Slow Cooker Asian Garlic Chicken

       Since the arrival of Hudson in our lives . . . I have been cooking with either the phone (i.e. takeout) or the slow cooker. :) I think instead of giving traditional baby gifts . . . I am going to start giving new moms a crock pot! (Somehow I don't think that will go over super well ;) haha

       This is a MUST TRY recipe. I only share recipes that we love on the blog and I would never recommend a recipe that we didn't think was amazing, this recipe is in a bit of a league of it's own. It's right up there with Lee's favorite Beef Bourguignon, and my favorite key lime pie.
But what makes this recipe extra amazing is that it is so fast and so easy, seriously 5 minutes of prep! We like to serve ours over rice, but it would be equally good over noodles, (maybe even better), and for a vegetable I just chopped up some red peppers on the side.

Asian Garlic Chicken 

      4 boneless skinless chicken breast (or substitute chicken thighs)
      1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
      5 cloves minced fresh garlic
      1  1/2 cups brown sugar
      3 tablespoons soy sauce
      1/2 cup gingerale (you can substitute sprite, 7 up)
      1/2 tsp - 1 tsp red pepper flakes (*optional, adjust to personal tolerance for spice)

      2 tbsp water
      1 tbsp cornstarch

1) Combine vinegar, garlic, sugar, soy, pepper flakes and gingerale in crock pot. Mix until sugar has dissolved (this doesn't take more than 1 minute).
2) Now, place chicken into crock pot with liquid.
3) Turn crock pot to high and cook for 4 hours! (You can also turn the crock pot to low and cook for 8 hours),
4) When the chicken in ready (after 4 hours on high) pull the chicken out and cut into chunks. Take the liquid from the crock pot and pour it into a small sauce pot on the stove. Bring liquid to a boil. Mix water and cornstarch together and pour into liquid. Heat until the sauce is thickened (feel free to add more cornstarch and water if you would like your sauce thicker).
5) Eat!
6) Come back and let us know if you loved it as much as we do!!!

Leftover Turkey Tetrazzini

Oh Man! This is a good one! (if I don't say so myself) ;) I wanted to share this recipe with you in time for all the Turkey Leftovers you'll have from Christmas!

I don't love leftovers, in fact I almost never eat leftovers (who am I kidding with Lee in the house there are almost NEVER leftovers).
But when there are leftovers, I will always choose to turn them into something else, rather than eat them as is.
So a few weeks ago I had Rachel Ray on in the background while I typed away on the computer. I saw her recipe for Turkey Tetrazzini and I fell in love with the recipe. Using all of the leftovers from a Turkey Dinner . . . not just the Turkey, but ALL of the leftovers! The pea's, the cauliflower, the turkey, the gravy, the broccoli, even the leftover white wine (not that there's a lot of that around here either ;).
We've made this recipe twice now with a few changes, but for me, that's what recipes are for . . . changing and tailoring it to your own family and your own tastes.

So definitely check out Rachel Ray's original recipe, found here. But here is how we do it.

I'll cook a big turkey or chicken dinner! Then the next night we make Tetrazzini!

• 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 4 tablespoons butter
• 1 onion, finely chopped
• 2-3 cloves garlic, chopped
• Salt and pepper
• 4 tablespoons flour
• 1 cup Chicken broth
• 1/2 cups turkey gravy from the night before (or just another 1/2 cup broth)
• 2 cups milk
• 3/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese, the fresh stuff, not the powdered stuff (trust me it makes a difference, this time).
• 1 pound cooked leftover turkey, chopped
• 1 1/2 cups cooked cauliflower (we bake ours in the oven)
• 1/2 cup peas (could be frozen if you want, or leftover from the night before)
• 1 pound cooked pasta shells.  

Pre-heat the oven to 375ºF.
Heat the olive oil in a pan, add the butter. Add the onion and garlic and season with salt and pepper. Add the flour and stir for 1 minute. Whisk in the chicken stock, then the gravy and milk. Let thicken enough to coat a spoon and stir in the parmesan cheese.
Add the leftover meat and vegetables, add the pasta, heat through and pour into a casserole dish. To top the casserole, I melt 2 tablespoons of butter and add about 1/2 cup of panko breadcrumbs, sprinkle all over the top and bake for about 30 minutes.

It is seriously good! And the funniest part is . . . I don't eat leftovers but I LOVE this casserole as leftovers. So apparently I will only eat leftovers if it's leftovers, from a meal, made of leftovers!  haha I am nothing if not complicated!

I really hope you'll give it a try, we've made it with Chicken or Turkey, with roasted vegetables or frozen vegetables, either way it's amazing. Lee's in LOVE, I'm in Love, Max didn't have any but he seemed pretty enamored with it as well ;).

1 Chicken = 1 Week of Lunches

Roasting Two chickens is just as easy as roasting One. So on Sunday Night why not throw two chickens in the oven . . . eat one for dinner and use the other one for 5+ days worth of lunches. Actually from Two Chickens I can squeeze out, Sunday Night dinner, A chicken pot pie on Monday and 5+ lunches for the week!
I would much rather roast an extra chicken then buy chicken from the deli counter at the grocery store, there's not extra preservatives and you know exactly how fresh it is!!! Plus it tastes WAY better!

