Crockpot Hawaiian Chicken

I love my crock pot  If it were up to me I would use it for every meal! The only things my parents would use their crock pot for was roast, soups or stews so when I got my first crock pot I had no idea the endless possibilities that could come from it. As I have mentioned in the past I have 4 kids and with that comes a tight budget. Chicken is always reasonably priced and you can do so much with it. While experimenting I came up with this yummy favorite! We love it served with coconut rice which I will give you the recipe below! Hope you love it! Excuse the bad picture I promise to take a better one next time I make it! 

Crockpot Hawaiian Chicken

6 chicken thighs (you can use boneless skinless and you can use breast if you like)
1 (15 oz.) can of pineapple chunks drained, reserve liquid
1/3 cup packed brown sugar
2 tbs. lemon juice
1/4 tsp minced ginger
1/4 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup corn starch
salt as desired

Place chicken in crock pot, sprinkle with salt.
Pour pineapple chunks over the chicken.
In a small bowl combine pineapple juice, brown sugar, lemon juice, ginger, soy sauce, and corn starch and stir until combined.
Pour over chicken.
Cover and cook on low for 4-5 hours.
Serve on a bed of coconut rice (recipe below).


Coconut Rice

2 cups Thai jasmine scented rice
2 cups good quality coconut milk (I use canned make sure it is not light or reduced fat)
1 3/4 cups water
2 tbs. shredded coconut
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp coconut oil
optional: toasted coconut for garnish

Melt and heat oil in a pot. 
Place rice, coconut milk, water, shredded coconut and salt in the pot and set heat to med-high stirring to make sure that rice does not stick to the bottom. 
Once it begins to boil, reduce heat to low and place a tight fitting lid on the pot.
Let simmer for 15-20 minutes.
Remove from heat and let sit for 5-10 minutes.
Serve!

Enjoy!!!

Crock Pot Spinach Lasagna

About a year ago me along with my family had to stay somewhere for a short time without an oven. I did not realize how much I would miss one. So when my family started craving lasagna I knew I needed to get creative. I had seen crock pot lasagna's before but I was feeling inventive. I wanted it to be different and a little bit healthier (mind you with all of the cheese it is not healthy by any means but I tried to cut calories where I could). What I came up with has become a favorite. The picture came out terrible last time I made it but I promise that when I make it next I will get better pictures! I hope love it as much as we do!

1 lb. ground turkey breast (you can use beef we just wanted to go healthy)
1 medium onion, chopped
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 jar of your favorite spaghetti sauce (normally I make my own but for this I used prego)
1 15 oz. tub of light ricotta cheese
1/2 cup parmesan cheese
2 tsp. parsley
2 tsp. basil
1 tsp. black pepper
1 pkg. (8oz.) no boil lasagna noodled (I used barilla)
8 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
1/2 of a 6 oz. bag of baby spinach
 1 jar (15 oz.) of your favorite alfredo sauce

In a skillet brown the ground turkey, onion and garlic over medium heat for about 8 minutes until meat is no longer pink, drain.
Stir in spaghetti sauce and let simmer for about 15-20 minutes.
In a bowl combine ricotta cheese, parmesan cheese, parsley, basil and pepper.
Spread 1 cup of meat mixture into the bottom of a 5-6 qt. slow cooker. 
Place 4 noodles over the sauce breaking them if needed to fit.
Layer with half of the ricotta mixture, 2 cups of the mozzarella cheese and 1 cup of the meat mixture.
Top with 4 noodles, spinach, alfredo sauce, and 2 cups of mozzarella cheese.
Place 4 more noodles, remaining ricotta mixture, 2 cups of mozzarella cheese, and 1 cup of meat mixture.
Add the remaining noodles if any, top with the remaining meat mixture, and mozzarella cheese.
Cook covered on low for 4-5 hours or until noodles are tender. 


Enjoy!!

