Korean Beef

Servings: 4 (next time i may need to double the recipe!)

Time: 20 minutes

Ingredients: 

1 pound super lean ground beef
1/4 - 1/3 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup soy sauce (I use low-sodium)
1 Tablespoon sesame oil
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 teaspoon fresh ginger, minced
1/4 - 1 teaspoon crushed red peppers (to desired spiciness - i used the low end)
salt and pepper
1 bunch green onions, diced (don't skip this!)

Directions: 

Heat a large skillet over medium heat and brown hamburger with garlic in the sesame oil. Drain most of the fat (my 94/6 meat didn't haven't any fat to drain) and add brown sugar, soy sauce, ginger, salt and pepper and red peppers. Simmer for a few minutes to blend the flavors. Serve over steamed rice and top with green onions

Verdict: 

The was super yummy and a huge hit in our house. Bonus it's really fast to make and I already had everything but the green onions in the house. Isaac ate 3 servings of this. Plus both kids loved those crinkle cut frozen carrots I served it with. Note to self to buy more of those! This will definitely be made again. And again. 

Shrimp Tostadas

source: skinny taste dot com

Servings: 4
Time: 30 minutes or less

Ingredients: 
24 peel raw shrimp
1 garlic clove, minced
2 T prepared salsa verde
6 tostada shells
1 can canned refried black beans
shredded lettuce
store-made guacamole (HEB's made in store guac is amazing!)
shredded cheese or queso blanco for topping

Directions: 
If cooking shrimp on outside grill, soak skewers for 30 minutes.

Season shrimp with salt, then mix in garlic and salsa verde. Thread shrimp onto skewers.

Grill on hot grill for 2-4 minutes, turning once while cooking. Set aside.

To prepare tostadas, heat up the beans in the microwave until warm. Cover each tostada with beans, then lettuce, then guacamole, then top with shrimp and cheese.

Serve!

Verdict:
Dave and I really liked these. The kids ate the shrimp and the leftover plane tostada shells. These were pretty easy to pull together so I'll most likely try them again to see if they kids eat them better next time.

Crock Pot Creamy Tomato Soup

Source: skinny taste

Time: 10 minute prep the night before, 10 minute prep the morning of, 6+ hours cook time, 20 minutes prep after cooking
Servings: Makes about 10 cups, ~ 6 servings

Ingredients:

• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 cup finely diced celery
• 1 cup finely diced carrots
• 1 cup finely diced onions
• 28 oz can whole plum tomatoes, with juice
• 1 tsp thyme
• 1/4 cup fresh basil
• 3 1/2 cups reduced sodium chicken broth
• Parmesan or Romano cheese rind
• 1 bay leaf
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 2 tablespoons flour
• 1/3 cup grated Pecorino Romano cheese
• 1 3/4 cups reduced fat (2%) milk, warmed
• salt, to taste
• black pepper, to taste

Directions: 

1. Heat large skillet over medium heat, add oil, celery, carrots and onions. Cook 5 minutes until golden. Add to slow cooker. 

2. Pour juice of tomatoes into the slow cooker, then roughly crush the tomatoes with your hands (be careful of splatter!), add to slow cooker. Then add broth, cheese rind, thyme, basil and bay leaf. 

3. Cook on LOW for at least 6 hours. Mine cooked for about 7 hours, then stayed on warm for an additional 3-4 hours maybe. 

4. After cooking, remove cheese rind and bay leaf. Using an immersion blender or blender, blend the soup until smooth. If using a blender be sure to do this in SMALL batches, otherwise you'll have soup on your cabinets and floors. 

5. Melt butter over low heat and add flour. Stir constantly with whisk for 4-5 minutes. Slowly whisk in about 1 cup of the hot soup, then add the warm milk and stir until smooth. 

6. Pour back butter, flour, milk mixture into the slow cooker with soup and stir. Add grated pecorino cheese and season liberally with salt and pepper. 

7. Cover and cook on low 30 more minutes or until warm. 

Verdict: 

This soup was really good. It tasted very creamy and richer than it actually is. Allison really enjoyed it as well. Bonus is it's pretty healthy. Isaac didn't touch it, but he didn't touch any of his other dinner that night either, so his vote doesn't really count. 

