Do what you love.

I've been toying with the idea of resurrecting Born To Crock and going back to oversharing the food I/we consume. SO much has changed since I first started sharing my crocks that I don't know where to start. I mean...over the past 5 years I've/we've been dealing withs so many "fun" health issues that have changed our family's eating habits. Both kids are SUPER picky and rarely eat what I crock, but that's not going to stop me from doing what I love! Right? Right.

Speaking of love... Last week, hubs was craving something buffalo chicken-y. Old me would've whipped up some of my infamous Buffalo Chicken Mac & Cheese. Buuuuut since new me can't really have more than a tablespoon of it at a time, I whipped up this instead.

"Buffalo Chicken and Bean Chili" (6 quart pot)

2T olive oil
16oz ground chicken
1 onion, chopped
1/2 c carrots, chopped
1/2 c celery, chopped
1/2 T chili powder
1/2 T cumin
1/2 T paprika
dash salt
dash pepper
1 3/4 c white beans, drained and rinsed
1 3/4 c refried beans
1/2 c garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed
1/2 c water
3/4 c chicken broth
6 T Frank's red hot sauce

5 servings

Heat oil in a large deep nonstick skillet over medium-hight heat. Brown chicken in the skillet and cook, breaking up the meat into small pieces as it cooks, about 8-10 minutes or until cooked through. Set aside.

Add onion, carrot, celery, garlic, chili powder, cumin, paprika, salt and pepper. Cook stirring the veggies often, about 5 minutes. Add beans, water, and chicken broth. Bring to a boil and simmer, covered, on medium low for about 10 minutes.

Stir in the hot sauce and add chicken. Cover and simmer until thickened, 25-30 minutes, stirring occasionally until flavors blend.

Verdict. I've never met anything buffalo thing I haven't liked, so you KNOW I loved this. AND since it's a chili, it's even yummier on the second day!

Yes, please.

I was intrigued by this new BBQ sauce I found at the store, so impulse bought it and it stayed in our pantry for awhile. Mustardy BBQ sauce? Uh...yes, please! Today, I decided to do something quick and easy with it. 

"Mustard BBQ Chicken" (6 quart pot)

~1 (12 oz) jar Pork Barrel's Mustard BBQ sauce

~4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

Place chicken in crock pot.

Pour sauce on top.

Cover and cook on low for 8 hours.

Briefly shred chicken with a fork/knife/whatever you have.

When plating, spoon lots of sauce over the chicken.

I served this with rice and corn on the cob. (From the CSA.)

6 servings.

So easy. So good. Perfectly mustardy. Perfectly bbq-y. My other half demanded that I make this more often AND my little helper ate it (with some convincing), so you know I'l be adding this to the rotation. You're welcome.

How sweet it is.

This recipe has been on my "Must Crock Someday" list for pretty much ever. I finally crocked it the other day...because I realized I had all of the ingredients in the house. 

"Brown Sugar Chicken" (6 quart pot) The original recipe is HERE.

~3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

~1 c brown sugar

~1/4 c Sprite (Leftover from our party.)

~2/3 c vinegar

~3 garlic cloves, smashed (From the CSA.)

~2 T soy sauce

~1 t black pepper

Place chicken in crock pot.

Cover with brown sugar, garlic, soy sauce, and pepper.

Add the vinegar.

Add the soda.

Cover and cook on low for 8 hours.

I served this over a caesar salad. Because we had some.

4 servings.

I knew this was going to be good as soon as I could smell it crocking. It tasted even better. Go make it. Now. I should've doubled tripled it. Nomnomnom.

Have you met...butter?

My other half went on a business trip for two weeks and left me home with my little helper. We lived off of grilled cheese and things that, you know, he actually eats without a fight.

I crocked this today and it's actually a recrock. I crocked it about 3 weeks ago, but the night got chaotic and I forgot to take a picture of it. My other half put it in his top 3 (I think), so I promised I'd make it again when he got back from his trip.

"Butter Chicken" (6 quart pot)

~4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into bite-sized pieces
~1 (16 oz) jar Safeway Select's Butter Chicken Simmer Sauce
~rice, cooked

Add chicken and sauce to crock pot.
Mix.
Cover and cook on low for 7 hours.
Serve over rice.

4 servings.

