Green Salsa Chicken

I made up a pretty terrific slow cooker meal today. Wanted something low carb so instead of serving this on tortillas, I served in in lettuce leafs. The other great thing was the girls loved helping make the salsa. They peeled all the garlic and tomatillos and they helped brush on the avocado oil. The salsa could be made up the day before without any problems making it a super simple crock pot meal the next day. And of course, you could stuff burritos or tacos with this juicy tender meat!

-Amanda

Green Salsa Chicken

Roasted Green Salsa
1 white or yellow onion
1-2 hot peppers of your choice, preferably green ones
8-10 tomatillos
4-5 cloves garlic
3-4 tablespoons of oil (I used avocado oil, but olive oil would work too.)
Salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 425. Peel garlic and tomatillos. Cut tomatillos in half. Cut onion in quarters. Cut pepper in half and discard stem and seeds. Toss everything with oil (or use a pastry brush and brush it on each vegetable.) Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Roast for 25 minutes. Let cool complete, and then blend in your blender until you have a chunky consistency.

Shredded Chicken

4 chicken breasts
1/2 can of coconut milk
zest of one lime
juice of one lime
salsa recipe from above
salt to taste

Pour half the salsa in your crock pot. Place chicken breasts and sprinkle with salt. Pour in the rest of the salsa, the lime zest, lime juice and coconut milk. Cook on low for 5-6 hours. Take chicken out 30 minutes towards the end and shred. Place back in sauce and stir. Adjust salt as needed. Serve with cheese and lettuce for the photo above, otherwise use as a stuffing for tacos or burritos.

Mango Bar-B-Q Pulled Pork with Apple-Lime Coleslaw

I've mentioned before that I love watching Food Network shows. Rarely do I actually do one of the recipes I've seen on tv, using the shows more as inspiration instead. Recently a lady named Aarti Sequeira won the Next FoodNetwork Star. Her show, Aarti Party has an Indian flare to all the recipes. So far most of her dishes have really inspired me. When I saw her making this the other day, I just knew I had to try it though! It was supposed to be pulled pork sandwiches on brioche bread, but I had these homemade wheat tortillas left over from the other night so I figured turning the sandwiches into wraps/tacos would be a terrific idea. I added cheese on the girls portions and called them pork quesadillas, a dish they love. The apple-lime slaw that went with these pulled pork wraps was perfect. By the way, this would make a great crockpot meal.
-Amanda

Mango Bar-B-Q Pulled Pork
(Original recipe here)

1 boneless pork shoulder (Boston butt) about 3 lbs, excess fat removed

Rub:

• 2 tbsp dark brown sugar
• 1 tbsp paprika (I didn't have any, so I used chili powder)
• 2 tsp kosher salt

BBQ Sauce

• 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• 1/2 tsp cumin seeds
• 1/2 tsp fennel seeds
• 1 onion finely minced (I used a yellow sweet onion)
• 2 tbsp minced ginger
• 1 serrano pepper (I ended up using chili flakes since my serrano pepper didn't make it home from the grocery store!)
• kosher salt to taste
• 2 cups of mango puree (I bought frozen mango, thawed it and pureed in my blender)
• 1/2 cup fresh lime juice
• 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
• 1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce

Brioche rolls or wheat tortillas

Rub: Combine the rub ingredients, in a small bowl and massage it into the pork shoulder until well coated. Set aside while you make BBQ sauce. You could do this a day ahead and keep refrigerated until ready to use.
BBQ sauce: In a large saucepan, warm the oil, over low heat, until hot and shimmering. Add the cumin and fennel; they should splutter upon contact - be careful! Once the spluttering subsides, add the onions, ginger and serrano and a little salt, to taste. Saute until they soften but don't let them get any color. Add the rest of the sauce ingredients. Simmer about 5 minutes. Taste and season.
Add the pork shoulder to the saucepan, coating it with the sauce. Cover, and gently simmer until the pork falls apart easily, stirring and turning often, about 3 hours.
Remove the pork from the saucepan and shred it using 2 forks. Return it to the sauce and stir to coat with the sauce. Put a generous spoonful of the pork inside a brioche bun, top with a few slices of pickle and serve.

 Apple-Lime-Slaw
 (Original recipe here)

The orignal recipe makes 4-6 servings, I reduced it down to make just enough for our wraps this evening, and I didn't add the peanuts since I wasn't using it as a side, but as a topping.

drizzle of honey
1/2 lime, juiced
smidge of ground cumin
smidge of curry powder
1/2 tsp olive oil
salt & pepper
1/2 cup shredded cabbage
1 small apple sliced into thin matchsticks

Whisk the honey, lime juice and spices together in a small bowl. Slowly whisk in enough extra-virgin olive oil to emulsify the dressing. Season with salt and pepper, to taste.
Combine the cabbage and apples a bowl. Add the dressing and toss well. Serve.

I made Maddie and Izzie's into quesadilla's so it was easier for them to hold.

