Honey Garlic Chicken

Honey Garlic Chicken adapted from A Year of Slow Cooking
1 1/2 to 2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken thighs (4 or one thigh per family member)
3 garlic cloves, smashed and chopped
1 teaspoon dried basil
1/2 cup soy sauce (La Choy or Tamari wheat-free are gluten free)
1/2 cup ketchup
1/3 cup honey

Directions:  Use a 4-quart slow cooker (if using a 6-quart, this will cook faster. Check after 3 hours on high, 5 hours on low).  Put the chicken into your cooker. In a small bowl, combine the rest of the ingredients, then pour evenly over the top.  Cook on low for 6 hours or high for 3-4 (I'd go with low---).
Serve with basmati rice and steamed or roasted vegetables.

Modifications:
-I chopped up an onion.

Here's what you will need:

Dice up an onion.

Dice up the garlic.

Put the chicken in the crockpot with the onions and the garlic.

Combine the ketchup, honey, and soy sauce.

Pour the mixture over the chicken.

Cook for 4-6 hours on low.

Here's what you'll end up with:

Our Thoughts:

I've been a bit under the weather the last couple of days and needed something easy for dinner.  I had all of these ingredients in the pantry and it was probably one of the easiest recipes that I've ever made.

The one thing that I would do differently in this dish, and it is just a personal preference, but I would have taken back the soy sauce a bit.  Instead of 1/3 cup of soy I would have probably gone down to 1/4 or even 1/8 of a cup.  My family, though, really liked it.  Even Kanin.  I served it over a brown rice and bulgur wheat mixture.

I served this with Roasted potatoes and apples.

Hope you enjoy!

April

Roasted Potatoes and Apples

Roasted Potatoes and Apples
2 Idaho potatoes
1 large sweet potato
2 apples
Olive oil
Kosher Salt

Directions:  Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.  Dice up the potatoes and apples into chunks.  Toss with olive oil and kosher salt.  Roast in the oven for 1 hour.

Here's what you'll need:

Peel the sweet potato.

Dice up the potatoes and apples.

Toss with olive oil and kosher salt.

Spread out on a pan.

Bake at 400 degrees for 1 hour.

Here's what you'll end up with:

Our Thoughts:
I was looking for a side dish to serve tonight and knew that I had a few potatoes that I needed to use.  I have been wanting to do roasted potatoes and apples for a while now but, sadly, I don't think the apples "came through" like I had anticipated.

The potatoes were fantastic, crunchy, salty and just plain yummy but the apple peel came off in the cooking process and ended up kind of mushy.  This wasn't a "bad" thing because the softness did contrast the crunchiness of the potatoes but the apples didn't necessarily stand out.

Hope you enjoy!
April

Easy Beef Casserole

Easy Beef Casserole adapted Mr. Food
1 pound ground beef
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 (16-ounce) package frozen mixed vegetables
1 (10.75-ounce) can cream of chicken soup, undiluted
1 cup (4 ounces) shredded Cheddar cheese
1/2 (32-ounce) package frozen seasoned potato nuggets

Directions:  Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Cook ground beef and salt in a skillet over medium heat, stirring until meat crumbles and is no longer pink; drain. Spoon ground beef into a sprayed 2-1/2-quart shallow baking dish.Layer frozen vegetables, soup and cheese over ground beef. Top with frozen potatoes.
    
Bake casserole for 30 minutes or until potatoes are golden.

Modifications:
-I added a diced garlic clove.
-I added 1 chopped onion.

Here's what you'll need:

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

I "chopped" an onion with my Vidalia Chop Wizard.

Sidenote:  Have you seen these?  I got it for Christmas and it "chops" everything for you in perfect little pieces.  Love it!

Just place it on the grate (comes with 2 different sizes) and close the lid down.

Here's what you get.  You can buy them at Bed, Bath & Beyond.

I switched out grates and then "diced" a garlic clove.

Brown the ground beef, onions, and garlic.

Once browned, put the meat in a baking dish. 