Servings: 6 • Size: 1-1/2 cups
Calories: 177 • Fat: 10 g • Carb: 17 g • Fiber: 3 g • Protein: 8 g • Sugar: 8 g
Sodium: 600 mg • Cholest: 21 mg

Pasta Caprese Salad

Source: food network

Time: about 30 minutes

Servings: a ton as stated in the recipe, the photo above is with the recipe halfed

Ingredients:

• 1/3 cup olive oil
• 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
• 1 shallot, minced
• 1 small clove garlic, minced
• Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 2 pounds mixed heirloom tomatoes, cored, seeded and cut into 1/2-inch pieces
• 1 pound pasta, such as campanelle, penne or fusilli
• 12 ounces fresh mozzarella cheese, cut into 1/2-inch pieces or buy the pearl mozzarella 
• 1/2 cup chopped fresh basil
• 1/2 teaspoon grated lemon zest

Directions: 

Whisk olive oil, lemon juice, sugar, shallot and garlic in a large bowl. Season with salt and pepper. Add tomatoes and gently toss. Marinate at room temperature about 15 minutes. 

Meanwhile, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add pasta and cook at the label directs. Drain and rinse with cold water. 

Add pasta and mozzarella to tomato mixture and toss. Stir in basil and lemon zest and season with salt and pepper. Refrigerate until serving. 

Verdict: 

This pasta salad is great, easy to make and easy to transport and leave out at a cookout. The kids love it too. They sometimes pick out the tomatoes, but the eat the noodles and cheese and then ask for more!

Chicken Enchilada Casserole

source: Pinch of Yum

Time: 1 hour
Servings: 10-12 (this photo is only half of the recipe, I cooked the other half in another dish)

Ingredients:

• 1 lb boneless, skinless chicken breasts
• 19 ounces (about 2 ½ cups) red enchilada sauce
• 2 cups shredded cheese (I used a Mexican blend)
• 6-8 small flour tortillas
• 1 can refried beans 

Directions: 

1. Cook and shred chicken. I did this the morning before putting this together by boiling a large pot of water and cooking the chicken breasts about 30 minutes. Then shred with two forks. 

2. Preheat over to 375. Place a few spoonfuls of enchilada sauce in the bottom of a square glass baking dish. Place 2 tortillas int he bottom of the dish, overlapping to cover entire surface. Layer 1/3 cup beans, 1 cup chicken, 1/2 cup cheese, 3/4 cup enchilada sauce and 2 tortillas. Repeat once to make a total of 2 layers. 

3. Cover the top with remaining enchilada sauce and 1 cup cheese. Cover baking dish with well oiled aluminum foil and bake for about 30 minutes. 

4. Remove foil and bake uncovered for additional 5 minutes or until cheese is starting to brown and sauce is bubbling. 

5. Allow to rest at least 15 minutes before cutting. Otherwise it'll be a soupy mess!

Verdict: 

This was good, but a little spicy. I guess it was the sauce I used, although it was mild. The next time I make it i'll try another brand. The beans were really good though and helped cut a little of the spice. This was pretty time consuming and I made it on a day I had off from work. Probably a little too time consuming for a weeknight meal. 

Cheeseburger Macaroni

Time: 25 minutes
Servings: 4-6

Ingredients:

• 1 lb lean hamburger meat
• 1 pkg taco seasoning
• 1 can Rotel tomatoes and green chilies (or petite diced tomatoes)
• 2 cups beef broth (or water)
• 1 cup elbow macaroni
• 2 Tablespoons butter
• 2 tbsp flour
• 3/4 cup milk
• 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp pepper

Directions:

Brown and drain hamburger meat. Stir in taco seasoning, Rotel, beef broth and macaroni. Heat to boiling. Reduce heat and cover pan. Simmer 12-14 minutes until macaroni is tender.

Meanwhile, melt butter in saucepan. Whisk in flour and cook, whisking for 5 minutes until light brown in color. Whisk in milk and bring to a boil. Whisk until smooth and thickened. Remove from heat and stir in the shredded cheese until melted. Season with salt and pepper. Pour the cheese sauce over the hamburger mixture and stir to combine.

