crock pot roasted chicken and vegetables

This is actually a picture of the leftover byproduct of this recipe. I love leftover byproducts for lunch.

This recipe is more of a method for how I make shredded chicken. I hate dealing with raw meat so I like to cook it all up at once.

By cooking it this way we eat roast chicken and veggies one night with homemade rolls, I get to eat chicken soup with what's left of the vegetables and broth the next day, and I get enough shredded chicken for about three more meals like chicken enchiladas, hawaiian haystacks, chicken pot pie, chicken salad sandwiches, etc. This makes life easier and I love that.

Here's the basics:

Like I said this is not really a recipe so the measurement isn't exact

I just try to cram as much as I can into my 6 quart crock pot

I use 1 package (about 5 lbs) of fresh boneless skinless chicken,

1 onion cut into large chunks

a couple potatoes (I think that time I used 3)

a couple carrots cut into big chunks

a couple ribs of celery cut into big pieces

Trim the chicken and put a layer in the crock pot

sprinkle with seasonings such as poultry seasoning, parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme,

layer veggies on it

repeat until its all in the crockpot

It will then look like this:

Pour 2 cups of broth (made from bullion) into the crock pot and cook the stuff on low all day long.

Serve vegetables and large pieces of chicken for dinner. Remove the rest of the chicken and shred and freeze for later. Add some pepper and salt to the broth, veggies and fine shreds of chicken left in the crockpot for a delicious soup for lunch the next day. Yum.

Let me know if you have any questions!

Beef (or Chicken) and Broccoli

Warning: not a kid-pleasing dish. Scott and I ate it all ourselves. I had to make a regular chicken gravy to put on their rice.

I got this recipe off of Recipezaar. (#99476) It was listed as "The Best Easy Beef and Broccoli Stirfry." It was easy and yummy.

I am lazy today so I am just going to paste the recipe right from recipezaar. I used chicken breasts instead of beef in mine.

The Best Easy Beef and Broccoli

Ingredients

• 3 tablespoons cornstarch, divided
• 1/2 cup water, plus
• 2 tablespoons water, divided
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 lb boneless round steak or charcoal chuck steak, cut into thin 3-inch strips
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil, divided
• 4 cups broccoli florets
• 1 small onion, cut into wedges
• 1/3 cup soy sauce
• 2 tablespoons brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon ground ginger
• hot cooked rice

Directions

1. 1

   In a bowl, combine 2 tablespoons cornstarch, 2 tablespoons water and garlic powder until smooth.

2. 2

   Add beef and toss.

3. 3

   In a large skillet or wok over medium high heat, stir-fry beef in 1 tablespoon oil until beef reaches desired doneness; remove and keep warm.

4. 4

   Stir-fry broccoli and onion in remaining oil for 4-5 minutes.

5. 5

   Return beef to pan.

6. 6

   Combine soy sauce, brown sugar, ginger and remaining cornstarch and water until smooth; add to the pan.

7. 7

   Cook and stir for 2 minutes.

8. 8

   Serve over rice.

Healthier Banana Bread

I was trying to find a better alternative to my favorite banana bread recipe which is scrumptious, but contains a whole stick of butter.

I found a muffin recipe that I thought might work. I also reduced the sugar in it, substituted wheat flour for part of the white, and added vanilla. Really there wasn't a noticeable difference from my other banana bread recipe as far as taste or texture go, and my family ate a whole loaf in one sitting.

Healthier Banana Bread

(adapted from a muffin recipe in the Favorites cookbook)

3/4 cup sugar

1/2 cup vegetable oil

2 eggs

3 ripe bananas, mashed

1 cup all purpose flour

1 cup wheat flour

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp. vanilla

Cream sugar and oil well. Add eggs and mashed bananas and beat. Add flour, soda and salt. Pour into greased pans. Bake at 350 degrees for about 35 minutes for small loaves (it baked 3, 7x3 1/2)

(It would probably make 2 medium loaves or 1 large loaf. Increase bake times accordingly.)

(also makes 18-24 muffins, bake for 18-20 minutes.)

(UPDATE: I just made this again the other day and substituted applesauce for all of the oil. It was a little more dry, but still very yummy.)

Any Cake Mix Cookies

I made these a few weeks ago when I had leftover frosting in the refrigerator and decided to put together some homemade oreos for the kids. The old me would have just got out a spoon and taken care of that frosting.

There are a few reasons why this is a GREAT recipe.

1. You can use any cake mix. I've used rainbow chip mostly. This picture was a triple chocolate cake mix.

2. They are good chewy cookies that you put together in no time. (3 ingredients)

3. Unlike the regular recipe I use for homemade Oreos, this one doesn't have shortening. Not even any oil. Sure the shortening makes your cookies puffier, but now I cringe when I add shortening to food. Flatter cookies are more like real oreos anyways, right?

4. They taste good.

The recipe came from a ward cookbook I was looking at a few years ago.

Cake Mix Cookies

1 package cake mix

2-4 tablespoons water

2 eggs

Mix well to form soft cookie dough. Place teaspoonfuls on greased cookie sheet. Bake at 350 degrees for 10-12 minutes. (Watch the time. I actually left that part off the recipe and just guessed at it. I can't remember how long it took a few weeks ago.)