Tag Archives: chicken

Crock Pot Dijon Chicken with Mushrooms

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This recipe is a renovation of a recipe we’ve been working for several years, acquired from a recipe swap online with some fellow moms. The original recipe (which we modified for our needs) relied on cream of mushroom soup and canned mushrooms. Well, that works…but only for so long. The kids seem to prefer fresh mushrooms to canned (no argument from me) and the response to the chicken itself has only ever been tepid, where the little ones are concerned.

So, when dh suggested that we make the usual recipe, I balked and asked if anyone minded if I switched things up. Thankfully, I have a patient family that’s willing to endure my experimentation. After all, we humans are learning machines and I try to incorporate what I’ve learned works (and remove what doesn’t).

As luck would have it, this overhaul worked out splendidly! The flavor factor increased exponentially, and the acceptance rate from the kids went up by quite a bit. For example, dd usually picks at her “no thank you helping” of chicken, and this time out she asked for seconds: both the first night we had the dish AND the night when we served it as leftovers. This is a very good sign. Our ds did great with the mushrooms, so this is definitely a win in my book. It also doesn’t hurt that this recipe requires almost no prep time; I purchase mushrooms pre-washed and pre-sliced to save time, and that always works wonderfully.

I will note that the Healthy Request cream soup listed below is my standard answer for “cream of” soup recipes. While you can make it with a full fat/sodium/calories soup, I choose not to – and I haven’t found that the flavor lacks at all. Also, as with many of the other crock pot recipes I’ve posted, this one can cook longer. I had this one in the crock for about 11hrs, and it wasn’t overcooked or dry. So, consider the cook times below the minimums and know that you can go longer without things going awry.

 

Crock Pot Dijon Chicken

Chickeny mushroomy goodness!

 

Prep Time: 5 mins

Cooking Time: 6-8 hrs on LOW, 3-4 hrs on HIGH

Serves: 4

 

Ingredients

2 cans Campbells Healthy Request Cream of Chicken Soup

4 Tb dijon mustard

8 oz water

16 oz washed & sliced mushrooms

1-1/2 lb boneless, skinless chicken breasts (4 breasts, approximately 6oz each)

Non-stick cooking spray

 

Make it Happen

1. Coat the inside of a 4qt crock pot with non-stick cooking spray.

2. In a bowl, stir to combine the soup, mustard and water.

3. Place the chicken in the crock pot, then pour half of the mixture from the bowl on top of the chicken.

4. Place the mushrooms in the crock post and pour the remaining half of the mixture from the bowl on top.

5. Cover and cook on LOW for 6-8 hrs or on HIGH for 3-4 hrs.

6. Serve immediately, over rice, butter noodles or pasta.

CSA Vegetable Chicken Stir-fry

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I’ll admit that I’m not the wok-master of the house. DH makes some great stir-fry, and when we got this week’s veggie box, I knew that he was going to have a fun assignment. The funny part was trying to convince him of what needed to go in the wok.Throw in the peas! And carrots! And OMG slice the kale thinly and it’ll be awesome! I’m such a backseat chef sometimes.

Needless to say, he made this fantastic stir-fry and the instant reaction was that it was a total winner. We used the sugar snap peas, carrots, green onions and kale from this week’s CSA box, and it was all just heavenly. Better still, after two adult portions (and small amounts siphoned off by the kiddos), we had two nice lunch portions.

And before anybody gets crabby about this being on white rice, I’ll have you know that dh made sushi rice in the Zojirushi, and OMG was that awesome, too. It was just one of those dinners where it all came together perfectly, and the only thing we were wishing we could do differently is not have eaten all day so we could just stuff completely. Another positive side-effect of loading up on the CSA veg is that it enabled us to be completely full from just under 4oz chicken each. That totally works, too. Not that I don’t love my poultry and all, but there was something insanely fun about just piling the veg high on the counter and watching dh go to town with the wok.

Note: if you don’t have a wok, I recommend that you try this type of recipe in a large, high-sided skillet. The wok is still the best starting place, but a large skillet that allows you to stir a serious quantity of food without spilling will work in a pinch.

Note, pt. 2: don’t feel compelled to make this with chicken. Make it vegan by ditching the chicken and either upping the veg or throwing some firm tofu in there. Just remember that the tofu shouldn’t need anywhere near the same cook time as the chicken. The point is that veg + wok = heaven.

Note, pt. 3: also, don’t feel compelled to use canned mushrooms. This was a nod to “it’s a weeknight and the kids are chafing at being in the grocery store when they’re hungry and I need to get them home so dinner can be made and BLARGHWHERETHE$*%&ISACANOFSHROOMSSOICANGOALREADY?!”

 

CSA Vegetable Chicken Stir-Fry

JUST. SO. GOOD.