Verdict:

This was SOOO spicy! I have no idea why it was so spicy, i used mild Rotel and original taco seasoning. Even I could barely eat it. But other than being spicy it was really good. I'm going to try to make it again using regular diced tomatoes and mild taco seasoning because I think it could be really good. The kids didn't touch it, cute plates and all. But I think they'd like it, if it weren't so spicy.

I'll update when I make it again.

Swedish Meatballs

Source: simply recipes

Time: 30 minutes
Servings: 4

Ingredients

• Meatballs (I used frozen turkey meatballs - you could make your own using your favorite meatball recipe, but I don't have time for that!)
• 3 T butter
• 1/4 cup flour
• 2 cups beef broth/stock
• 1/4 cup sour cream
• egg noodles or other noodle to serve with meatballs

Directions

1. Cook meatballs according to package. I baked mine on 350 for about 20 minutes. 
2. Meanwhile, cook pasta. 
3. In a large skillet, melt butter over medium heat. 
4. In another small pan, heat beef broth over medium heat. 
5. When melted, add flour and stirring often cook flour until it's the color of coffee-with-cream. You've just made yourself a classic roux!
6. Slowly add hot beef broth a little at a time stirring constantly. Keep stirring and adding broth until you've added it all and most of your lumps are gone. 
7. By this point your meatballs should be almost done. Mine had maybe 4 minutes left on the timer. Take them out of the oven and put them in the sauce you've just made. 
8. Cover and let simmer on low for about 5 minutes. Add a little pepper to taste if you'd like. 
9. Take out the meatballs and place in a serving dish, leaving the sauce. 
10. Finally, add your sour cream to the remaining sauce and stir until blended. This should only take 30 seconds or so. 
11. Pour the sauce over the meatballs and serve with noodles. 

Verdict

This was really good and super easy, especially since I didn't make the meatballs. The kids ate it pretty well, especially the noodles, not so much the meatballs, which is another reason not to slave away in the kitchen making your own meatballs!

We'll definitely have this again. And bonus, this was a last minute addition to our menu and it's one of those recipes where I already had everything I needed stocked in the house to make it. Win!

Chili-Lime Pork with Corn Salad

Source: Everyday Food

Servings: 4
Time: 30 minutes

Ingredients:
4 cups frozen corn, thawed and drained
1 small jalapeno, seeded if desired, minced
1 scallion, thinly sliced
1/2 cup fresh cilantro
1 avocado, sliced
4 T Olive Oil, divided
2 limes
coarse salt and pepper
1 t chili powder
2 - 1lb pork tenderloin, cut into six 1-inch-thick medallions

Directions:
1. Toss corn with jalapeno, scallion, cilantro, avocado, 2 T oil and juice of 1 lime. Season with salt.

2. Combine chili powder, 2 t salt, 1/2 t pepper and 2 T oil. Flatten medallions with your hands so they are about 1/2 inch thick. Brush both sides with chili mixture.

3. Heat grill to med-high. Grill pork 4-5 minutes per side. Remove from grill and squeeze juice of remaining lime on top. Top with corn salad. Serve.

Verdict:
This was super yummy.  I served it with tortillas, heated on the grill, on the side. We also made tacos out of it.  So easy and so yummy!

Slow Cooker Jerk Pork with Caribbean Salsa

Source: skinny taste . com

Time: 5 minute prep in morning, 15 minutes for salsa in the evening
Servings: 10 or more

Ingredients:

• 3 lb boneless pork shoulder blade roast, lean, all fat removed
• 6 cloves garlic, crushed
• 2 - 3 tbsp Walkerswood Jerk Seasoning (I used mild)
• 1/2 tsp coarse salt
• 1 lime, squeezed
• 1/2 cup fresh orange juice

Note: I didn't have time to buy the seasoning and couldn't find the McCormick's version at HEB either, so I used a Weber grill mix jerk seasoning packet. I found it near the marinades and BBQ sauces. 