Poor Man's Steak

Like most families, mine is on a tight budget. So when I saw that lean ground beef was on sale I started thinking of the different ways to use it. I went over the usual things such as chili, spaghetti, and burgers but these are things that we do often and typically use ground turkey breast in place of beef. My parents both were great cooks so I started thinking of the things that they would have made. My dad was 100% Portuguese and grew up in Massachusetts so he would have made some sort of soup or pasta dish. My mom was born and raised in Atlanta Georgia as was I and she was big into soul food and comfort food. I remember growing up, she would make a dish with hamburger patties filled with green pepper and onions served with a brown gravy on top. To me this was the ultimate comfort food. It had so much flavor. I knew I wanted to make this however my daughter is not a fan of green pepper so I had to hide them. This was the result! They were AMAZING and she could not tell that the peppers were there, she just kept asking what was in them to make It taste so yummy!!! The picture looks horrible and for that I am sorry. I will be taking a new one next time I make them! I hope you love this as much as we do!  

Poor Man's Steak

2 lb. ground beef
1 green bell pepper, chopped
1 small onion, chopped
2 eggs
1 sleeve of saltine crackers, crushed
1/4 cup worcestershire sauce
2 tbs. garlic powder
2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. pepper
1 pkt. brown gravy mix
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 can condensed french onion soup
1/2 cup water
2 tbs. corn starch

In a food processor or blender add bell pepper, onion,  eggs, worcestershire sauce, garlic powder, salt and pepper and blend until most of the chunks are gone.
In a bowl combine the beef, crackers and contents of the blender and work with your hands until combined together well.
Make into patties and set aside (they will look a little green).
Heat up a skillet on medium-high, if you are using a non stick skillet you may want to spray it with a non stick spray.
Brown patties on both sides for about 3-4 minutes on each side then take out of the pan and set aside.
In the pan combine the brown gravy mix, corn starch, cream of chicken soup, french onion soup and water.
Whisk well making sure to remove the lumps and get the cooked pieces from the patties off the bottom (this gives your gravy extra flavor).
Once gravy is combined, place your patties into the pan making sure to spoon gravy over the top. 
Cover and simmer on low for about 10 minutes then serve with your favorite side (we love egg noodles).

Enjoy!!

Slow Cooked Fiesta Pork

This week I found an awesome deal at our local store on pork tenderloin tips (buy 1 get 3 free). I thought of many different dishes I had made in the past such as pulled pork and marinated pork fried rice (will be blogging about that later) but I was feeling more of a tex-mex vibe. Honestly I did not expect this dish to turn as good as it did and the best part I made it in the slow cooker!!!. I served mine on a bed of rice however it is perfect to go in a tortilla or taco shell!! I hope you enjoy!

Fiesta Pork

2 1/2 lbs. pork tenderloin (if you use another cut make sure all fat is trimmed and bone is removed)
3 cups salsa (your choice if you want mild, medium or hot)
1 pkt. taco seasoning
1 Tbs. cumin
1 Tbs. garlic powder
2 tsp. salt
1 cup frozen corn
1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
2 cups hot cooked rice
Optional:
sliced avocado
sour cream
cheddar cheese

In a bowl combine salt, cumin and garlic powder and rub pork making sure to use all it.
Place pork in the slow cooker.
In another bowl mix together taco seasoning and salsa.
Pour over the pork.
Cook on low for 8 hours.
Place pork on a plate and with 2 forks shred the meat.
Pour the meat back into the slow cooker. 
Mix in the black beans and corn.
Cover and cook on low for another 30 minutes.
Serve on a bed of rice.
Top with avocado, cheese and sour cream if desired.

Enjoy!!

Aloha Fluff

Recently I have seen all of these 2 ingredient desserts that has made me curious. I have seen Spice cake mix with pumpkin puree, Yellow cake mix and soda, and I have even seen brownie mix with black beans..(I don't know what I think about that). When I came across one with angel food cake mix and crushed pineapple that really peeked my interest. Angel food cake is fat free and pineapple is good for you..hmmm. So I tried it and WOW it is so fluffy and yummy, plus it is inexpensive!! My husband has decided to name it Aloha Fluff...thought I would share! Hope you enjoy!! 

Aloha Fluff

1 box of angel food cake mix
1 20 oz. can of crushed pineapple
optional:
tub of whipped topping

Preheat oven to 350 and spray or grease your baking dish.
In a medium sized bowl pour in the angel food cake mix.
Add the pineapple with the juice.
Stir together but make sure you don't over stir.
The mix will begin to get foamy. (in the pic below you can see the bubbles and my sons thumbs up)

Empty into a baking dish (bundt pan, muffin pan, 9x13 baking dish) I used an oblong casserole dish.
Bake for 30-40 minutes.
Cool and serve with whipped topping.
If you want you can stir in some drained crushed pineapple into the whipped topping for extra flavor!