Day 1:
Two Roasted Chicken Sandwiches with Pesto Mayo.
I was recently as a birthday party with sandwiches, each sandwich had a bit of Pesto Mayo on them. It was something I thought I wouldn't like . . . but they were delicious!  You can make your own pesto or you can use jarred pesto it's up to you!
We take 1 heaping Tablespoon of Pesto to every 1/2 cup of mayo (Add a little bit at a time because it can get overpowering fast!)
It takes 1 chicken breast, on crusty bread, topped with tomatoes, and garden greens.

Day 2:
Three Chicken Salad Sandwiches (5 if you use smaller Artisan Bread like we did).
You'll need about 1 cup of chopped chicken, 1 stalk of celery, 1/4 to 1/2 cup of mayo (depending how mayo-y you like your chicken salad, fresh cracked pepper and some coarse salt.

Day 3:
Field Greens Salad with 1 Chicken Breast sliced, Mandarin orange slices, red pepper and poppy seed dressing.

Day 4:
Greek Chicken Wraps (3 BIG ones). You'll need some Whole Wheat wraps, tzatziki, some white Chicken, field greens, feta cheese and *Greek Salad.
* Greek Salad Recipe
1 Red pepper (because I like red peppers more then green, 1/2 a cucumber, 1/2 a carton of cherry tomatoes, 1/4 of a red onion, a pinch of dried oregano, 2 tablespoons olive oil, 3 tbsp balsamic vinegar.

Day 5:
It's up to you, I say that because we had enough chicken leftover to make another Salad with chicken (I took field greens topped them with chicken, and leftover Greek salad, finished with Greek dressing!
We also had a little more pesto mayo and just enough chicken for 1 last sandwich!

I hope you can find this useful! All of the lunches were Delicious, Healthy and easy to make! Give'em a try, especially the pesto mayo!

How I Roast a Chicken: 
Take both chickens and rinse them off under cold water, dry well!
Chop two large onions, and slice 1 lemon, stuff the chopped onion and lemon slices up the chicken (the onion and lemon don't give a ton of flavor but they give a ton of moisture so that your chicken doesn't dry out!).
Cover the outside of the chicken, with a little butter, get it under the skin too!
A generous sprinkling of Salt and Pepper (be very generous)
If I have a little fresh rosemary around I'll chop that up and sprinkle that on too (I don't love dried rosemary on chicken).
Crank up the oven . . . 400 degrees or so. Cook for 10 minutes at 400, then turn the oven down to 350, and roast until the meat thermometer reads almost done, take out chickens, tent with tin foil and leave to cook the rest of the way through on the counter (chickens will keep cooking for a bit after they are taken out of the oven so take them out a little premature, or you'll have dry chicken! 15 minutes should do it). By cooking the chicken at 400 for 10 minutes you'll crisp up the skin and it will seal in all of the juices, making for a juicier chicken (have I mentioned I hate dry chicken??).
Cooking times are going to vary depending on what type of oven you have, ours is gas it takes about an hour and a half give or take! Your meat thermometer is your best friend when roasting a chicken!
And that's how I roast a chicken! No basting, and instead of trussing the chicken I just break off the wing tips that would otherwise burn! I hope that helps!!!

* If you're going to make a whole week of chicken lunches, you might want to consider freezing the roasted chicken you'll be using later in the week! Anything staying longer then 3 days in your fridge! 

Meal Plan Monday: Rain!

It's Spring and in the Greater Vancouver Area, Spring means RAIN! and this week is proving that point!
The weather man has called for rain all week.
I like to plan dinners to match the weather, I know it sounds crazy but hear me out. There's nothing worse then BBQ-ing in the rain, or eating hot soup on a hot day. And on the flip side, there is nothing as comforting as a nice warm soup on a cold rainy day, or comfort food on a dreary miserable evening and for those reasons on Sunday nights, I'm surrounded by flyer's, recipe books, and the weather report.

Monday:
Ham and Provolone Cheese Sandwiches, with yogurt, granola and frozen raspberries.
 Stuffed Roasted Chicken: When we truss the chicken we add a couple pieces of Bacon to the top, it keeps the chicken super moist and extra . . . bacon-y. Brussels Sprouts, Carrots and Yams.

Tuesday:
Chicken Salad Sandwiches (using the leftover chicken).
Corn and Red Pepper Chowder (hands down my favorite soup!)

Wednesday:
Salad, with Tuna and a hard boiled Egg.
We call this dinner "IKEA DINNER" we make meatballs, gravy, mashed potatoes, lingenberry sauce (from Ikea) and Carrots.

Thursday:
We make extra meat balls and Lee has Meatball Sandwiches (made with bottled organic tomato sauce).
Chicken Curry, usually Yellow Curry, Curry warms you up more then Soup on a cold day :)

Friday: (the one day this week we might have a tiny amount of sun)
Leftover Curry for Lunch for Lee (Curry taste way better on the second day)
Hoisin Salmon with Bok Choy and Wild Rice.

This week will be a lot of cooking for me, we also ran out of bread this weekend and I swore to myself that I would bake a couple loaves from scratch . . . wish me luck!

Tomorrow's Post is the inspiration behind our new Living Room Chairs and, of course our new Living Room Chairs :)