Crock Pot Thai Chicken

I set a new goal this year, finishing grading within a day and get the grades entered. The result: sometimes I work a little later. That can be a problem for dinner. Crockpots luckily fix this problem. I've been on a quest to find some awesome slow cooker meals to enjoy on days I anticipate to be extra busy. Watch for several slow cooker recipes in the upcoming post!

Thai Chicken:

2 Large chicken breasts
1 cup of hot salsa
1/3 cup peanut butter
2 TBS lime juice
1 TBS Soy Sauce
1 teaspoon finely minced fresh ginger
1/2 cup chopped peanuts (we like honey roasted)
fresh cilantro to garnish
Cooked rice

Place chicken in slow cooker.  In a bowl combine salsa, pb, lime juice, soy sauce, and ginger.  Pour over chicken and cook 8 hours on low.
Serve over rice and add chopped peanuts and cilantro to the dish.

Honey Lime Enchiladas

When we bought a 5 gallon jar of honey from a local farmer we knew it was time to step up the honey recipes outside of the normal uses. (Tea and biscuits weren't going to cut it helping this honey really be enjoyed).
Blessed Pinterest has way enhanced the culinary enthusiasm lately. Low and behold I found this awesome link here:http://www.justcookalready.com/2009/06/honey-lime-chicken-enchiladas.html

Here was our re-creation:


Recipe:
2 Large Chicken Breasts, boiled and chopped in bite sized pieces
Set in a bowl and set aside

Mix in another bowl:
1/3 cup honey
1/4 cup fresh lime juice
2 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp. garlic powder
 whisk together and pour over the chicken

While marinading, take out 10 corn tortilla shells and warm up in a skillet to soften.
Stuff with chicken mixture and sprinkle Mexican cheese on top and lay seam side down inside a baking pan.

When all are rolled and placed take out a new bowl.  Mix 1 can green enchilada sauce and 1/2 cup cream together.  Pour a little in the bottom of the pan first, then add to left over marinade and mix together.  Pour all over enchiladas and top with cheese.

Bake on 350 for 30 minutes.  You will NOT be disappointed!

Easy Poppyseed Chicken Casserole

1 1/2 cup cooked diced chicken (about 1 large or 2 small breasts will do it)
1 can of cream of chicken soup
1/2 cup sour cream
splash of Worcestershire sauce
10 cracks of fresh pepper ground
2 tsp poppy-seed
1 sleeve of Ritz crackers crushed
1/2 cube of butter melted (1/2 cup)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Place chicken on the bottom of a 9x9 pan.  Mix sour cream, cream of chicken, pepper, and Worcestershire sauce in a bowl.  Pour sauce mixture over chicken.  In a separate bowl mix melted butter, poppy-seeds, and crushed Ritz together.  Pour over the chicken mixture.

Bake for 25 minutes until the top is crisp and the liquid is boiling.

Cafe Rio Style Pork Barbacoa in the Crock Pot

We are lucky enough to live near Cafe Rio, which has to-die-for Pork Barbacoa.  We decided to try their pork recipe and make our own salads.  There are several copy cat recipes out there, most pretty good, some not so great.  But we played with all the recipes and found one we absolutely love!

Ingredients:
Pork roast (about 2 lbs)
2 cups of root beer (don't do diet you need that sugar)
2 cans of tomato sauce (8 oz each)
2 TBSP honey
1 clove of garlic minced
10 cracks of fresh ground pepper
1 1/2 cups of brown sugar
2 tsp cumin
1/4 tsp salt

Coat the pork roast with salt and pepper and cook in water overnight on low for 8 hours.  Drain all the water from the roast when finished cooking  Shred the pork in fairly thick shreds (too small makes it mushy and you can always further shred later).
In a separate bowl mix all the ingredients together.  Note the salt and pepper go in the mix too, what you used above was separate.  Pour the liquid over the shredded pork and cook on low for 4 more hours.
*If you want to do it before work and need it to sit for 8 hours in the crock pot double the liquid amounts above.

Serve over cilantro-lime rice, beans, lettuce, and a tortilla shell.  Add cheese, guac, and pico de gallo for a salad.  Or serve inside shells with rice and beans as a burrito.

Chicken & Berry Summer Salad with Strawberry Vinaigrette

This is surprisingly tangy and more flavor than you'd expect in a salad! Here's the steps to making it:

Ingredients:
2 Chicken Breasts
Italian Dressing/Poppyseed dressing (or you could sub 1 TBSP honey)
Spring Mix Salad
Blueberries
Strawberries
Cinnamon Toasted Almonds
Strawberry Vinaigrette (see below)

Marinate chicken in about 1/2 cup of Italian dressing with a few TBSPs of poppyseed dressing (or honey if you'd rather). This makes a tangy but slightly sweet marinade. Grill 7 minutes on each side on medium high and remove. Put in a ceramic plate tented with foil, this will cook the inside if it wasn't fully cooked and lock in the juices.

Prepare Vinaigrette:
1/2 cup cider vinegar
1/2 cup honey
1/2-1 clove garlic
1 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
1 cup strawberries

Throw all ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth. While blending add 1/2 cup oil.
Then remove from blender and stir in 1 1/2 tsp. poppyseeds

This is crazy tangy stuff, apply in small amounts and add as your taste buds desire.

Plate spring mix and top with sliced strawberries and blueberries. Add the cinnamon almonds crushed coarsely. Slice your chicken in bite sized slices and add to salad. Add vinaigrette in small amounts until it suits your taste.

Crock Pot Ranch Chicken

This one is simple, only 4 ingredients, and DELICIOUS!

1 package cream cheese (you can even get away with the fat free stuff)
1 can of cream of chicken soup
2 large (or 3 small) chicken breasts
1 package of ranch seasoning mix

Place the chicken on the bottom of the crock pot, mix cream cheese, cream of chicken, and seasoning mix together and pour on top. If you're feeling lazy you can even just throw them all in and stir when it's hot and melty, you just have a little chunkier sauce like the image above.
Cook for 6 hours on low or 3 hours on high.
Serve over rice.

Steel Cut Oats with Berries and Pecans

My Dad figured out a cool trick with a rice cooker. I have a Aroma rice cooker from Costco and could sing its praises all day long. It's a steamer, slow cooker, and makes rice perfectly every time. It has a delay feature up to 8 hours, which made this trick even better! My Dad tried to put the usual one cup steel cut oats with two cups of water in the rice cooker and just pushed the white rice button. Low and behold it makes perfect steel cut oats too! We are now in the habit of setting up the night before with a 7 hour delay timer and we wake up to perfectly cooked steel cut oats every time! They are healthier than regular oats and they keep you full for longer too.

1 cup steel cut oats
2 cups water

Cook in a rice cooker with the white rice button. It will likely be done just a few minutes before the beeper goes off, but it's okay to leave them in the whole cooking time.

Scoop into a mug about 3/4ths full. Add about 2 tsp milk or vanilla soymilk (I love the sweet flavor of the vanilla soymilk) Stir this together.

Scoop the following on top of the steel cut oats if you want to be cool like they do it at Jamba Juice

Chopped strawberries, raspberries, and blueberries
Pecans finely chopped
2 TBSP brown sugar per cup

Enjoy a very easy, healthy, hot breakfast!