Teriyaki Chicken in the Crock Pot

Here is an easy way to make Teriyaki Chicken in your crock pot, and this recipe will easily feed 6 with very few ingredients.

You will need:
1 1/2 pounds of boneless, skinless chicken breast, (or you can use chicken thighs)
1 Tabs. honey
1/2 cup soy sauce
3 Tabs. apple cider vinegar
1 teas. ground ginger
1 clove garlic, minced
1/8 teas. ground black pepper
2 teas. corn starch
2 teas chicken stock

In the crock pot, add the soy sauce, honey, vinegar, ginger, garlic and pepper.  Give these a good whisk to mix them together.

Note:  if you want a deeper flavor to your sauce, you can use molasses instead of honey.

Next add the chicken breast

Turn the chicken over a couple of times to coat the soy sauce mixture on the chicken.  You want it to have a good coating.  Cover the crock pot, and cook on low, about 3 to 4 hours, (until the chicken is cooked).

Every hour, give the chicken a turn to ensure even cooking in the soy sauce mixture.

It's been 3 1/2 hours and the chicken is browning nicely and the sauce has a nice rich ginger/garlic smell.  This is when I start cooking my rice and vegetables to serve with the chicken.


Note:  since I only need 2 teas of chicken stock later on to thicken my sauce, I set that amount aside in a small bowl, and use the rest of the stock, (with enough water), to cook my rice.  It adds nice flavor to the rice, but it's not necessary.

 Once your chicken is cooked completely, remove and set aside on a cutting board.  Notice the nice brown teriyaki coloring on the chicken.

When it has cooled a little, cut the chicken into bite sized pieces.

Pour your teriyaki sauce from the crock pot into a small saucepan, and over medium heat, bring to a boil.

Into the small bowl that has your 2 teaspoons of chicken stock, add the 2 teaspoons of cornstarch and whisk together until combined.

Note:  If you want, you can substitute water for the chicken stock - then you don't have to open a new box or can.

Once the sauce is boiling, slowing add the cornstarch mixture, and stir in.  Reduce the heat to a simmer and allow the sauce to thicken, (stirring occasionally), for 2 to 3 minutes.

Add the chicken back to the empty crock pot.

Pour the thickened soy sauce over the chicken and stir to coat the chicken.

 Your chicken is now ready to serve over your cooked rice and vegetables.

And here is your meal, teriyaki chicken over rice with vegetables.  I chopped a couple of green onions and sprinkled them over the top and my supper is all ready to serve.  Very easy!

ENJOY !

Creamy Asparagus Soup

Spring is just around the corner, and that means fresh asparagus.  One of our local vendors has been selling asparagus for 99 cents a pound.

These were some real beauties.  It was quite a temptation not to fill my shopping cart to the brim.

I brought home 2 pounds, enough to have bacon wrapped asparagus for dinner one night and creamy asparagus soup another night.  Let's make some soup!  This recipe will make enough to feed 4 - 6 people, and takes about 30 minutes to make.   If you want to make it vegetarian it's an easy swap out with the broth.

You will need:
1 onion, chopped
2 Tabs. butter
1 clove garlic, chopped
1 pound of asparagus , (ends trimmed and cut into 1 inch pieces)
1 cup chicken stock
1/2 teas dried thyme
1 cup water
1/2 teas white pepper, (or regular pepper if fine)
1 cup milk

In a dutch oven pot, melt the butter over medium heat.  Add the chopped onion and cook until it starts to wilt, (about 2 minutes).

Add the chopped garlic and cook for another minute.

Add the chicken stock   (NOTE:  if you want to make this vegetarian, just substitute vegetable stock for chicken stock).  Add 1 cup water.

Add the chopped asparagus.

Add the dried thyme and pepper, (I use white pepper, just so I don't have the black pepper flakes in my soup, but it's OK to use regular pepper).  Stir well, cover and cook until asparagus is tender, (about 15 minutes).

Remove from heat and using your immersion blender, puree until smooth.  (NOTE:  you can do this in a blender, but be very careful not to get burned, do it in small batches, then return soup back to the pot).

Your soup will be very thick and rich.

 Now add your milk.  (Note:  if you want to use canned evaporated milk, or cream for more richness you can, or you can even use skim milk to cut calories.)

Stir over low heat until thoroughly heated. Taste your soup for seasoning.  Does it need a little salt or more pepper.  And now your done!

 I like to serve a little dollop of sour cream on top, and I have some fresh homemade bread to go with my soup.

Give this a try, and let me know what you think.  It's a quick and easy soup to warm you on a cold night.

Enjoy!

