but SOUTHERN Swedish.  We couldn't figure out what Southern Swedish meant, other than speculating that these are kind of like Southern Fried Chicken Steak, or something.  Regardless, they were fun to make (totally from scratch) and flavorly delicious!  The day before the Shower, the kids and I went to LaDawna's, and as Catherine and LaDawna made 3 different batches of cookies, I made the meatballs -- rolling out 6 batches of this recipe, making 250 meatballs!  Considering there were only about 2 dozen left, I deem these a hit!

Meatballs

• 1 lb. ground beef (85%)
• 1 packet Lipton onion soup mix
• 2/3 cup evaporated milk
• 2 Tbsp. Worcestershire sauce

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to broil
2. In a bowl, mix all of the ingredients together
3. Form into small, bite-sized balls
4. Line cookie sheet with aluminum foil
5. Broil meatballs on bottom rack for approximately 15-20 minutes or until starting to brown
6. Flip meatballs to broil on other side for approximately 10-15 minutes more, until starting to brown and cooked through

Sauce

• 2 cups ketchup
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1 Tbsp. Worcestershire sauce

DIRECTIONS

1. In crockpot, combine all sauce ingredients
2. Turn crockpot on to LOW
3. When sugar melts, add meatballs
4. Cook as long as desired -- as little time as when the sauce and meatballs are warm, or as long as you want.  The longer the better!

Yields about 35-50 meatballs, depending on the size
I tripled the recipe for the party of 20 adults

Pulled Pork

At the end of the Summer of 2010, my parents came out from Arizona and I hosted a family cookout for the Lindows and Cronins, with a sprinkle of a few Lentinis. My friend Lora suggested that I make her Pulled Pork recipe since it is super easy (turns out, I think she got it from our other friend, Keryn). It was indeed super easy, and a big hit!

• 10 lbs. pork roast
  (Key Words: Rump Roast, Pork Butt, Pork Loin Roast Center Cut)
• 1 can Barq's root beer
• 1 bottle Jack Daniels Original BBQ Sauce
• 1 bottle Jack Daniels Spicy BBQ Sauce
  (I couldn't find the spicy so I just used another brand that was spicy)

DIRECTIONSPlace pork roast in crockpot and add the can of root beer.
Cook on low for 8-10 hours.
(I had it cook overnight. Lora told me to cook for 10 hours; Keryn's original recipe said 8.5 hours. It's a crockpot... you can't go wrong)
When done cooking, shred the pork and put back into juices remaining in the crockpot.
Add the bottles of BBQ sauce and cook on low for 1-2 hours.

(I actually made this on a Friday night/Saturday morning for a Sunday party. When I added the BBQ sauce, I turned off the crockpot and let it cool down, and then put it in the refrigerator. Sunday morning, I took the crockpot out of the fridge about two hours before party time. I let it come down to room temperature for about an hour before turning on and then cooking on low for about an hour or two. I brought it down to the "keep warm" setting during the party, and served with rolls from Framingham Baking Company. Some people ate the pulled pork on its own, some with the rolls)

Irish Beef Stew

I found this recipe when I wasn't even looking for a beef stew recipe. Krista (kritta) from the new nest, posted it and I saved it for "some day". I have made a beef stew before -- in a crockpot. Everyone raves about crockpot cooking, but I just find it to be "ok". To me, it tastes the same, whether you are having beef, chicken, or whatever. So, when I saw a non-crockpot beef stew, I knew at some point I would want to try it; and with MH loving Guinness, I definitely wanted to give it a try. Last Sunday, we were sitting around the table trying to figure out what we wanted to buy at the grocery store. MH mentioned a beef stew would be good for these cold days coming up, so I said "I have JUST the recipe." I made kritta's recipe last night and it was delicious!

• 2 pounds lean beef stew or chuck, in 2-inch chunks
• 1 teaspoon salt
• ½ teaspoon ground black pepper
• All-purpose flour for dredging
• 2 tablespoons bacon drippings or vegetable oil
• 2 large yellow onions, chopped
• 1 garlic clove, finely minced
• 6 to 8 medium carrots, scraped and sliced
• 2 to 3 large potatoes, peeled and cut into cubes
• 1 cup Guinness stout
• 2 cups beef broth
• 1 tablespoon cold water
• 1 tablespoon cornstarch

Directions1. Season beef with salt and pepper; toss beef chunks in flour until well coated.
2. Heat drippings or oil in Dutch oven and brown beef over medium-high heat in two batches. When all are browned, remove beef from pan and add onions and garlic and cook over medium heat until onion is translucent.
3. Return beef to pot and add carrots, potatoes, stout and broth. Bring to a boil and reduce heat to a simmer for two hours. Then before serving, dissolve the cornstarch in cold water and stir into the broth and simmer for another ½ hour.

My Modifications

I used:

• 30-35 mini carrots
• 5 potatoes
• 1 whole bottle of Guinness Stout
• 2 ½-3 cups beef broth
• 2 Tbsp. each, cold water and cornstarch
• Added sea salt and cracked ground peppercorns

Crockpot Ideas (10/09/2007)

From Jenimac:
Put 2-3 pounds of cubed stew beef with 1 cup red wine, 1 cup water, and a packet of onion soup mix. Cook on low for 5-6 hours.

From MrsSmailey:
A whole chicken rub with a packet of ranch dry mix dressing and pour 1cup to 1/2 cup chicken broth and cook on low of 8 hours..

From MrsParks23:
Basically I get stew beef, a can of beef broth, carrots and potatoes and cook them on low for 8 hours. I coat the beef in flour first so that the sauce gets thicker. Making a rue. Then I add peas at the end, frozen are ok and pour it over some kind of noodles. I like wide egg noodles - that's what my mom always bought for us.

Crockpot Garlic Chicken

I got this from Mrs.Smailey (Karyn) off the Nest. It sounds like it was made to ward off Count Dracula, and also sounds like something my mom would LOVE, and since I'm becoming a garlic fiend, I can't wait to try it. Karyn says that even though is sounds like a lots of garlic it is not overwhelming.

• (1) whole chicken
• Seasoning
• ½ cup chicken broth
• 40 cloves of garlic

Directions

Take a clean, whole chicken and rub with seasoning.
Place in crockpot.
Pour in the chicken borth and add the garlic cloves.
Cook on low for approximately 8 hours... the chicken will fall off the bone.