Crock Pot Sweet Garlic Chicken

I thought I would try this tonight. I did change  one thing. I used chicken quarters instead of the breast. I had the chicken quarters in the freezer already and didn't feel like going to the store.

Crock Pot Sweet Garlic Chicken - Delicious! Dare I say... better than the baked version 

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Ingredients:
4-6 chicken breasts
1 cup packed brown sugar
2/3 cup vinegar (I used apple cider vinegar)
1/4 cup lemon-lime soda (diet or regular)
2-3 Tablespoons minced garlic
2 Tablespoons soy sauce
1 teaspoon fresh ground pepper
2 Tablespoons corn starch
2 Tablespoons water
Red pepper flakes (optional)

Directions:
Spray slow cooker with non-stick cooking spray. Place chicken (frozen, thawed or fresh) inside slow cooker. Mix together brown sugar, vinegar, soda, garlic, soy sauce, and pepper together. Pour over chicken. Cook on low for 6-8 hours or high for 4 hours.

Take chicken pieces out of slow cooker (mine basically fell apart) and pour remaining sauce into saucepan. Place saucepan over high heat. Mix together corn starch and water, pour into saucepan, and mix well. Let sauce come to a boil and boil for 2-3 minutes, or until it starts to thicken and turns into a glaze. Remove from heat and let sit for a minute or two (it will continue to thicken as it cools down).

Sprinkle red pepper flakes on top if desired. This can be served over rice or noodles, I also like it with a baked potato on the side (It's good on top of the potato too!)

Chicken Tortilla Crock Pot Soup

I saw this recipe the other day online and decided yesterday I would try it today. I know it's kind of weird making soup when it's still 90 degrees outside but it looked yummy.

Here's the original recipe. I will explain what I did differently. I used a green enchilada sauce instead of the red only because that's what I had in the cabinet. I used more garlic, because everything needs more garlic! I also didn't measure any of the spices. Overall it was a really good recipe and it came out yummy. It's a keeper. In the pic I didn't have the tortilla strips on top but I did make them. We topped it with grated colby cheese, sour cream, and cilantro.

Chicken Tortilla Crock pot Soup

1 pound shredded, cooked chicken
1 (15 ounce) can whole peeled tomatoes, mashed
1 (10 ounce) can enchilada sauce
1 medium onion, chopped
1 (4 ounce) can chopped green chile peppers
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 cups water
1 (14.5 ounce) can chicken broth
1 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon chili powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1 bay leaf
1 (10 ounce) package frozen corn
1 tablespoon chopped cilantro
7 corn tortillas
vegetable oil

Directions

Place chicken, tomatoes, enchilada sauce, onion, green chiles, and garlic into a slow cooker. Pour in water and chicken broth, and season with cumin, chili powder, salt, pepper, and bay leaf. Stir in corn and cilantro. Cover, and cook on Low setting for 6 to 8 hours or on High setting for 3 to 4 hours.
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).
Lightly brush both sides of tortillas with oil. Cut tortillas into strips, then spread on a baking sheet.
Bake in preheated oven until crisp, about 10 to 15 minutes. To serve, sprinkle tortilla strips over soup.

Grilled Cheese Sandwiches/Waffels

Troy asked if I could try making this recipe he found so of course I said yes. I changed up the recipe a bit. It called for frozen waffles, which I don't buy. So I made my normal waffle recipe. It also called for cottage cheese which I didn't use.

2 large eggs beat well, add 2 cups of flour, 1 3/4 cups milk(I used lactaid), 1/2 cup oil, 1 tablespoon sugar, 4 teaspoons baking powder, and 1/4 teaspoon salt. Mix just until everything is mixed(lumps are ok). I then use my George Foreman g-5 grill (waffle iron) to make the waffles. I then mixed 8oz of cream cheese with a couple of tablespoons of raspberry jam. Then, I cut the waffles into squares, spread the cream cheese mixture onto 1 slice of the waffle the placed another piece on top of it. Then I put them in a skillet that had melted butter in it, and browned them on each side, last I topped them with powdered sugar.

Cavatelli with Sausage, Eggplant, and Saffron Cream

Tonight was suppose to be Jake and Dakota cooking but Dakota didn't help much, so I ended up cooking with Jake.

He went back to the Rachael Ray cookbook. I was really surprised he picked this recipe since he doesn't like eggplant. What you will need is 1 pound of pasta (it called for Cavatelli but we used what was in the cabinet) 1/4 cup  olive oil, 2 pinches of saffron, 1/4 tsp fennel seeds, 3/4 pound ground pork (we used turkey since it was in the freezer), 4 cloves garlic chopped, 1/4 tsp red pepper flakes, 1 egg plant, cubed and only peel 1/2, 1 tsp thyme, 1 cup chicken broth, 1/2 cup heavy cream, and parm or romano cheese.

