October 5, 2009

It's finally cooling off a little bit here in Southern California. For the past few weeks we've had record high temperatures, which I happen to love, but I guess I have to realize that Summer is officially over.  🙁

Some people say that they use the crock pot in the Summer to avoid turning on the oven but in the Summer, I'm not in the mood for most of the recipes that are usually made in the crock pot: stews, soups, chili, etc.  In the Summer, we grill something almost every night and just serve with a veggie or two and a salad.

But now that it's cooler at night and will be getting dark earlier, I won't be grilling as much. I'm already starting to get the urge to make some huge pots of chili and homemade soups. I don't make a lot of recipes in the crock pot but I really like the convenience of it so I'm on the lookout for some good, healthy, one-pot recipes that can be put on in the morning to be ready at the end of a busy day.

I have the Fix It and Forget It Lightly cookbook and I've found some recipes in there that are pretty healthy which don't contain all the cream soups, but I still usually end up modifying most of the recipes a little bit.

I threw this one together one day last week when I had a really busy day planned so dinner would be all ready when we got home. And when I say that I threw it together, I mean that literally. I was so busy that morning that I didn't even feel like chopping anything. My inspiration for this stew was a bag of Teeny Tiny Potatoes that I found at Trader Joe's. (Yes, it really said Teeny Tiny Potatoes on the label; I wished I had taken a picture of the label because I had never seen these before.)

The quantities and the ingredients in this recipe can be changed to suit your taste. Afterwards, I wished that I had added corn. Here's what I did.

Super Easy Chicken Stew

2 pounds chicken tenders
1 bag teeny tiny whole potatoes (maybe 1/2 lb.)
1/2 bag petite baby carrots
1 bag frozen lima beans
1 can diced tomatoes
1 jar whole mushrooms
2-3 c. low sodium chicken broth
1 can Healthy Request Cream of Mushroom Soup
1/2 envelope Lipton Onion Soup mix
fresh ground pepper
garlic powder

Place chicken tenders in bottom of crock pot. Sprinkle with garlic powder and fresh ground pepper. On top of chicken, layer the potatoes, carrots, lima beans, tomatoes, and mushrooms. Pour in some chicken broth to almost cover vegetables. Mix together 1/2 cup or so of chicken broth with the one can of mushroom soup and the Lipton onion soup mix and pour over the top of the vegetables. Cook on low for six or seven hours or until the veggies are soft. Stir to combine the veggies. Serve alone or on top of your favorite noodles for a heartier meal. I served on top of Fusilli noodles.

That's it! It doesn't get any easier than that. I didn't even chop up the chicken tenders, they were so tender that they just fell into pieces. My guys loved this super duper Easy Chicken Stew so I'll definitely be making it again!

~LilSis

June 9, 2009

(Warning: If you are a vegetarian, you may not want to scroll down. You might find the photo a little disturbing. I'm not promoting these so please don't send me a mean email.)

I make beer can chicken quite a bit at our house. All I do is put a dry rub all over the outside and sprinkle a little inside the chicken and inside the beer. Sometimes, I'll add fresh herbs for something a little different. But, it's extremely easy and I've found that it turns out even better than an oven roasted chicken.  (I used to make a pretty awesome roasted chicken, but it was a lot more work.)

I was making a beer can chicken for us almost every week and HayHay finally got burnt out on it and requested that I not make one for a while.  So, I haven't made one in two or three weeks.

I have to admit, I always feel a little bad after I season the chicken and sit it up on the beer can. It's just a little disturbing to me seeing the chicken all perched up there with it's legs propped up and it's little wings tucked back. It really makes it resemble the once walking, talking little animal that was.  And, when you stick the little ‘thingamajig' in the top to cork it up so it can steam, I feel even worse.

I've considered never cooking one again.  And, if I stuck a ceramic drunk head on top of the poor dead chicken, it would probably put me over the edge.

Could you put a ceramic chicken head on your beer can chicken?

BigSis ran across this “Making Chicken Seem More Lifelike” post on Serious Eats and sent me the link to check it out. Why would I want to make a dead chicken that I'm about to eat seem more lifelike?

They sell these ceramic drunk chicken heads on Amazon! Here are their close-ups.

Bug-eyed

Southwestern

Malibu

I could actually be a vegetarian if I didn't have to cook ‘critters' for anyone else in my house. And, I don't think that idea would be very well received by either SirHoney or HayHay since last night they each put down an entire slab of ribs.  I don't eat ribs. Something about that bothers me, too.  Now, I can definitely eat me some bacon and ham, but I just don't want to chomp on the pig's ribs.

BigSis, I bet BDot might think these are funny.

Does this bother anyone else? Or do you think they're funny?

~LilSis

January 9, 2009

Not only is hummus not a ‘real meal' in this house, neither is soup! I had a new soup recipe planned for Sunday night and SirHoney snuck off to the store and bought three slabs of ribs so he and BigT could have a rib throw-down!  So, I ended up making the soup anyway and we had it as a first course before the ribs, broccoli, and mushrooms.

When I'm making a tortilla soup or any kind of chicken noodle or vegetable, I always boil the chicken, but this time, I sauteed the chicken instead and I really like how it turned out.  This is my version of Chicken Enchilada Soup.

Chicken Enchilada Soup

1 T. Olive Oil
4 skinned, boned chicken breasts, cubed (not too small)
3 T. flour
1 c. low sodium tomato sauce
1/2 c. skim milk
1 32 oz. box organic free range chicken broth (it's lower in sodium)
1 t. fresh ground pepper
1 1/2 t. chili powder
1 t. cumin
1/2 t. salt
1/2 t. garlic powder
Dash of red pepper flakes
1 (15 oz) can petite diced tomatoes
1 c. corn
1 small can chopped green chilies (optional)
1/2 c. – 1 c. grated cheese (I prefer to mix Monterrey jack and cheddar)
1 minced jalapeno pepper (optional)
4 – 6 flour or corn tortillas

Cut tortillas into very thin strips, place on baking sheet and sprinkle with a little chili powder. Bake at 325 degrees for 10 minutes or until crisp, set aside.

Put olive oil in a good size sauce pan (I like to use a 6 quart). Place over medium high heat until hot. Season chicken with fresh ground pepper and add to hot pan.  Saute 5 minutes or so stirring until all chicken is lightly browned. Add flour, and cook, stirring constantly for a minute or two.  Gradually stir in tomato sauce, milk and chicken broth. Stir in chili powder, cumin, salt, garlic powder, and red pepper flakes. (You can adjust these seasonings to taste).

Add diced tomatoes, corn and green chilies. Cover, reduce heat and simmer 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.

To serve, ladle into bowls and top each serving with grated cheese, tortilla strips and, if desired, jalapeno pepper. I think  a spoonful of sour cream on top would be awesome on this soup!

I was going to eat this bowl so I left the cheese off. Sorry!

I know, chicken enchiladas don't have corn in them. I just like it in this soup. I'm also one that puts corn in my chili.

I have to say that this soup tastes better than it looks. I didn't have any green chilies on hand, so this soup didn't have chilies. I think the little bit of green color would have jazzed up the photo a bit.

The next day, I noticed that most of the chicken was gone, but that I had enough of the yummy broth and veggies leftover, so I heated that to a boil and added about a cup of large pasta shells. HayHay gobbled that down for his after school snack.

~LilSis