Cranberry-Oatmeal Cookies

February is "Heart Healthy Month"!  And Oatmeal is a heart healthy food.  Oatmeal cookies are a long time favorite of kids and adults alike.  But, when they are filled with fats, they're not so heart healthy.  I have taken the ordinary oatmeal cookie and remade it more heart friendly, without losing the flavor.  This recipe will make 3 1/2 dozen good size cookies and you can make them in about 1 hour, (start to finish).
First preheat your oven to 375 degrees.  I like to line my cookie sheets with parchment paper, but it's not necessary, (this just helps with cleanup).

You will need:
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. baking soda
1/2 teas cinnamon
1/4 teas nutmeg
1/4 teas ginger
2 ripe bananas
1 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 eggs, beaten
1 tsp. vanilla
2 cups rolled oats
1 1/2 cups dried cranberries

In a medium bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, and ginger.  Whisk together.  Set aside.

In a large bowl, combine the mashed bananas, brown sugar, and granulated sugar.  (I like to use a fork to break apart and mash up my brown sugar and get all the lumps out).

Beat the banana and sugars together for about 30 seconds on medium speed.

 Add the vanilla and eggs.  Beat just until combined.

Add in 1/3 of the flour mixture and beat on low speed until combined.  Add in another 1/3 of flour mixture, and continue until combine, then add in final flour mixture and beat until all flour mixture is combined.

 Stir in the oats.

Stir in the dried cranberries.

NOTE:  if you want to add nuts at this point they will give your cookies an extra protein boost and taste yummy.  Try pecans, walnuts, or hazelnuts.

Drop dough by rounded teaspoons unto NON greased cookie sheet, 2 inches apart.

Bake for 11 minutes, until cookies edges are golden.

 Let cool on wire rack for a couple of minutes.

 Once you can handle the cookies, remove from the cookie sheet and let the cookies cool on a wire rack.

OK - now for the "quality control check".  YUP - YUMMY, YUMMY, YUMMY !!  A nice soft cookie with good texture.

And of course you have to have a glass of ice cold milk with your cookies.

Give these a try, and you won't feel guilty about treating your family to an old fashion "good for you treat".

Enjoy.

Don't forget to check out the peanut butter- oatmeal cookies.

Cheesy Vegetable Soup

Most of the county is experiencing a lot of snow, and there's nothing better than staying inside and enjoying a bowl of warm soup, (especially if you just came in from shoveling!).   Thirty-some odd years ago, I worked with a young mother who said the only way her kids would eat any kind of vegetable was to melt cheese and pour it over the top.  I told her to take that concept one step further and make soup.  I then told her how I make this cheesy vegetable soup for my son.  The next day, Kelly came into work and declared that for the first time her 2 kids each ate 3 bowls of vegetable soup for supper.  Here's how I make my cheesy vegetable soup:

You will need:
1 pound of potatoes, (more or less)
3 - 4 carrots
1 medium/small onion
2 garlic cloves
2 celery stalks
1 Tabs butter
1/4 cup flour
1 cup milk
4 - 5 ounces cheddar cheese, (shredded)
1 cup chicken stock (homemade or canned)
salt and pepper (to taste)
1 teas dried oregano

scrub and chop potatoes into small bite sized pieces, (you don't need to peel, unless you want to).

Scrub and chop carrots into bite size pieces.

Scrub and slice celery into 1/4 inch slices.

Into a large sauce pan, combine potatoes, celery, and carrots.

Add chicken stock and 1 cup water.  (note:  I am using chicken stock from my homemade chicken noodle soup recipe).  Cook over medium heat.  Don't forget to season with salt and pepper, (about 1 teas each).

While vegetables are cooking, chop the onions and garlic.

In a sauce pan, (over medium heat), melt the butter.  Add and cook the onions and garlic, until translucent.

Drain the vegetables, reserving  1 cup of the broth from the cooked vegetables

Add the flour to the cooked onions and garlic, cook the flour mixture, (stirring often), for 2 -3 minutes).

The onion mixture will have a nice golden color.

Slowly add the milk and stir into the flour onion mixture.

Stir cooking until mixture starts to thicken.

Stir in the shredded cheddar cheese.

Stir the cheese sauce.

Note:  This cheese sauce is a basic macaroni and cheese recipe sauce.

Slowly add the 1 cup of stock from the vegetables into the cheese sauce to loosen up the sauce.

Pour the cheese sauce over the cooked vegetables.  Add the oregano.  Stir to evenly coat.

Now taste for seasoning, (does it need a little more salt or pepper?).

Tonight, I'm serving my cheesy vegetable soup with a salad and a slice of homemade bread.  YUMMY.

You can change the vegetables up and use whatever you happen to have on hand.  This soup doesn't last long in our family.  And the next day, it's even better.  (If it's a little thick the next day, just add a little water as you heat it up).

Enjoy.