My other half thinks that this wasn't as good as the first time I made it, but I have NO idea how that could be since I changed absolutely nothing.

America's Oldest Buffalo Chicken Mac & Cheese.

If you can't get your paws on Yuengling, you're really missing out. If I had to drink a beer that was lighter than a stout or porter, I would be all over a lager from "America's Oldest Brewery". Imagine my excitement when I spotted Yuengling's Buffalo Sauce at Safeway last week...with big "NEW!!!" price stickers and everything. They had hot and medium. I grabbed a hot. Naturally.

"Yuengling Buffalo Chicken Mac & Cheese" (6 quart pot)

~2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into bite-sized chunks and browned
~1 1/2 c whole milk
~2 c shredded sharp cheddar cheese
~1 c shredded Mexican blend cheese
~1 (13oz) bottle Yuengling's HOT wing sauce
~2 c uncooked veggie elbow pasta
~1 c panko breadcrumbs
~2 T butter, melted

Mix chicken, milk, cheeses, buffalo sauce, and pasta in crock pot.
Mix butter and breadcrumbs in a small bowl.
Pour mixture evenly over mac and cheese mixture.
Cover and cook on low for 3 hours.

6 servings.

So good. As if there was any question. Even my little helper gobbled it up!

NOW...I just gotta find their ice cream.

Little tummies.

I crocked this today. My other half is recovering from a stomach bug and I thought that the ginger in it would be good for his tummy.

"Sesame Ginger Chicken" (6 quart pot)

~3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
~1 pt fresh sliced mushrooms
~3 carrots, chopped
~1 (18 oz) jar Safeway Select Sesame Ginger Simmer Sauce
~rice, cooked

Add chicken, mushrooms, carrots, and sauce to crock pot.
Cover and cook on low for 8 hours.
Shred chicken with 2 forks.
Serve over rice.

4 servings

This was pretty good. Kind of heavy on the sesame and light on the ginger, but I'm/we're kind of okay with that. My little helper ate the rice and carrots...eventually.

Whatever it takes.

We are now out of crockable food. I think. Maybe?

"Decorated Like Christmas Chicken" (6 quart pot)

~3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into bite-sized pieces
~1 large sweet potato, skinned and cut into bite sized pieces
~1/2 onion, chopped
~1 fuji apple, cored and chopped
~1 t garam masala
~1 t allspice
~1 t salt
~1/2 t pepper

Mix all ingredients into crock pot.
Cover and cook on low for 6 hours.

6 servings.

This was pretty darn good. Sweet. Slightly spicy. The best part? My little helper ate it with little convincing. (All we had to do was give it a silly name and bribe him with videos of volcanoes.) Who is this child and where has he been hiding?

Muy bueno.

Hopefully, you know that we at Born To Crock LOVE Mexican food. But did you know that we (just my other half and I) went to Mexico last week? And while we were there, we did NOT get to eat a whole heck of a lot really GOOD of Mexican food? So...of course I had to come home and crock enchiladas. Because. Why not?

"Chicken Enchiladas Version 2.0" (6 quart pot)

~3 partially frozen boneless, skinless chicken breasts
~1 onion, sliced
~1 green bell pepper, sliced
~1 (16 oz) jar Goya green salsa
~8 flour tortillas
~shredded cheddar cheese (I thought I had some Mexican blend in the fridge. I was wrong.)

Place chicken in crock pot.
Put onion and pepper on top.
Pour salsa over everything.
Cover and cook on low or 8 hours.
Shred chicken with 2 forks.
Arrange tortillas in a rectangular baking dish.
Using a slotted spoon, remove chicken from crock pot and fill each tortilla with chicken mixture.
Top with cheese.
Bake at 350° for 20 minutes or until cheese is melted.

8 servings.

So good. Muy bueno. My other half says that it is better than 99% of the Mexican food we had our trip. He also says I need to learn how to make my own green salsa.

Challenge. Accepted.

Now, *I* challenge you all to have destination weddings and invite me/us. Because. Why not?

Enchila-di-da.

This was yesterday's crock. AND I used my oven. *gasp* 

"Chicken Enchiladas" (6 quart pot)

~2 partially frozen, boneless, skinless chicken breasts

~1 (24 oz) jar green salsa (I used Safeway's)

~6 flour tortillas (I was going to use corn, but we had a bunch of flour ones, so I used them.)

