Saturday

Crockpot Thai Chicken

In my search for more crockpot dinners, this was a big hit. Not too spicy and excellent served over rice.

Ingredients
2 medium onions cut into thin wedges
1.5 cups sliced carrot (3 medium)
1 small red sweet pepper, cut into bite-size strips
2 pounds skinless, boneless chicken thighs, cut into 1-inch pieces
3/4 cup chicken broth
3 tablespoons creamy peanut butter
1/2 teaspoon finely shredded lime peel
2 tablespoons lime juice
2 tablespoons soy sauce 
1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger
2-3 teaspoons red curry paste
4 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 cup unsweetened coconut milk
1 cup frozen peas
Hot cooked rice
Chopped peanuts (optional)
Snipped fresh cilantro (optional)

In a slow cooker, place onions, carrot, and sweet pepper. Top with chicken. In a medium bowl, whisk together broth, peanut butter, lime peel, lime juice, soy sauce, ginger, curry paste, and garlic until smooth. Pour over all in cooker.

Cover and cook on low-heat setting for 5 to 6 hours or on high-heat setting for 2-1/2 to 3 hours. Stir in coconut milk and peas. Let stand, covered, for 5 minutes.

Serve chicken mixture over hot cooked rice. If desired, sprinkle each serving with chopped peanuts and cilantro. 

Butternut Squash Lasagna

I adapted this from a Martha Stewart recipe with the addition of Italian sausage. I think kale or Swiss chard might be a nice way to add some veg as well.

Ingredients:
  • 2 pounds butternut squash, peeled, seeded, and cut into 1-inch pieces
  • 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
  • Coarse salt and freshly ground pepper
  • 1 pound whole-milk ricotta cheese
  • 1/2 cup heavy cream
  • 2 large egg yolks
  • 1/2 pound fresh mozzarella cheese, coarsely grated (2 cups)
  • Freshly grated nutmeg
  • 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
  • 1/3 cup loosely packed fresh sage leaves, coarsely chopped
  • 1 1/4 cups homemade or store-bought low-sodium chicken or vegetable stock (I used a bit more since I had no cook noodles)
  • 3/4-1 lb sweet Italian sausage, cooked
  • Lasagna noodles
  • 4 ounces finely grated Parmesan cheese (1 1/4 cups)


  1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Toss squash, oil, and 1 teaspoon salt on a baking sheet. Season with pepper. Bake until light gold and tender, 25 to 30 minutes. Let cool.
  2. Reduce oven temperature to 375 degrees. Combine ricotta, cream, yolks, mozzarella, and a pinch of nutmeg in a medium bowl. Season with salt.
  3. Melt butter in a small saute pan over medium-high heat. As soon as it starts to sizzle, add sage, and cook until light gold and slightly crisp at edges, 3 to 4 minutes.
  4. Place squash in a medium bowl, and mash 1/2 of it with the back of a wooden spoon, leaving the other 1/2 in whole pieces. Gently stir in sage-butter mixture and stock. Season with salt and pepper.
  5. Spread 3/4 cup of ricotta mixture in a 9-cup baking dish. Top with a layer of noodles. Spread 1/2 of the butternut squash mixture over noodles. Top with a layer of noodles. Spread 1 cup of ricotta mixture over noodles and top with half of cooked crumbled sausage. Repeat layering once more (noodles, squash, noodles, ricotta/sausage a). Sprinkle Parmesan over ricotta mixture.
  6. Place baking dish on a rimmed baking sheet, and bake until cheese is golden and bubbling, 30 to 35 minutes. Let stand for 15 minutes before slicing and serving.

Sunday

Sour Cream Chicken Enchiladas

This recipe can be prepared ahead of time, double wrapped and frozen. I'm thinking it would be easy to double the recipe and freeze one.

Ingredients:
2 chicken breasts, approx. 1#
1 medium onion, chopped
2-3 Tbs olive oil
1 can black or kidney beans
Cumin, to taste
Chili powder, to taste
6-8 tortillas
1.5c shredded Montery Jack or Mexican cheese
1/4c butter
1/4c flour
1 - 15oz can of chicken broth
1c sour cream
1 - 4oz can diced green chilis

Preheat oven to 400*
Heat olive oil in a pan. Dice the chicken, season with salt, pepper, cumin and chili powder. Cook chicken with the onion until just done. Remove from heat. Add beans and corn and mix together. Spray a 9x13 inch pan with nonstick spray or olive oil. Put the chicken mixture in each tortilla with a sprinkle of cheese and place in the pan seam side down.

Melt the butter and add flour to create a roux. Cook for 2-3 minutes, slowly whisk in the chicken broth to create a thickened sauce. Take off heat and stir in sour cream and chilis. Pour over enchiladas and top with remainder of the cheese.

Bake for 20 minutes until cheese topping in melted.

Santa Fe Chicken

A new crockpot recipe! The end result has a fair bit of liquid, so it would work well over rice, or strain with a slotted spoon well before you put in a tortilla.

Ingredients:
24 oz (1 1/2) lbs chicken breast
14.4 oz can diced tomatoes with mild green chilies
15 oz can black beans
8 oz frozen corn
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
14.4 oz can fat free chicken broth
3 scallions, chopped
1-2 cloves of garlic, minced (original recipe called for 1 tsp garlic powder)
half a chopped onion (original recipe called for 1tsp onion powder)
1 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper (or to taste)
salt to taste

Directions:
Combine chicken broth, beans, corn, tomatoes, cilantro, scallions, garlic powder, onion powder, cumin, cayenne pepper and salt in the crock pot. Season chicken breast with salt and lay on top. 

Cook on low for 10 hours or on high for 6 hours. Half hour before serving, remove chicken and shred. Return chicken to slow cooker and stir in. Adjust salt and seasoning to taste. Serve over rice or tortillas and your favorite toppings- like sour cream and cilantro.

Thursday

Crockpot Lemon Chicken

This is a great little recipe that's quicker than many crockpot recipes. I also successfully doubled this as well. We served with angel hair pasta and it was delish!

Ingredients
1tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ground black pepper
2lbs boneless, skinless chicken breast
2 Tbs butter
1/4 c water
3 Tbs lemon juice
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 tsp chicken bouillon granules
8oz pkg cream cheese (lowfat or fat free works fine)\
Fresh parsley for garnish

Mix oregano, salt and pepper and rub into chicken breasts. Melt the butter in a skillet and brown the chicken breasts 3 to 5 minutes on both sides. Place chicken in slow cooker.
In the same skillet, mix water, lemon juice, garlic and bouillon. Bring to a boil. Pour over the chicken in the slow cooker.
Cover and cook on high for 3 hours or low for 6 hours. Add the parsley to the slow cooker 15-30 minutes before the end of the cooking time.
About 15min before you're ready to serve, remove the chicken and add cream cheese. Whisk until smooth and serve over chicken on a bed of rice or pasta.

found on Pinterest