BBQ Chicken

BBQ Chicken

Review: Tasty and easy! My kind of meal! Everyone one enjoyed it. (I'll try and post a picture tomorrow, we have leftovers!)

Changes: I think I did it exactly as called for for once! My slow cooker seems to cook a bit hot, so I cooked it on low for 2 hours and then turned it down to warm for the final 2 hours. I used 5 chicken breasts and I think it should serve 8 people.

Served With: Roasted Potatoes With Rosemary

Spaghetti Sauce in a Crockpot

Here is what I found to try, Spaghetti Sauce in a Crockpot.

I only made half the recipe because I was afraid it wasn't going to fit in my crockpot. Looking back it probably would have. This was delicious on Eggplant Rollatini. I also have 2 bags of sauce in the freezer now. Yeah for freezer food!

Chicken Curry

Frozen for next time. Not all that pretty once cooked, but tasty!

Chicken Curry

Review: Tasty, easy once all is chopped. I think I may have misunderstood the directions. I used the amounts called for but split it between two bags. One bag just served 2.5. So next time I'll double it. I love that I can just throw it all in the crockpot next time.

Changes: Added a green pepper I needed to use. Also I can find the chicken stock I liked in Denver here in Pittsburg, so I used vegetable stock instead.

Served With: Nothing, its a whole meal in one pot! A simple salad would be nice though, with a mango dressing. Hmmm...

Crock-pot Rotisserie Chicken

Crock-pot Rotisserie Chicken

Review: Delicious! Pretty easy, except deskinning the chicken.
Changes: I just eyeballed all the ingredients.
Served With: Homemade bread and mashed sweet potatoes.

Plenty of leftovers! I think I'll make some chicken salad and freeze some for another meal.

Sorry for the lack of pictures, the camera was in the basement hiding...

Crockpot Orange Chicken

Crockpot Orange Chicken

Review: A little bit time consuming, cutting, breading, and cooking. First bite tasted like candy, a bit odd. But after that it was pretty tasty. Abigail really liked it.

Changes: I eyeballed the ingredients. There wasn't directions on how much meat, so I used 1.25 lbs. This should serve the 4-5.

Served With: Green salad and rice.

Next time I think I'll find some snap peas or something to add to the crockpot. I doubled the sauce and froze half for another meal.

BBQ Pulled Pork

5 boneless pork loin chops
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup Baby Rays BBQ + more for topping

Put it all in the slow cooker for 3-4 hours on low. Pull the chops out and shred. Place the pork in a oven safe dish and spoon in some of the juice and add some more BBQ. Bake covered for 30 minutes at 350 degrees. Serve warm on buns. And if your odd, add a pickle. Haha, thats for you babe!

Served With: Frozen veggies because I forgot to get corn. Oops.

You can throw whatever pork you have and do this with it. I think it might taste even better if you used broth instead of water. If you use a fatty meat might want to skim some of the fat off before you pull out the juice.

Enjoy!

Slow-Cooker Cranberry Pork

Slow-Cooker Cranberry Pork

1 (16 oz) can whole cranberry sauce
1/3 cup fat free Catalina salad dressing
1 onion, sliced
4 3/4" thick pork loin chops

Review: Simple! I really enjoyed the sauce. Meat was dry, but that was my fault.

Changes: I didn't want to buy pork loin roast, since I just got some chops on sale a week ago. So I used the chops, but didn't adjust the cooking time enough. I did 1.5 hours on high and 1.5 on low.

Served With: Fresh green beans and wheat bread.

Abigail even helped me tonight! As I cut the onions she put them in the bowl. I would like to learn to incorporate her more in the things I do. She wants to be around and help, so put her to work! She also helped unload the dishwasher, bringing me items to put on the shelves.

Nick just found out he is going to be out of town Wednesday through Friday. I've got to learn to be flexible! I'm not sure what I'm going to do for dinner Thursday night now... I enjoy sharing dinner with another adult and I never know how much Abigail is going to eat, so it doesn't really feel worth it to cook for just the two of us. 

Crock-pot Lasagna

This recipe is based off this Kraft recipe. But I wanted to make it a little healthier.

1 lb. Italian turkey sausage, casing removed
24 oz. spaghetti sauce
1 cup water
15 oz low-fat ricotta cheese
7 oz 2% milk shredded mozzarella cheese, divided
1/4 cup low-fat grated parmesan cheese, divided
1 organic egg
3 Tbsp. chopped fresh parsley
12 oz chopped frozen broccoli, thawed
6 lasagna noodles, uncooked

1.  Cook meat in large pot, drain and rinse. Stir in spaghetti sauce and water.
2.  In a separate large bowl mix ricotta, 1 1/2 cups mozzarella, 2 Tbsp parmesan, egg, parsley, and broccoli.
3.  Spoon 1 cup meat sauce into slow cooker. Top with 3 noodles broken to fit and 1/2 of the cheese mixture. Spoon 2 cups meat sauce on top. Add another layer of noodles and the rest of the cheese mixture. Top with rest of meat sauce. Place lid on slow cooker.
4.  Cook on low 5 hours or until liquid is absorbed. Sprinkle with remaining cheeses and let stand covered 10 minutes or until melted.

Review: Pretty tasty, good way to hide some more veggies. I think I would like to get a little more flavor.

Changes: Maybe add a little oregano to the cheese mixture. I would like to find an organic lower sodium spaghetti sauce. I would like to have a healthier noodle, but haven't found them at the store.

Served With: Salad and garlic toast. Served to my in-laws. I think I would normally not have the garlic toast, there are enough carbs in the noodles.