For the Caribbean salsa:

• 1 haas avocado, diced
• 2 large ripe mangos, peeled, seeded and coarsely chopped (or jarred mango - saves time to not have to peal it, but they are mushier)
• 1 1/2 tbsp chopped red onion
• 1-2 tbsp chopped fresh cilantro
• 2-3 tbsp fresh lime juice
• salt and pepper, to taste 

Directions:

Using a sharp knife, cut slits into the pork and stuff holes with half of the crushed garlic. Combine the remaining garlic, jerk seasoning, and salt, rub all over pork (you may want to wear gloves). Place in a large container, pour the lime and orange juice over the pork; cover and refrigerate 5 hours or overnight, turning pork occasionally so the marinade covers all of pork.

The next morning, put everything in the crock pot and cook on LOW for 9 hours.

Remove liquid from crock pot and reserve. Add shredded pork back to the slow cooker. Add about 1 cup of the liquid back into the crock pot and taste for salt and pepper. Let it cook an additional 15 minutes.

Meanwhile make the Caribbean salsa: combine all the ingredients in a bowl, season to taste with salt and pepper. Refrigerate salsa until ready to serve.

Verdict: 

This was delicious! The salsa is what made it really good. Both kids (and adults) gobbled this up. I served it over brown rice. 

Chicken and Broccoli Noodle Casserole

source: skinny taste.com

Servings: 6
Total Time: 45-55 minutes

Ingredients: 

• 6 oz Ronzoni Smart taste noodles (or no-yolk)
• 2 tsp oil
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 12 oz fresh broccoli florets, chopped and steamed 3 minutes until soften
• 1 medium shallot, minced
• 3 tbsp all purpose flour
• 1 cup 1% milk
• 12 oz cooked shredded chicken breast 
• 1-3/4 cups fat free chicken broth
• 4 oz shredded  sharp cheddar 
• cooking spray
• 3 tbsp shredded parmesan cheese
• 2 tbsp seasoned breadcrumbs

Note about chicken: I cooked 3 frozen chicken breasts in the crock pot all day while I was at work for the cooked, shredded chicken.  Place in the crock pot with salt, pepper, a quartered onion and 2 inch pieces of cut celery. Cover with water and cook 8-9 hours on low. Use the cooked water as the chicken broth!

Directions: 

Cook noodles in salted water until al dente, or slightly undercooked by 2 minutes. Set aside.

Preheat the oven to 375°. Lightly spray a 9 x 12 casserole dish with cooking spray.

In a large pot, heat butter over medium-low heat, when melted add the garlic and shallot and cook until soft, 2-3 minutes. Add the flour and a pinch of salt and stir well, cooking an additional 2-3 minutes on medium-low heat.

Slowly whisk in the chicken broth until well combined over medium heat; whisk well for 30 seconds, then add the milk and bring to a boil. Simmer on medium heat, mixing occasionally until it thickens (about 6-7 minutes). Remove from heat and add cheddar and 1 tablespoon of the parmesan cheese; mix well until the cheese melts.

Add the shredded chicken, noodles and broccoli to the sauce and mix well until evenly coated.

Pour into a casserole dish and top with parmesan cheese and breadcrumbs. Spray a little more cooking spray on top and bake for about 20 - 25 minutes. Place the casserole under the broiler a few minutes to get the crumbs crisp and golden (careful not to burn).

Verdict: 
This was really good. It's a lot like making mac and cheese, so a little time consuming, especially for a week night. Allison is kind of against broccoli right now, but did eat the noodles. I liked it and since I'm the cook, I get to pick if we have it again. We will. 

Weekday Thanksgiving

source for turkey: Kathleen

Servings: Lots! It's Thanksgiving after all
Total Time: 15 minutes prep (for everything) + 8 hours crock pot time

Crock Pot Turkey Breast

• 3.5 lbs boneless turkey breast
• 1-14oz can of chicken broth
• 2 T olive oil
• 3 T Worcestarshire sauce
• 1-2 t thyme

Directions: 

Rinse turkey breast and pat dry. Season with salt,pepper, olive oil and thyme. Place in crock pot. Pour chicken broth over turkey. Cook on low for 8 hours. Make gravy from juice when done. 