~shredded Mexican blend cheese

~sour cream

Place chicken in crock pot.

Dump salsa on top.

Cover and cook on high for 5 hours.

Shred chicken with 2 forks.

Heat oven to 350°.
Arrange tortillas in rectangular casserole dish.

Spoon chicken into tortillas.

Sprinkle cheese on top of tortillas.

Bake for 20 minutes or until cheese is melted.

Top with sour cream.

6 servings.

So good. So easy. (Even with the extra step of using the oven.) If I had a normal rotation, this would totally go in it. 

In control.

This is another from the Crocktober website. I adjusted it...slightly.

"Chicken and Dumplings" (6 quart pot) The original recipe is HERE.

~1 1/2 lbs boneless, slinless chicken breasts, cut into 1-inch pieces
~2 medium potatoes, cut into 1-inch pieces
~1 ginormous carrot, chopped (From the CSA.)
~2 (10 3/4 oz) cans Campbell's Healthy Choice Cream of chicken soup
~1 c water
~1 t dried thyme leaves, crushed
~1/4 t ground black pepper
~2 c bisquick (I used the rest of what we had. it was slightly more than 2c and ended up being ~1c gluten free bisquick and ~1 heart healthy)
~1 c milk (I added a bit more since I used more bisquick.)

I was going to put the celery in it like you're SUPPOSED to, but ours had gone bad while we were in Philly.

6 servings.

So good. We wanted to eat it all. Luckily, we have SOME self control. Some.

Welcome home.

We made the trek to Philly last Friday because my soon to be sister in-law's bridal shower was on Saturday. AND because I had to work on Sunday. AND because my father in-law landed himself in the hospital on Thursday. I volunteered to crock something for my in-laws for when they got home from the hospital. My mother in-law was planning to bake some mac & cheese at SOME point over the weekend, so I decided to find the ingredients she had already purchased and crock it instead. AND since they don't "do" buffalo sauce, I decided I'd make it a chicken mac and cheese.

My mother in-law told me that I'd have to clean off her crock pot. She DIDN'T tell me that the lid had about a half inch of dust on it. Ha!

"Chicken Mac & Cheese" (6 quart pot.)

~2 chicken breasts, cut into bite-sized pieces
~2 c elbow macaroni, uncooked
~1 1/2 c whole milk
~2 c mild shredded cheddar
~1/2 t salt
~1/4 t ground black pepper
~1 c plain breadcrumbs
~2 T butter, melted

Brown chicken over medium heat and drain.
Add macaroni, milk, cheddar, salt, and pepper to crock pot and mix well.
Mix breadcrumbs and butter in a small bowl.
Evenly distribute mixture over mac & cheese.
Cover and cook on low for 3 hours.

6 servings.

It wasn't my best mac & cheese, but it was pretty darn good. My little helper ate a ton of it and my mother in-law spent the rest of the weekend thanking me for cooking dinner. I guess that means it was a hit!

Fire and rain.

It felt like a chili kind of day, so I whipped one together. Just because. And then I crossed my fingers all day hoping that the Noah's ark-like crap that's currently going on wouldn't cause a power out.

"Spicy Chicken Chili" (6 quart pot.)

~3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into bite-sized chunks
~1 (14 oz) can diced tomatoes
~1 (14 oz) can kidney beans, drained and rinsed
~1 onion, chopped
~1 jalapeño pepper, seeded and minced
~1 t chipotle chili powder
~1 t cumin
~1/4 t salt
~1/8 t pepper

Add all ingredients to crock pot and mix.
Cover and cook on low for 7 hours.

4 servings.

Mmm...yummy AND spicy. My other half asked me if there was fire coming out of his mouth. It's pretty darn hot. Even for us. You've been warned.

Cheap and easy, too.

Right next to the other day's "Al Pastor Pork", was a package of Adobe Chicken. I snagged it, of course.

"Adobe Chicken" (6 quart pot)

~1 pkg Adobe Chicken
~1/2 c water
~1/4 c frozen corn (Just because we had some and I was sick of seeing the package in the freezer.)

Place chicken in crock pot.
Add water and corn.
Cover and cook on low for 6 hours.

4 servings.

Yum. I'd say more, but Glee is on.

And yes, there are tears. LOTS of tears.

What do we have here?

I crocked this a few days ago and then forgot to post it because *I* was working.

