I've been complaining lately about my crockpot chicken dishes turning out dry and bland. I finally found a crockpot chicken recipe that wasn't dry or bland...yay! I'm not sure if it didn't turn out dry because there was plenty of liquid for it to cook in or what. At any rate, Santa Fe Chicken is a keeper! It's very versatile as well and can be eaten in a number of ways.
Santa Fe Chicken
From Skinny Taste
24 oz (1 1/2) lbs chicken breast
14.4 oz can diced tomatoes with mild green chilies
15 oz can black beans
8 oz frozen corn
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
14.4 oz can fat free chicken broth (or homemade broth to keep it all-natural)
3 scallions, chopped
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp onion powder
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp cayenne pepper (to taste)
salt to taste
Combine chicken broth, beans, corn, tomatoes, cilantro, scallions, garlic powder, onion powder, cumin, cayenne pepper and salt in the crock pot
. Season chicken breast with salt and lay on top.
Cook on low for 10 hours or on high for 6 hours. Half hour before serving, remove chicken and shred. Return chicken to slow cooker and stir in. Adjust salt and seasoning to taste. Serve over rice or tortillas and your favorite toppings. We ate ours with tortilla chips, salsa verde, sour cream and shredded cheese.
One of my favorite pasta dishes I like to make is my homemade chicken Alfredo (check out the original recipe here). I was going to make it last night again, but decided to mix it up a little bit. Since we've been eating more low-carb meals, I swapped out the pasta for a thin pizza crust. My hubby had found this amazing recipe for thin crust pizzas made on the grill and so we combined the two recipes. AMAZING! The Alfredo sauce made for a perfect pizza sauce and combined with the chicken, veggies and lots of mozzarella cheese, it was super delicious. The pizza dough sounds like a lot of work, but it's actually pretty easy and you can double or triple the recipe and freeze the extra crusts.
Chicken Alfredo Pizza
Homemade Alfredo Sauce (recipe here) **Double the sauce up and freeze the extras for another meal
Thin-Crusted Pizza Crusts (see recipe below) **Double the recipe and freeze the extras
1 large onion cut into 1/2-inch chunks
1 package fresh mushrooms
1 or 2 large chicken breasts, diced
2 cups mozzarella cheese
salt and pepper
oregano
Saute the chicken with salt, pepper and oregano until no longer pink. Add in the onions and mushrooms and cook until soft.
Prepare the grill for direct cooking over medium heat (350° to
450°F).
Lay the dough on the cooking grate, with the paper side facing
up. Grab one corner of the paper with tongs and peel it off. Grill over
direct medium heat until they are marked on the underside, 2 to 3
minutes, rotating the crusts occasionally for even cooking. Don't worry
if the crusts bubble; they will deflate when turned over. Transfer the
crusts to the back of a baking sheet, with the grilled sides facing up.
Spread about ½ cup of the Alfredo sauce across each pizza crust, leaving a
½-inch border around the edges. Arrange the onions, mushrooms and chicken over the
sauce. Sprinkle the cheese on top. Transfer the pizzas from the baking
sheet to the cooking grate. Grill until the crusts are crisp and the
cheese is melted, 4 to 5 minutes, rotating the crusts occasionally for
even cooking. Sprinkle with more oregano. Transfer to a cutting board. Cut
into wedges. Serve warm.
Thin-Crusted Pizza Dough
Adapted from Weber's Real Grilling by Jamie Purviance
1 envelope active dry yeast
½ teaspoon granulated sugar
¾ cup warm water (105° to 115°F)
2-½ cups all-purpose flour, plus more for rolling dough
Extra-virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon kosher salt
In a medium bowl combine the yeast and sugar with the warm water. Stir once and let stand until foamy, 5 to 10 minutes. Add 2-½ cups of the flour, 3 tablespoons of olive oil, and the salt. Stir until the dough holds together. Transfer to a lightly floured work surface and knead until smooth, 4 to 6 minutes. Shape into a ball and place in a lightly oiled bowl. Turn the ball to cover the surface with oil. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and set aside in a warm place until the dough doubles in size, 1 to 1-½ hours. Punch down the dough in the bowl. Transfer to a lightly floured surface
and cut into 4 equal pieces. Cut parchment paper into 9-inch squares and
lightly oil each sheet of paper on one side. Roll or press the dough
flat on the oiled side of the paper into circles about 8 inches in
diameter, leaving the dough a little thicker at the edge than in the
middle. Then lightly oil the top side of the dough. At this point, the crusts are ready to grill or can be frozen to be used later.
Liesl is so proud of the watermelon she grew! Look how huge it is...almost half the height of Liesl!! And it tastes delicious too! Yay gardening :)
Another crockpot chicken recipe, another disappointment. I'm just not loving how the chicken turns out in the crockpot...dry, flavorless and bland. Any suggestions on cooking chicken in the crockpot??