First start you water for your pasta. Then cook the pasta until aldenta.  Next heat a large deep skillet with 1/8 cup of olive oil, add the fennel and saffron over medium high heat. Add the turkey, cook until it's browned. Add the garlic, red pepper flakes, then season with salt and pepper.  Push the meat to the sides of the pan, add the rest of the olive oil, then all of the egg plant to the center of the pan, season with salt. Cook until the eggplant is tender about 5 minutes, combine it with the meat. Add the thyme and toss, then stir in the broth and bring to a boil. Stir in the cream and reduce the heat to low. Taste and season if needed. Add the pasta to the sauce and toss the cheese into the pasta until well combined. Add some of the pasta water if needed. Serve with more cheese.

I didn't get a picture tonight. We did add a lot more seasoning to it only because we like a lot of flavor.

Fajitas and Cupcakes

Tonight it was Troy and I, before he ran away to hang out with a friend. I don't have a clue why a 22 year old would prefer to hang out with friends and not his mom on a Friday night...lol Of course he waited until after dinner to leave.

I ran to the store and found some discounted steak, a top sirloin for $3.00. I then decided to pick up a green bell pepper,a red bell pepper, and an onion. Fajitas it was! I came home and cut up the veggies I bough along with a jalapeno, and 4 cloves of garlic. I then patted the steak dry and salt and peppered it, then drizzled it with oil. I seared the steak, then while it was resting I sauteed the veggies. When the veggies were almost done I added a small can of green enchilada sauce for flavor. That was it dinner was done. Fast and easy.

Since the boys left me home by myself(I have Nibbler here but he doesn't count) I got bored. I needed to find something to do. I didn't feel like cleaning so I decided to bake. I took my normal homemade chocolate cake recipe and added 2 packets of caramel macchiato cappuccino mix. Then in a separate bowl I mixed a 6 oz container of cream cheese(it was at the Dollar Tree), sugar, and vanilla until smooth. I then placed about a tablespoon of the cake mix in the bottom of the muffin tin, then I added about 1 teaspoon of cream cheese mix, then topped it with more cake mix. I put them in the oven on 350 degrees. Some of them I over filled and the cream cheese ran out of the cupcake. I know I made these with a strawberry mix before and they turned out great, but oh well. They still taste great, and that's all that matters!

To get the swirl frosting I took a pastry bag, placed some chocolate frosting in it and some butter cream frosting then piped it on.

Burger Patties

For the first time in a long time, tonight was actually cooking with Jake. I jokingly asked Jake what he was fixing for dinner. He answered with, I will figure it out when we get back from the farm. I guess working with his steer made him think of burgers, and he's had this new(but good) obsession with spinach. So he decided he would make spinach. cheese, and garlic burgers.

He took a small package of hamburger and added some shredded romano cheese, 1/2 of package of spinach(which I wilted in a skillet with garlic and some butter), about 5 cloves of grated garlic cloves, oregano, basil, salt, and pepper. He cooked them until they were seared then placed them in a 400 degree oven to finish.

He also through some french fries in the oven to cook. I forgot the picture yet again.

Fried Chicken

Jake and Dakota thought they would cook tonight since they haven't done it in awhile. We have all been really busy. Someone has been cooking but I have been forgetting to post it.

My sister had some chicken out so they decided to do fried chicken, mashed potatoes, and corn.

Jake asked me to do the coating for the chicken. I mixed 2 part flour, 1 part bread crumbs, 1/4 cup cornstarch, salt, pepper, and paprika. ( I would normally put cayenne in it but my sister's family doesn't like spicy). They then dipped it in some beaten eggs and milk, then in the flour mixture, then repeated. They then fried it to a golden brown in canola oil, then placed it on a cookie sheet with a wire rack and baked at 400 degrees for 20 minutes.

I helped by prepping the potatoes. I cubed them and soaked them in water. They boiled them, drained, mashed with butter, milk, and grated garlic.

The corn was the easy thing. They opened 2 cans of corn, drained them and added butter. They microwaved them.

Oh, I almost forgot the gravy. They took the skillet they fried the chicken in, removed all the oil, melted 3 tbs of butter, then added 3 tbs of flour, they let that cook out, then added about 3 cups of lactose free milk. They cooked it until it thickened. They did an excellent job!