With the whole not having much/any income for who knows how long thing, I was afraid to spend any money. At all. So..I searched for a recipe that had ingredients we already had on hand. I found this one. And then I improvised.

"Clean Out The Kitchen Kung Pao Chicken-ish" (6 quart pot)

~3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into bite-sized pieces
~3 carrots, chopped into bite-sized pieces
~3 celery stalk, chopped
~2 T red cooking wine (I wanted to use white, but we had red, so...)
~2 T soy sauce
~1 T sesame oil
~2 T chili sauce
~1 t vinegar
~2 t brown sugar
~2 T green onions, chopped
~1 garlic clove, chopped

Add all ingredients to crock pot and mix.
Cover and cook on low for 7 hours.

Add the following three ingredients and mix.
Cover and cook on low for 30 minutes

~1/4 c pine nuts
~1/2 green pepper, chopped
~1/2 red pepper, chopped

~2 t cornstarch
~rice, cooked

Then, add 2 t cornstarch and mix.
Cook uncovered for 30 minutes while cooking rice.

Serve mixture over rice.
6 servings.

This was super yummy non-spicy version of kung pao chicken. Kung Pao is my go-to at Chinese places, though, so I might be biased. My other half thought it tasted "pot pie-ish" (whatever that means.) My little helper liked the carrots.

Workin' hard for the crock.

Since my other half can't go to work, I put him to work...on dinner. Ok, not really. He grilled us some ribs last night and I used the rest of his bbq sauce for some bbq chicken today.

"Spicy Smoky BBQ chicken" (6 quart pot)

~4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

~the bbq sauce my other half made*

Place chicken in crock pot.

Dump bbq sauce on top.

Cover and cook on low for 6 hours.

Shred with forks.

I served this with sautéed string beans (From the CSA.)

*The sauce: (Makes 2 1/2 c.)

~2 T dark brown sugar

~1/2 cup cider vinegar 

~2 T Worcestershire sauce

~1 T yellow mustard

~2 T honey

~2 c ketchup

~2 tablespoons Spicy Chicago Rub**

~1 t cayenne pepper

~1 t liquid smoke

Combine all ingredients in large saucepan. Stir well. Over medium heat, bring to boil;

reduce heat and simmer uncovered for 60 minutes. Stir occasionally as it cooks. Store in

refrigerator. Keeps for several weeks.

**Spicy Chicago Rub (Makes 3/4 c.) We use this rub when we grill steaks. It's our go-to and it's fabulous.

~1 T black pepper

~1/4 c paprika

~1 T salt

~2 T chili powder

~1 T onion powder

~1 T garlic powder

~1 T dried parsley

~1/3 c brown sugar

Mix all ingredients and store in an airtight container.

Spicy, smoky, BBQ chicken. Need I say more?

Details, details.

Sometimes, details matter. This recipe. Man. I hope the thousands of people who shared this recipe DON'T do what I did.

"Jambalaya" (6 quart pot)

~2 lbs boneless, skinless chicken breasts (It said thighs, but I subbed because I had some.)
~1 lb smoked sausage, cut into 2-inch slices
~1 onion, chopped
~1 red bell pepper (It said green, but we got a red one in the CSA, so I used it.)
~3 celery stalks, chopped
~1 (28 oz) can diced tomatoes
~ 3 garlic cloves, chopped
~2 c chicken broth
~1 T Cajun spice mix
~1 t thyme
~1 r oregano
~1 3/4 c long-grain rice**
~1 lb shrimp (that I didn't add because I don't do shrimp. Ick.)*

Combine chicken, sausage, onion, pepper, celery, tomatoes, garlic, broth, Cajun, thyme, and oregano in crock pot.
Cover and cook on low for 5 hours.
Add shrimp* and rice**; raise heat to high and cook for 30 more minutes.

8 servings.

** They must've meant cooked rice. I followed the directions with uncooked rice and it wasn't done. At all. Not after an additional 30 minutes. Not after an hour. Not even after 3 hours. Everything else was good. Yummy even. The rice?

Yeah...no.

Sharing is caring.

My friends and family make me laugh. I'm not going to mention any names, but there are a couple of them who like to share crock pot recipes on Facebook. A lot. And sometimes the same person will share a particular recipe several times. Accidentally? Maybe. Not sure how to actually use the share button on Facebook? Probably. (I'm not judging!) This is one of said recipes. If it's shared a zillion times, it has to be good. Right?   

