Rosemary, Garlic & Olive Oil Chicken for the Crock Pot

Yesterday I was on a mission to find a healthier Crock Pot recipe using chicken. So many of my chicken recipes for the Crock Pot seem to be bathed in delicious, heavy cream sauces and that was just not going to work for me. I haven't eaten as healthy as I should for the better part of a week now and I wanted to get back on track. I didn't feel like spending hours in the kitchen, either, so the Crock Pot seemed the best solution. Throw it in and forget it!! Now just to find a healthy recipe! I went straight to Google (what would I do without that marvelous search engine?) and found what looked to be a great recipe in a relatively short time. By the time I found my recipe it was already 1:45 in the afternoon and I still needed to make my near-daily trek to the grocery store. Here is the recipe I found. Just click here

It was so easy to make, and cooks on high for 4 hours or low for 8 hours.

The chicken was very moist and tender and the house smelled delightfully of the fragrant Rosemary, with just a hint of the garlic. It also tasted like it smelled - delicious! For a fast, healthy meal, you can't beat this one. I served it with a side of steamed Brussels Sprouts and a nice salad with my homemade Ranch dressing.

Cuban Ropa Vieja

Tonight's dinner was a Crock Pot delight. I wasn't sure how it was going to taste but I was pleasantly surprised! It was SOOOOO good. So many different flavors just danced on the tongue in a ballet of savory richness!!! I found this recipe at Yummly.com. I served it over brown rice and for a side dish we had the left over nectarine salsa and bok choy slaw from last night.

While revamping my blog, I couldn't find this exact recipe at Yummly.com, but I did find it at GroupRecipes.com and the person who posted it said it came from Woman's Day. Just click on the link below for the recipe.

Cuban Ropa Vieja

Here are the photos I took while preparing the dish.

Corned Beef and Cabbage

This year I cooked my Corned Beef and Cabbage in the Crock Pot. It was tasty and tender. I am opposed to tough Corned Beef ;). Here is the recipe (again, from allrecipes.com).

Corned Beef and Cabbage
1 (3 lb) corned beef brisket with spice packet, cut in half (I leave whole but I have a large Crock Pot)
1 medium onion, cut into wedges
4 medium potatoes, peeled and quartered (I use about 10 small, red onions, skins left on and kept whole)
1 lb baby carrots
3 cups water
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 bay leaf
2 TBSP sugar
2 TBSP cider vinegar
1/2 tsp pepper
1 small head cabbage, cut into wedges

Place the corned beef in bottom of a 5 quart slow cooker. Add onion, potatoes and carrots. Combine water, garlic, bay lear, sugar, vinegar, pepper and contents of spice packet; pour over vegetables. Cover and cook on low for 8-9 hours, or until meat and vegetables are tender. Remove corned beef and vegetables to a platter and cover with foil. Place cabbage in Crock Pot and cook until crisp-tender, about 15 minutes. If you like soggy cabbage, then add it in with the other vegetables, but my prefence is crisp-tender cabbage.

Crock Pot Honey Sesame Chicken

This recipe turned out AMAZING!!! I originally found it on Pinterest. From there I followed it to the http://www.tablefortwoblog.com, where she called it Crockpot Honey Bouron Chicken - but there is no bourbon in it, so I'm changing the name to Crock Pot Honey Sesame Chicken When my husband tried this he said it was restaurant quality. My daughter-in-law and her mom have both made it since and they love it to! It is SO good and SO easy!

CROCK POT HONEY SESAME CHICKEN
1 lb boneless, skinless chicken thighs, about 5
Salt & pepper
1 cup honey
1/2 cup low sodium soy sauce (I use regular)
1/4 cup ketchup (I wanted to leave this out so badly! lol...but I didn't)
2 TBSP vegetable oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 cup diced onion
1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
Cornstarch
Sesame Seeds

Place the chicken thighs in crockpot and sprinkle salt and pepper on both sides. In a medium sized bowl, combine honey, soy sauce, ketcup, oil, garlic, onion and red pepper flakes. Stir to combine well. Pour over the chicken in the crockpot. Cook on low for 3-4 hours or high for 1 1/2 - 2 1/2 hours. When done, removed chicken from crockpot and cut into chunks. Prior to putting the chicken back in the crockpot, combine some cornstarch in water and whisk it into the crockpot to thicken up the sauce. Put the chicken back in and stir to recoat the chicken with sauce. Serve hot over a bed or white rice and sprinkle with sesame seeds. I doubled this recipe (except I kept ketchup at 1/4 cup as I have a thing about ketchup lol) and it turned out just fine.

Three-step Country French Chicken - CROCKPOT

Today is a nice, cool day - perfect for cooking something in the Crock Pot. This dish has SO much flavor. You can brown the chicken the night before to save time when assembling this in the morning.

Three-step Country French Chicken for the Crock Pot

2 TBSP butter
1 1/2 lbs boneless, skinless chicken breasts
3/4 cup water
1 pkg Knorr's Spring Vegetable Soup Recipe Mix
2 TBSP flour
1/2 cup sour cream

Brown chicken breasts in butter over medium-high heat. Transfer to a slow cooker. In a bowl, stir together water and vegetable soup mix. Pour over chicken. Cook on low heat for 8 hours. Remove chicken to a platter. Stir together flour and sour ccream and add to mixture in slow cooker, heating for 15 minutes. Spoon sauce over chicken. Serves 4.

I use a cube of butter to brown the chicken and I add about 1 TBSP of the browned butter to the crock pot when I add the chicken. Serve this with steamed rice and your favorite veggie.