Apple BBQ Chicken

So I did something I always hate myself for doing. It was about 1 pm and I still hadn't decided on what to make for dinner. I was doing so well with planning, either the day before or the morning of, what to make for dinner so that I'd have enough time to make it, or enough time to get any ingredients I may be short on. I've been slacking on my planning responsibilities. Anyway, I was scrambling to come up with something based on what we had in our kitchen, and I thought about orange chicken. But that wouldn't work because I didn't have any orange marmalade to make it, so I improvised with apple jelly instead. The result was a sweet-tasting chicken that matched perfectly with rice. 

Here's what you need:

• 3-4 chicken breasts
• 1 C of BBQ sauce (I used my homemade sauce that I made for the BBQ Pork Loin Sliders)
• 1 C of apple jelly
• 3 Tbs of soy sauce

Here's what you do:

• Put the chicken in the Crock-Pot.
• Mix together the BBQ sauce, jelly, and soy sauce. 
• Pour over the chicken.
• Cook on high for 3-4 hours or low for 6-7 hours.

And that's all it takes! It's so easy, it's stupid. Be sure to let me know how it turned out for you and share this with your family and friends!

Ranch Chicken Penne

As has been previously mentioned, CM loves ranch. And I've tried a recipe for Crock-Pot ranch pork chops, but I just didn't like cooking pork chops in the Crock-Pot. I decided to do chicken this time. I must say that this recipe was a success because he didn't even stop to give me his opinion like he usually does. He just kind of stuffed his face.

There's not much I can say about this meal other than it's easy, creamy, and a tad on the spicy side.

Here's what you need:

• 3-4 chicken breasts
• 8 oz of cream cheese
• 1 can of cream of chicken soup
• 1 can of cheddar cheese soup
• 1 packet of ranch dressing mix
• 1/8 tsp of oregano
• 1/8 tsp of ground cayenne red pepper
• 3/4 C of mozzarella
• penne pasta

Here's what you do:

• Place your chicken in the Crock-Pot
• In a large mixing bowl, use a hand mixer to blend the cream cheese, both soups, the ranch dressing mix, oregano, cayenne red pepper, and mozzarella until it's creamy
• Dump the mixture over the chicken and make sure it's evenly spread out.
• Cover and cook on low for 5-6 hours, or high for 2-3 hours.
• When it's nearly done, cook your penne.
• Put your chicken on top and cover with your sauce.

It was very filling and exactly what CM needed after a hard day of doing yard work! If you don't want any spice, simply take out the cayenne red pepper. If I could have had my way, I would have thrown some broccoli in there, but CM hates it. Green peas would also have made a really good addition if you're looking to add some veggies to it.

Let me know what you think and be sure to share this with your family and friends!

Crock-Pot Beef Stew

It's the middle of April. I'm currently bundled up in my recliner, trying to stay warm. This weather is stupid. It was so pretty and warm this weekend, and now it's cold. There are several things that are just perfect for cold days, and one of those is beef stew. It just has a way of warming your entire body.

And what is the easiest way to make beef stew? In a Crock-Pot! I certainly have a love affair with my Crock-Pot, if you haven't noticed by now. It's one of the best things my husband ever got me, and he actually got away with giving it as a Valentine's Day gift! Screw perfume or jewelry or roses. I'll take my Crock-Pot and I'll love it forever. But back to the beef stew...

It's really easy to make. The majority of my prep work was just cutting vegetables. Unless you're just ridiculously slow with cutting veggies, it should take you less than 15 minutes to get it all together.

Here's what you need:

• 1 1/2 - 2 lb of beef tips (It saves you the trouble of having to cut any meat.)
• 1 1/2 C of beef stock (You can use beef broth too, but stock is preferable.)
• 1 can of tomato paste
• 1 Tbs of Worcestershire sauce
• 1 Tbs of soy sauce
• 1 Tbs of balsamic vinegar
• 2 Tbs of all-purpose flour
• 1 Tbs of salt
• 1 Tbs of pepper
• Carrots (as many as you want)
• Potatoes (as many as you want, and red or russet both work)
• 1 medium onion (I usually only use half of the onion)
• An additional 4 Tbs of flour (for later)
• An additional 3/4 C of beef stock (for later)

Here's what you do:

• Put the beef tips, beef stock, tomato paste, Worcestershire sauce, soy sauce, balsamic vinegar, flour, salt, and pepper into the crock pot. 
• Mix together with a wooden spoon.
• Top with the carrots, potatoes, and onion.
• Cover and cook on low for 7-8 hours, or on high for 5 hours.
• About 30 minutes before serving, add in your additional 4 Tbs of flour and 3/4 C of beef stock and stir. This is to help it thicken.
• Let the stew cook for the last 30 minutes, then serve. 