Enjoy!!

Crock Pot Chunky Tots

I have noticed an increase in using tater tots in recipes, which is a good thing in my eyes because it is inexpensive and yummy!!! I came across a few different recipes using them in a crock pot. Almost all of them contain bacon and chicken breast which I love. I tried a few of them and in my opinion they were not quite what I was looking for but really close. So I started experimenting with different seasonings. I also noticed that the chicken breast was kinda dry so I tried using thigh meat which was perfect! This was my creation! I hope you like it!

Crock Pot Chunky Tots

1 32 oz bag of frozen tater tots, divided

15 slices of fully cooked bacon crumbled, divided

2 lb. boneless skinless chicken thigh cut into bite sized pieces

3 cups shredded cheddar cheese, divided

3/4 cup half and half

2 tsp. sea salt

1 tsp. pepper

1/2 cup green onion chopped

cooking spray

Season the chicken pieces with salt and pepper and set aside.

Spray your crock pot on the bottom and sides.

Pour half of the tater tots into the crock pot.

Top tater tots with 1 cup of cheese and 1/3 of the bacon.

Take the raw chicken and place on top of the cheese and bacon.

Top chicken with 1 cup of cheese and 1/3 of bacon,

Place the remaining tater tots on top of the cheese and bacon.

Top the tater tots with the rest of the cheese and bacon. 

Pour half and half on top.

Cover and cook on low for 6 hours.

Turn off heat and let to sit for about 20 minutes.

Serve with green onions on top.

Enjoy!!!

Hawaiian Pulled Pork Sliders

Pulled pork is one of my favorite foods. I have had it many different ways, spicy, tangy, sweet and combinations of all of the above. I also love the fact that you can make the meat easily in the crock pot. Of course the proper way is to smoke the meat but with a growing family I do not have time for that. After watching a cooking show and someone mentioned hawaiian pulled pork I got inspired to experiment. This was the outcome. I have brought it to pot lucks and parties and it is a huge hit especially when paired with my Hawaiian Slaw (link below). Hope you love it!

Hawaiian Pulled Pork

1 pkt. McCormick grill mates Hawaiian Luau dry marinade 
1 Tbs. paprika
1 tsp. pepper
4 lb boneless boston butt (any boneless pork roast will work)
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
1/2 cup soy sauce
1 cup chili sauce
1 1/2 cup pineapple juice
1 medium onion chopped into big chunks
2 carrots chopped into big chunks
2 packs Hawaiian rolls (you can use regular buns but these are sweet)
2 tbs. olive oil
1 tbs. ginger minced
2 tsp. garlic minced


In a bowl combine the dry marinade, paprika, and the pepper.
Rub the pork with dry mixture, using all of it and set aside.
In a bowl mix together brown sugar, soy sauce, chili sauce, and pineapple juice and set aside.
Place the chopped onions and carrots into your slow cooker.
Place the pork on top of the veggies and pour half of the pineapple mixture on top of the pork. 
Reserve the remainder of the pineapple mixture to make the sauce.
Cover and cook on low for 8 hours.
Lift your lid and the pork should look something like this

At this point the meat should be ready to fall apart. 
Remove the pork from the slow cooker and place on your cutting board.
Discard the juice and veggies in the crock pot.
Using 2 forks shred the pork and place back into the slow cooker.
It will look something like this.

Now time to make the sauce!
In a medium pot heat the oil over medium heat. 
Add the ginger and garlic and saute until soft making sure not to burn them about 2 minutes.
Add the remaining pineapple mixture that you set aside and bring to a boil.
Boil for about 10 minutes until it becomes a sauce like consistency.
Pour on top of the pork and mix it well making sure to cover all of the meat.
Cover and let the flavors incorporate for about 30 minutes. 
Serve on hawaiian rolls as sliders or on your favorite bun!
Make sure you try it with the Hawaiian Slaw (pic and link below)

http://yumm-yumm-foodie.blogspot.com/2013/04/hawaiian-slaw.html

Enjoy!