Add frozen vegetables.

Spread the undiluted cream of chicken soup.

Sprinkle with cheese.

Top with diced hashbrown potatoes (or any type of potato you prefer).

Put in oven for 30-40 minutes.

Here's what you'll end up with:

Our Thoughts:
This was a good, comforting dish for a cold winter day.  I was a bit skeptical about using cream of chicken soup with ground beef but it added a bit of sweetness that I wasn't expecting. 

This type of recipe is great for slipping veggies onto your kids' plates while masking it with the gooeyness of cheese and potatoes.

Hope you enjoy!
April

Chicken Rollatini Stuffed with Zucchini and Mozzarella

Chicken Rollatini Stuffed with Zucchini and Mozzarella adapted from Skinnytaste.com
Gina's Weight Watcher Recipes
Servings: 8 • Serving Size: 1 cutlet • Old Points: 4 pts • Points+: 4 pts
Calories: 171.9 • Fat: 6.3 g • Protein: 20.3 g • Carb: 7.9 g • Fiber: 0.9 g • Sugar: 1.3 g Sodium: 280.7 mg (without salt)

1 tsp olive oil
cloves garlic, chopped
1 1/2 cups (1 medium) zucchini, shredded
1/4 cup + 2 tbsp Romano cheese (or parmesan)
3 oz part skim shredded mozzarella
salt and pepper to taste
8 thin chicken cutlets, 3 oz each
1/2 cup Italian seasoned breadcrumbs
1 lemon, juice of
1 tbsp olive oil
salt and fresh pepper
olive oil non-stick spray

Directions:  Wash and dry cutlets, season with salt and pepper. Preheat oven to 450°. Lightly spray a baking dish with non-stick spray.

In a large skillet, heat oil on medium-high heat. Add oil when hot then saute garlic a minute, or until golden. Add zucchini, 1/4 cup Romano cheese, salt and pepper and saute about 3-4 minutes, stirring occasionally. Set aside to cool. When cool, add mozzarella cheese and mix to combine.

Lay chicken cutlets down on a working surface and spread 3 tbsp of zucchini-cheese mixture on each cutlet. Loosely roll each one and keep seam side down.

Combine breadcrumbs and grated cheese in one bowl; in a second bowl combine olive oil, lemon juice, and pepper in another bowl.

Dip chicken in lemon-oil mixture, then in breadcrumbs and place seam side down in a baking dish (no toothpicks needed). Repeat with the remaining chicken. When finished, lightly spraywith oil spray.

Bake 25 - 30 minutes. Serve immediately. Serving size is listed as one, but if you are having this as a low carb meal with a salad, I suggest you have two.

Here's what you'll need:

Slice or shred the zucchini in to small pieces so they can be rolled into the chicken.

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees.

Chop up the garlic and cook put in a pan with olive oil for 1-2 minutes.

Add the zucchini.

Add 1/4 cup of the grated cheese.

Mix the bread crumbs and 2 Tbsp grated cheese in a separate bowl.

Squeeze one lemon into another bowl and add olive oil, salt and pepper.

Pull the zucchini from the stove and let cool.  Once cool, add the shredded cheese and mix.

Lay the chicken out and season it.  Place some of the zucchini/cheese mixture on the chicken and loosely roll.  Leave seam side down.

Holding on to the loosely-wrapped chicken, dip in the olive oil and dip in to the breading.

Place chicken seam-side down in a baking dish.

Bake at 450 degees for 30-40 minutes.

Here's what you'll end up with:

Our Thoughts:

My friend, Andrea, posted this recipe on Facebook last week and raved about it so I thought I'd give it a try.

 

I happy that we were actually able to taste the zucchini in this dish.  It still had a bit of a crunch and wasn't overly squishy or mushy.  I believe it also added to the juiciness of the chicken.  Along with or in place of zucchini, you could substitute any garden veggie that you like.

 

Scott really enjoyed the flavor of the Italian breadcrumbs with the cheese and zucchini.

 

Hope you enjoy!

April