I served our turkey with canned green beans and stove top stuffing. Who knew HEB only sells the good bag stuffing during holidays! Next time I'm stocking up!

Verdict: 
This recipe produced a really good, moist turkey, even after cooking for 8 hours plus warming for another 1.5 hours. I'd never cooked just a turkey breast before, it was so easy. And how awesome is it to get Thanksgiving dinner in 15 minutes or less prep time! Y.U.M.

Asian Lettuce Wraps

source: skinny taste.com

Servings: 6
Total Time:

Ingredients:

• 1 package ground turkey (I think it's 1.25 lbs) or ground chicken
• 1/2 cup water chestnuts, chopped fine
• 1/2 cup shiitake mushrooms, chopped fine (I used jarred mushrooms found in the Asian aisle)
• 3 tbsp soy sauce (I used reduced sodium)
• 1 tsp oyster sauce
• 3 tsp sesame oil
• 2 tbsp rice wine or dry sherry
• 1 tsp sugar
• freshly ground white pepper, to taste
• 4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
• iceberg lettuce leaves, rinsed (careful not to break)

For the Spicy Hoisin Dipping Sauces:

• 4 tbsp hoisin sauce
• 1/2 tsp chili sauce (I used Sriracha)
• 1 tbsp warm water

Directions: 

Combine ground turkey, mushrooms and water chestnuts into a bowl.Combine soy sauces, oyster sauce, 1.5 tsp sesame oil, rice wine, sugar, and pepper in a bowl. Pour this mixutre over chicken and marinate for 15 minutes. 

Heat remaining sesame oil in a wok or skillet over high heat. Add garlic; cook until golden, about 10 seconds. Add chicken mixture; stir fry until browned, breaking the chicken up as it cooks, about 5-10 minutes.

To serve, spoon 1/4 cup of the chicken into each lettuce leaf. Garnish with scallions and a spoon a little Spicy Hoisin Dipping Sauce onto each one.

Verdict: 

This was really good. Allison loved eating her "taco" of lettuce. I added rice to the lettuce wraps to make it more of a meal. 

Italian Sloppy Joe's

Source: skinny taste.com

Servings: 6 or more
Total Time: 35 minutes

Ingredients:

• 1 lb Italian turkey sausage, removed from casing
• 1/2 cup chopped onions
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 red bell pepper, chopped 
• 1 green bell pepper, chopped 
• 1 1/3 cups crushed tomatoes 
• 1/2 tsp dried rosemary
• salt and fresh cracked pepper, to taste

For serving:

• 6 whole wheat buns
• 6 slices provolone 

Directions:

In a medium non-stick skillet, cook the sausage over medium-high heat, breaking up as it cooks into small bits until cooked through, about 5-6 minutes. Add onions and garlic, and cook another 2 minutes.     Add the bell peppers, crushed tomatoes, rosemary and fresh cracked pepper. Reduce heat and simmer 25-30 mins. 

To serve, place heaping 1/2 cup of meat on a roll, top with cheese and broil for a few minutes to melt cheese.  

Verdict: 

The kids loved this one. I made them one sandwich to split, Allison ate her entire half and asked for (and ate!) a second half. 

Honey-Teriyaki Salmon

source: skinny taste . com

Servings: 4
Total Time: 20 minutes + marinating time

Ingredients:
3 T low sodium Soy Sauce
3 T Japanese Sweet Rice Wine (Mirin)
3 T sake (I didn't have sake, so I used Sherry)
2 T honey
1.5 lb salmon fillet, cut 4 into 6 oz pieces
2 t cooking oil

Directions: 
Combine soy sauce, mirin, sake and honey into ziploc bag. Add salmon and mix to coat. Refrigerate 1 hour to 8 hours. I put mine in to marinate in the morning before I left for work.

Remove salmon, reserving marinade. Heat frying pan over med-high heat. When hot, swirl in oil. Sear salmon, 2 minutes per side. Turn heat to low, add in reserved marinade. Cover and cook 5-6 minutes until cooked through.