Crockpot Balsamic Chicken
Adapted from Keepn Up With J
- 4-5 frozen chicken breasts
- 2 small yellow squash
- 1 medium zucchini
- 1 medium purple onion
- 2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
- 1/4 cup Balsamic vinegar
Place frozen chicken breasts in the bottom of a medium/large crock pot. Slice all of your veggies – squash, zucchini, onion – and throw into the crock pot over your chicken. Add Worcestershire sauce and Balsamic vinegar. Cook on High for 4 hours. Keep heated on Warm until ready to serve. You can shred or leave your chicken whole
Before going clean, I used to make a meatball dish that was delish and super easy. I wanted to make it last week, but when I looked at the frozen meatballs, I was surprised once again at the amount of preservatives. So, I decided to make my own. Well, technically, I decided that my hubby would make his own ;)
Unfortunately, my husband lost his job two weeks ago and so he's been very bored at home while he job searches. To keep him occupied (and out of my hair!), I've given him some cooking and baking tasks, since he loves to cook and bake as much as I do. (Sorry ladies, he's all mine and yes, I know how lucky I am to have a man who cooks ;)
Anywho...here's his recipe. They turned out so yummy, I didn't even use the sauce I usually pair with them.
Homemade Meatballs
Adapted from The Kitchn
2 lbs. ground meat of your choice (Matt used ground beef)
2 tablespoons of either or a combination of: dried oregano, dried basil, dried thyme
1 tsp. salt
2 tsp. ground black pepper
1 cup grated Parmesan or Romano cheese
2 cups bread crumbs
2 eggs
1/2 cup tomato sauce
1 clove garlic, minced
2 tbsp. chopped fresh parsley
Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Combine all the ingredients in a bowl and mix with your hands. Mix well but don't overmix or you will end up with dense meatballs. If the mixture does not stick together, add a little more tomato sauce a tablespoon at a time. Form the meat mixture into balls about 1 to 2 inches in diameter. Don't pack them too tight. Place the meatballs on a baking sheet and bake for 20 to 25 minutes. Serve the meatballs over pasta and sauce.
Additional Information:
You could try adding chopped vegetables such as onions, peppers, and eggplant for more flavor. You can also cook the meatballs in a skillet for 7 to 8 minutes if you don't want to use an oven.
I love chicken wings almost as much as I love pizza. I found raw chicken wings on sale at Kroger the other week and so I decided to make our own at home.
My favorite chicken wings are the garlic Parmesan and chipolte BBQ dust from Buffalo Wild Wings and so I looked up a copycat recipes online. I could only find the garlic parm recipe, so that's what I went with. I didn't want to fry the wings to keep somewhat healthy and so I also found a recipe for baked chicken wings that are just as crispy at their fried counterparts.
They turned out so good!! Almost exactly like BW3s and a little better for you since they were baked :) Though it sounded really weird, the boiling the wings did make them nice and crispy in the oven.
BW3s Parmesan Garlic Chicken Wings
Adapted from Fifteen Spatulas and Epic Porportions
Parmesan Garlic
- 1/2 cup butter, melted
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/2 teaspoon onion salt
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper, freshly ground
- 1/2 cup parmesan cheese, grated
- See more at: http://www.epicportions.com/2009/02/25/buffalo-wild-wings-recipes/#sthash.U2dZZeQO.dpuf
1 to 2 lbs chicken wings
1/2 cup butter, melted
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon onion salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper, freshly ground
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese, grated
armesan Garlic
- 1/2 cup butter, melted
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/2 teaspoon onion salt
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper, freshly ground
- 1/2 cup parmesan cheese, grated
- See more at: http://www.epicportions.com/2009/02/25/buffalo-wild-wings-recipes/#sthash.U2dZZeQO.dpuf
Heat up a big pot of boiling water. Season the water like you would for cooking pasta.
Boil the chicken wings for 7-8 minutes, then remove them to a wire rack so the excess water can drain off.
Let them drip dry a little bit, then dry them well with a paper towel.
Season the chicken wings lightly with salt (though if you salted the boiling water enough, it won't need much, if any). Place the chicken wings directly on a sheet pan. Bake the chicken wings for 30 minutes on one side, then flip the wings and bake for another 10 minutes on the other side.
Combine the rest of the ingredients in a big bowl, add the cooked chicken wings and coat well. Serve immediately.
armesan Garlic
- 1/2 cup butter, melted
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/2 teaspoon onion salt
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper, freshly ground
- 1/2 cup parmesan cheese, grated
- See more at: http://www.epicportions.com/2009/02/25/buffalo-wild-wings-recipes/#sthash.U2dZZeQO.dpuf
When I attended the Whole Foods tour several weeks back, the nutritionist mentioned making kale chips. I was intrigued, and a little skeptical, because she said her kiddos loved them and they tasted just like potato chips. Anyway, I picked some up at Kroger (I had to read all the labels in the general vicinity because I had no idea what kale looked like!). Just to clarify...it's a large, leafy, dark green lettuce looking plant...like this...
Take the kale and remove the leaves from the ribs. Place the leaves on a cookie sheet, coat well with olive oil, salt, pepper, garlic powder and onion powder. Bake 225 degrees for 20 minutes until the kale is crispy and brown.
I served the kale chips with chicken wings to try and counteract the badness of the wings :)
Conclusion...kale chips definitely do not taste like potato chips. I thought they were nice and crispy and had good flavor, but my family disagreed. Liesl turned hers over and over before taking a very tiny bite and declaring she didn't like it. Gavin just looked at his and threw it on the ground. So, our family is probably not a kale family. Let me know what your family thinks!