 

Prep Time: 30 mins

Cooking Time: 10 minutes

Serves: 4

 

Ingredients

1 lb boneless, skinless chicken breasts (cut in 3/4″ cubes)

1/4 cup hoisin sauce

2 Tb canola oil

2/3 lb snow peas, washed, stemmed and stringed

1/2 lb carrots, washed and cut into 1/4″ rounds

15 oz can sliced mushrooms, drained

8 oz can sliced water chestnuts, drained

1/4 cup teriyaki sauce

1/4 cup green onions, washed and chopped

4 oz kale, washed, stems removed, and cut into 1/4-1/2″ strips

1 Tb cornstarch

2 Tb water

 

Make it Happen

1. Heat the canola oil in a wok over high heat until the oil smokes.

2. Add the chicken and hoisin sauce; stir frequently until the chicken is cooked thoroughly.

3. Simultaneously, steam sugar snap peas and carrots. Steam for 3-5 minutes, until they just start to lose their crispness.

4. Once the chicken is cooked, add to the wok the mushrooms, water chestnuts, the steamed sugar snap peas and carrots, and teriyaki sauce. Stir to combine.

5. Cook the mixture for 2-3 minutes, then add green onions and kale; stir to combine.

6. In a small bowl, mix together cornstarch and water. Stir until the cornstarch is fully dissolved, then add this mixture to the wok and stir to combine thoroughly. Remove from heat and serve immediately.

Crock Pot BBQ Pulled Chicken

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This recipe is about a month late in getting posted, not because I’m a completely lazy person but because I’m often going in so many directions at once that sometimes it’s easier just not to go in ANY direction when offered a few free minutes a day where directions aren’t required. Sorry about that.

So, once we get past that, we get on to a recipe that worked. Oh my, did it work. One of my favorite southern treats is a pulled meat sandwich (typically chicken, but pork is a close second), and when we were having family over for dinner it seemed like a simple way to prepare an easy crowd-pleaser.

At my sister’s suggestion, I paired this with a maple cornbread recipe from the geniuses at King Arthur Flour – it’s a simple and tasty homemade cornbread that I will surely make again in the future. I also threw together a batch of kale chips, so there would be something green on the plate. OK, sure, the right accompaniment would’ve been either collards or fried okra, but kale chips seemed to be more my required level of effort. It also had the bonus of having been the first time my parents had them, so I had the rare pleasure of introducing them to something!

The “hardest” part of this particular meal is the shredding; everything else takes only seconds to prepare. Shredding can be tedious, but once you get into a groove with it, even a few pounds of chicken shreds pretty quickly. It’s just wonderful to have dishes that take virtually no time to throw together when you’re entertaining. Once we can get the kids to (reliably) eat meat, we’ll be making this more often. The other benefit is that, unlike the pulled meats I’ve gotten pre-packaged at the grocery store, I know exactly what’s going into the dish. Since I’ve been on a rid-my-house-of-High-Fructose-Corn-Syrup kick over the last year or so, this is a really nice thing. (FWIW, we use Heinz Organic or Simply ketchup varieties; both are HFCS-free.)

The first picture shows you the full plate; the second picture shows you what happened when we thought it would be fun to try some of the pulled chicken on the cornbread. “I just want a small taste of the chicken…what would happen if I put it on a square of cornbread?” My BIL and I both thought of this at the same time, and his positive response to bite #1 of the combination spurred me to try it myself. OH BABY WAS IT GOOD.

Crock Pot Pulled Chicken with Maple Cornbread and Kale Chips

A plate full of OMNOMNOM

Crock Pot Pulled Chicken Cornbread Sandwich

Two great tastes that tasted grrrrrreat together

Prep Time: 5 min

Cooking/Active Time: 8-10 hrs on LOW plus another 10 minutes to shred and 15-20 mins on HIGH

Serves: 8-10 people

 

Ingredients

2 lbs boneless, skinless chicken thighs

1 lb boneless, skinless chicken breasts

Marinade/Cooking Sauce:

  • 1/3 cup worcestershire sauce
  • 1/3 cup green chili sauce
  • 14-1/2 oz can low-sodium chicken broth
  • 1 cup apple juice

BBQ/Finishing Sauce:

  • 3/4 cup ketchup
  • 3/4 cup molasses
  • 1/3 cup yellow mustard
  • 1/3 cup worcestershire sauce
  • 3 Tb green chili sauce

 

Make it Happen

1. Spray the inside of a 4qt round crock pot with non-stick cooking spray.

2. Add the chicken thighs and chicken breasts to the crock. Mix the worcestershire sauce, chili sauce, chicken broth and apple juice in a bowl and pour over the chicken.

3. Cover and cook on LOW for 8-10 hrs.

4. In a bowl, combine the ketchup, molasses, yellow mustard, and the worcestershire and green chili sauces that comprise the finishing sauce.

5. When the chicken is done cooking, remove it from the crock to a cutting board and shred with a pair of forks.

6. Dump out the liquid in the crock and put the shredded chicken back into the crock, along with the finishing sauce. Stir well to combine.

7. Cook on HIGH for 15-20 mins, just to bring the sauce up to temperature. Serve on rolls. Or cornbread. Or with a spoon straight to your mouth OMNOMNOM…