"Salsa Chicken" (6 quart pot)

~2 lbs boneless, skinless chicken breasts

~ 1 c salsa (I used a medium store brand.)

~1 c petite diced low-sodium canned tomatoes (I chopped up a ginormous tomato from the CSA.)

~2 T taco seasoning (I used a low sodium one. And I used the whole envelope...which is slightly more than 2 T, but whatever.)

~1 c onion, finely diced

~1/2 c celery, finely diced

~1/2 c carrot, shredded

~1/2 c water

~3 T sour cream

Place chicken in crock pot.

Top with taco seasoning.

Top with tomatoes, salsa, onion, celery, carrot, and water.

Cover and cook on low for 8 hours.

Shred chicken with 2 forks.

Add sour cream.

8 servings.

This was pretty good. AND my little helper actually had TWO whole bites of it before running away. My other half thinks it would be awesome over pasta. I was thinking rice.  

Gimme a break.

Today was a clean out the kitchen meal. Why? Because we're going on a vacation on Saturday (Woohoo!)  and we have veggies that are going to go bad if I don't use them.

"Clean Out The Kitchen Chicken and Veggies" (6 quart pot)

~2 boneless, skinless chicken thighs

~1 (28 oz) can puréed tomatoes

~2 c green beans (From the CSA.)

~2 pattypan squash, chopped (From the CSA.)

~1 t dried rosemary

~1 t dried parsley

~dash salt and pepper

Add all ingredients to crock pot and mix.

Cover and cook on low for 8 hours.

2 servings.

This was okay. It was very tomatoey and could've used another spice or something. My little helper wasn't a fan, either. Not even calling it "special ketchup" could get him excited about it. Grr.  

See you all in two weeks! 

Perfection.

My little helper turned 3 a few days ago and I was GOING to try a half-assed/shortcutted version of my award winning recipe for his party last weekend. Unfortunately for the guests, I misjudged things and I didn't have time to whip it together 3 hours before they arrived. Fortunately for us, I had already bought all of the ingredients.

"Shortcutted Buffalo Chicken Mac & Cheese" (6 quart pot)

~1 (22 oz) pkg frozen Tyson's Grilled & Ready fully cooked oven roasted diced chicken breast, thawed (I have no idea if using it frozen would work and I was't too keen on biting into still frozen chicken, so I thawed it first.)
~1 c Frank's buffalo sauce
~2 c uncooked elbow macaroni
~1 1/2 c whole milk
~1 (8 oz) pkg (or 2 cups) Mac & Cheese shredded cheese blend (I found some at Target of all places.)
~1/2 c shredded colby jack cheese
~dash salt
~dash pepper
1 c Panko bread crumbs
~1 T butter, melted
~1/2 c blue cheese crumbles

Grease crock pot.
Add chicken, buffalo sauce, macaroni, milk, shredded cheeses, salt, and pepper and mix well.
Mix bread crumbs, butter, and blue cheese in a small bowl.
Spread topping evenly on top of mac & cheese.
Cover and cook on low for 3 hours.

8 servings.

My other half said this was "perfect". I don't think he's said that about anything I've crocked. Ever. Even my little helper had a few bites...eventually. This is going in our favorites pile.

Obviously.

The right stuff.

Success! I found it!

"Balsamic Chicken" (6 quart pot)

~1 t garlic powder
~1 t dried basil
~1/2 t salt
~1/2 t pepper
~2 t dried minced onion
~4 garlic cloves, minced
~1 T extra virgin olive oil
~1/2 c balsamic vinegar
~6 boneless, skinless chicken thighs (The recipe said 8, but my package had 6, so I just went with it.)
~fresh parsley, chopped*

Combine the first 5 dry ingredients in a small bowl.
Spread over both sides of chicken.
Pout olive oil and garlic into crock pot.
Place chicken on top.
Pour vinegar on top.
Cover and cook on high for 4 hours.
Top with parsley.*

*As (almost) always, I forgot this step. This time, I actually bought the parsley. Boo.

I served this with corn on the cob (From the CSA) which was also amazing.

6 servings.

So good. My other half went so far as to call it "delicious". Worth the search. So flavorful and just....yum. Go make it. Now.