Spanish Style Chicken

Someone please help me come up with a better name for this dish! I was inspired from a Food Network show. She called her's Chicken Marengo, but when I looked up a real Chicken Marengo it is supposed to have crawfish in it. My dish doesn't have crawfish and neither did hers. Anyway, this was really tasty and my husband said the leftovers were better than the first night. I wouldn't know because he didn't share. This dish could possibly be made in a crock pot, but I'm not that great at creating crock pot dishes so, I'm not sure. I did turn the leftovers into a bit of a different dish by shredding the chicken and adding rice. Read on...
-Amanda

Spanish Style Chicken

1 chicken cut into pieces
1 cup flour
3 tbsp oil
1 can of tomato sauce
1 can of diced tomatoes
1/2 sliced onion
3-4 cloves of garlic smashed
1 bell pepper, sliced
2 tsp chili powder
1 tbsp worcestershire sauce
1 cup chicken stock
1/2 cup white wine
14-20 green olives

Place flour in a pie plate and season with salt and pepper. Dust chicken pieces in the flour. Brown chicken in oil in a heavy bottom skillet (cast iron is great!) Remove chicken and set aside. Deglaze the pan with the white wine bringing up all the browned bits. Add tomato sauce and diced tomatoes. Add chili powder, worcestershire sauce and chicken stock.

In a roasting pan (or lasagna pan) place sliced onions, bell peppers, and smushed garlic cloves. Pour the tomato mixture over the onions, bell peppers and smushed garlic cloves. Nestle chicken into the sauce. Cover and roast at 350º for 50 minutes or until chicken breast reaches 170º with a thermometer. Add olives at the end. I served it with mashed potatoes and green beans, pouring some of the tomato gravy on the plate.

The next night, I added brown rice to absorb the gravy and I shredded the chicken removing the skin. My husband John said it was better this way than the first night. Probably because you got more of the "gravy" and the flavors melded even more. This is what it looked like:

Crock Pot Beef Stew

Today was a perfect for beef stew! I pulled out the crock pot and had this simmering away all afternoon. By dinner time it was perfect.
-Amanda

Crock Pot Beef Stew

1 1/2 pounds of beef stew meat
1/2 cup of flour
3 large carrots
1 onion
3 small baking potatoes
3-4 sprigs of rosemary
2-3 cloves garlic
3 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
3 tbsp apple cider vinegar
1 can cream of mushroom soup
3-4 tbsp vegetable oil

Place 1/2 cup of flour in a large ziplock bag. Place stew meat in the bag and shake it around. In a cast iron skillet, heat some vegetable oil. Sear the stew meat in batches so you don't crowd the pan. (This step can be omitted, but the sear adds a nice flavor to the final stew.)

In a crock pot, place the chopped onion, large diced potatoes, chopped carrots, minced garlic and stew meat. In a large bowl mix the worcestershire sauce, apple cider vinegar and mushroom soup. Pour over beef. Add rosemary sprigs. Cook on low for 6 hours or until meat is tender.

No-Peek-A-Noff

This was one of those times when I had an idea for a dinner and I started to cook it, and then I realized I was missing half of the essential ingredients. That is when dinner plans morph into something else. My intention tonight was to make No-Peek Stew. A childhood favorite of my husbands that my mother-in-law shared with me. When I realized I was missing the cream of mushroom soup, I knew I had to change plans. Somehow this No-Peek stew morphed into a sort of beef stroganoff (with the addtion of sour cream added at the end.)

No-Peek-a-noff

1 package egg noodles, prepared according to package.
1.5 lbs stew beef
1/2 cup flour
1 cup beef stock
1/4 cup milk
2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
4 sprigs of fresh oregano (1/2 tbsp dried)
1 small onion chopped
3 cloves garlic, smashed
1 pint mushrooms
1/4 cup sour cream
1/2 cup red wine vinegar

In crock pot, place chopped onion and garlic. Layer beef on top of the onions. In a small bowl, mix the flour, worcestershire sauce, beef stock and milk. Pour over beef. Add oregano, salt and pepper. Cook on low 6 hours, stirring occasionally. While waiting for pasta to cook, chop mushrooms and add to the beef. Stir in sour cream and red wine vinegar. Put crock pot on high while pasta finishes up. Drain pasta, serve beef over pasta.

Shredded Salsa Beef

Another night, another Tex-Mex meal. Seriously, I am stuck people. Actually tonight I really wasn't up for cooking anything so I pulled out a meal from my freezer that I'd made months ago. I then realized that I could not remember for the life of me what cookbook I got the recipe from. I had a mini panic attack. I absolutely LOVE this meal. I tore through several of my cookbooks trying to figure out where I had originally got the recipe. Just as I was afraid I had found it online somewhere, my eyes land on my Don't Panic, Dinner's in the Freezer cookbook. Then I started laughing. Panic attack over. Seriously, didn't I just pull this dinner out of the freezer so I wouldn't have to cook tonight? Because I don't want to lose the recipe again, here it is. Sorry, no picture tonight, we dove right in and I forgot to snap a photo. Yes, it is that good.

Shredded Salsa Beef

1 1/2- 2lbs beef roast (chuck or round)
1 tbsp oil
1 onion
4 oz can chopped green chiles
1 cup prepared chunky style salsa
2 tbsp brown sugar
1 tbsp soy sauce
1 clove garlic (I probably used 3 or 4 since I love garlic)
1/2- 1 cup water

Brown meat in a skillet in oil on both sides. Place in Crock-Pot, Add remaining ingredients and enough water to barely cover roast. Cover. Cook on low 6-8 hours, depending on crock-pot. When beef is tender, remove and shred, using two forks to pull apart. Return meat to Crock-Pot and stir to combine meat and liquid. Meat and sauce can be thickened with flour if you like. Serves 6-8.

If preparing for later, let cool. Then freeze in ziplock bag. Lay flat in your freezer. To thaw, open ziplock bag and place in a bowl. Microwave on high in 3 minute increments until warmed through.

Serving suggestions: Use as a filling for Tacos, Burritos, Quesadillas or Chalupas. I also like it on top of lettuce for a "taco" salad.

Weight Watchers:
lean roast is 3pts for 2oz