Verdict: 
The was similar to some of the other salmons I've made before and was just as good. It's nice that this one cooks on the stove top instead of the grill. My kids love salmon so they both ate this one right up.

Cowboy Quesadillas

source: our best bites.com

Servings: 6 tortillas which feed 4 of us with no leftovers
Total Time: 20 minutes

Ingredients:
1/2 cup cooked white rice
1/3 cup black beans
1 cup diced cooked chicken (I used some bbq shredded pork I'd made in the crock pot earlier that week)
1/3 cup frozen corn (no need to thaw)
2/3 cup diced tomatoes
1.5 cup shredded cheese (any combo you like)
1/4 cup BBQ sauce
6 fajita size tortillas

Dipping Sauce:
Mix equal parts BBQ sauce and Ranch

Directions: 
Mix rice, beans, chicken, corn, tomoatoes and cheese together. Stir in BBQ sauce. Place 1/6 of mixture into each tortilla and fold over to close.

Heat a skillet on med heat. When hot spray with cooking spray. Place quesadillas in pan and cook 2-4 minutes on each side or until brown and crispy.

Verdict: 
These were super yummy and fast to make. Even Allison who usually likes her quesadilla with just cheese ate these up.

Grilled Shrimp

Source: combination of different recipes on allrecipes.com

Servings: 4 (really 2 adults, 1 kid who eats shrimp like an adult, and 1 toddler who ate 2)
Total time: 45 minutes, including marinating

Ingredients
2 lb frozen shrimp, defrosted under cold water (I used shell off, tail off)
3 cloves minced garlic (who i am kidding, i used 2 tsp of the jarred stuff)
1/3 cup olive oil
1 T tomato paste
2 T red wine vinegar
2 tsp dried basil leaves (or 2 T fresh chopped basil if you have it)
1/2 tsp salt
1/8 to 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper, depending on taste
skewers

Directions
In large bowl mix together garlic, olive oil, tomato past, vinegar, basil, salt and cayenne pepper. Add shrimp to bowl and stir until evenly coated. Refridgerate for 30 minutes to 1 hour to marinate.

Meanwhile, soak skewers in water.

Preheat grill for medium heat. Thread shrim on to skewers. Grill on lightly oil grates 3-5 minutes per side, or until opaque.

Verdict
Allison LOVES shrimp. But when she first saw these, without even tasting she said they were too spicy. She has something against seasoning. We finally got her to try it and then she loved them. She ate probably 10 shrimp. All the while saying next time she didn't want her shrimp to have the seasoning on it. This was really good and fairly easy. A little time consuming having to thread the shrimp on skewers, but it gave me plenty of time to make the other parts of the meal.

I served this with rice pilaf (Far East box stuff) and Roasted Parmesan Green Beans (recipe follows).

Parmesan Green Beans

source: skinnytaste dot com

Prep Time: <5 mins
Cook Time: 15 minutes

Ingredients
12 oz trimmed, dry green beans (I buy the bag already washed and trimmed)
2 tsp olive oil
kosher salt & black pepper to taste
1/4 tsp garlic powder
2 T grated parmesan cheese (I just eye ball this, so it's probably more than 2T. More cheese=better)

Directions
Preheat overn to 425 degrees. Line baking sheet with aluminum foil. Place green beans and cover with olive oil, salt and pepper, and garlic powder. Toss to coat.

Spread beans out on sheet so they are all flat. Bake 10 minues, shake the pan to turn; bake an additional 5 minutes. Remove from oven and sprinkle with grated cheese.

Sweet and Sour Baked Chicken

Source: all over blog world

Time: 1 -1.5 hours (this is what those other blogs don't tell you!)
Servings: 4

Ingredients: 

Chicken
3-4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 cup cornstarch
2 eggs, beaten
1/3 cup canola oil

Sweet & Sour Sauce
3/4 cup sugar
4 T ketchup
1/2 cup white vinegar
1 T soy sauce
1 tsp garlic salt

Directions:

1. Preheat over to 350. Cut chicken breasts into 1 inch pieces and season with salt and pepper.
2. Place cornstarch and eggs in separate bowls.
3. Dip chicken into cornstarch, then coat with egg mixture (I know this seems backwards, just go with it)
4. Heat oil in large skillet over med-high heat and cook chicken until browned on both sides. Chicken doesn't need to be cooked all the way through, you're just browning the outside.
5. Place chicken in greased 9x13 baking dish.
6. In medium mixing bowl, whisk together all ingredients for sauce and pour over chicken.
7. Bake for 30 minutes to 1 hour, stirring during cooking. The longer you cook it the thicker the sauce will get. If you've got the time, go the full hour. Mine only cooked for 25 minutes.

Verdict: 

This was really good, but also very time consuming. I really should have read the recipe thoroughly before putting this on our week night menu. It took me easily an hour to make this and I didn't bake it the full time, instead to speed up cooking, I pan fried it longer. It did turn out really well though. I served this with rice and roasted broccoli.

I'm not sure if I'd make it again because of the time it took, but if I did I'd probably add some veggies to the baking dish like onions, red peppers and pineapples (like a real chinese sweet & sour dish).

And this is what happens when you don't serve dinner until after 7pm. You end up with two cranky kids who won't sit in their own seats.

Crock Pot Chicken Caccitaore

Source: adapted from skinnytaste.com

Time:10 minutes prep + 9 hours cooking
Servings: 8

Ingredients:
8 chicken thighs (I used boneless, skinless)
28 oz can crushed tomatoes
1 red pepper, sliced
1 green pepper, sliced
1 onion, sliced
1 tsp ground oregano
1 tsp garlic powder
1 bay leaf
salt & pepper to taste
2 T flour

Directions:
1. Season chicken generously with salt and pepper. Place in bottom of crock pot.
2. Pour tomatoes over chicken. Top with onions and peppers.
3. Add oregano, garlic power, bay leaf, salt and pepper.
4. Stir a bit and cook on low for 8 hours.
5. When 8 hours are up, or when you get home if you're like me, remove the lid, add flour, stir to break up chicken and cook on HIGH to thicken sauce for 1 hour or until you're ready to eat. Also during this time taste the sauce and add more salt and pepper to taste. Don't be afraid to season!

Verdict:
I served this over linguine with a little shredded parmesan on top. It was super yummy. I think the key is seasoning. When it first finished cooking on low i tasted it and it was a little bland. I ended up adding a good deal of salt and pepper and it was much more flavorful. Super easy and really yummy!

Slow-Cooker Chicken With Bacon, Mushrooms, and Onions

(wow, that's a horrible picture, this is really good though!)

Source: Real Simple

Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 8+ hours

Ingredients:
1/2 pound bacon, diced
1 4-6 lb chicken, cut up (I buy the chicken pieces already cut and packaged)
1/2 cup dry white wine
8 oz small white mushrooms
1 cup frozen small white pearl onions
6 garlic cloves, chopped or the jarred stuff is what i use
1 T dried rosemary leaves
1 tsp kosher salt
1/4 cup water
2 T cornstarch

Directions:
1. Cook the bacon in a large skillet until crisp. With a slotted spoon, transfer to a 6 quart slow cooker. Pour off all but a light coating of fat from the pan. Add the chicken and brown over med-high heat. Transfer to the crock pot.
2. Pour the wine into the pan and scrape up any brown bits. Add contents of pan to crock pot along with mushrooms, onions, garlic, rosemary and salt.
3. Cover and cook on LOW for 8 hours.
4. Pour some of sauce from crock pot into a saucepan. Combine water and cornstarch and stir into the sauce. Heat to boiling, stirring constantly, until the sauce thickens, about 5 minutes. Serve as gravy over chicken.

Verdict: 
This was one of the more labor intensive crock pot meals I've made (I may have been late to work this morning due to the prep - although starting out with frozen chicken didn't help the time either). But this was delicious! It was nice to finally have a chicken meal that didn't turn into a soup. I served with mashed potatoes (the pre-made refrigerated kind). We all loved it. It makes a lot, enough for 2 meals at least. And I'm not sure it would freeze well, so be prepared for leftovers. Or use a smaller chicken.

I'll definitely make this again, but next time i'll probably dice the bacon the night before and defrost my chicken beforehand.