 
CM loves a thick stew, so if you prefer something thinner, I suggest not adding the additional flour and stock, or just adding 2 Tbs of flour and 1/4 C of stock.

Leave me a comment and let me know what you think! Be sure to share this with your family and friends!

Crock-Pot Italian Chicken and Rice

It's been a long weekend. CM has rejoined the National Guard, so he's had his first drill back this weekend. AB is sick, and CD is his usual handful. Today (Sunday), I haven't been able to put him down for more than 5 minutes without him waking up, so I've gotten absolutely no house work done... or any work. It's been killing me because my mother-in-law is kindly taking care of AB, so I want to be able to do some kind of cleaning to get some work done. And yet, you can't clean when the newborn starts screaming because you put him down. So my dinner tonight takes a grand total of about 15 minutes to prep, and it's not even 15 minutes all at once! Half of that time comes just from cooking rice right before serving.  

Tonight, I'm making the incredibly easy Italian chicken and rice. It's one of my favorites because of the flavor, but also because it's just really simple to throw together on a day when you're tired (and frustrated).

Here's what you need:

• 4 medium or large chicken breasts
• 2 cans of cream of chicken soup
• 1 8oz block of cream cheese (softened is best, but it works if it's not softened)
• 1 C of sour cream
• 1 packet of Good Seasons Italian Seasonings Mix
• Rice

Here's what you do:

• Put the chicken into the crock pot.
• In a large mixing bowl, use a hand mixer to blend the soup, cream cheese, sour cream, and seasonings mix until it's smooth.
• Dump the mixture over the chicken and spread it to make sure all of the chicken is covered.
• Cover the Crock-Pot and cook on low for 8 hours or high for 4 hours.
• When it's finished, let it sit on warm while you cook your rice.
• Make sure to cover the rice and chicken with tons of the delicious, creamy sauce!

If you'd like, you can shred the chicken to make it easier to serve more than 4 people, but since it's just CM and me, I usually don't bother with shredding it. On top of that, you can also make it with pasta instead of rice. CM loves it with egg noodles. I haven't tried it with other pastas yet, but I can't imagine that some penne (my favorite type of pasta) covered with the sauce would be bad.

Anyway, let me know what you think of it when you make it, and be sure to share the recipe with everyone!

BBQ Pork Loin Sliders

I'm from a really small town in Georgia called Hartwell. I promise you've never heard of it. If you have, it's because you're from that area or you're a friend of mine who has heard me talk about it. There were several BBQ places around our area, but there was only one that we went to consistently because it was the absolute best, Zeb's. It took about 20 minutes just to get to, but it was worth it.

Now I live in Kentucky, and where I live has one place that boasts to be the "best BBQ in Kentucky." Personally, I hate that place and I think it's only very well known because of extensive advertising, not because the food is any good. There are several other BBQ places in town, but only one place where I will eat BBQ from, and they've won a few competitions and have been on the Travel channel (or some channel) several times. Still, not as many people know about this good place.

Well, CM and I decided we were going to start working really hard on our finances to improve our situation so we can give the best life possible to our two boys. This meant we had to stop eating out... and we did that a LOT. Well, that's what led me to start cooking and creating cheap, easy recipes for our family. Being from Georgia, I love BBQ, and that meant it was one meal I just had to learn how to make if I ever wanted to eat it frequently enough... so I figured it out by doing a lot of research. I can make pulled pork and I can make sliced pork. (Yes, there's a difference because you have to use 2 different types of loins). The only thing I couldn't make was the BBQ sauce, so we were buying jars of it from the one good place in town.

But all that has changed. I was determined to make my own sauce from scratch, and have it be just as delicious as the restaurant-bought sauce. So I introduce to you, my BBQ Pork Loin Sliders (with homemade sauce!):

Here's what you need for the pork:

• 4 lb pork loin (not a tenderloin unless you want to make these shredded, not sliced)
• 1 C of beef stock
• 1/2 C of balsamic vinegar
• 1/2 C of soy sauce
• Any vegetables you want to cook it with (we used carrots -of course- and seasoned red potatoes)

Here's what you need for the BBQ sauce:

• 1/2 cup of light brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon cornstarch
• 1/3 cup balsamic vinegar
• 1/2 cup water
• 2 tablespoons soy sauce
• 1/2 C of ketchup
• 1/4 C of distilled white vinegar

**You'll also need rolls to make them sliders. We used King's Hawaiian Rolls.

Here's what you do:

• Place everything you need for the loin into the Crock-Pot, cover, and cook on low for 8-10 hours, or high for 4-5.
• When the loin is done, place it on a pan and slice as thick as you would like. 
• I like them sliced thick, so I cut about inch-thick slices. Because I was dealing with a wide roast, I also cut those slices in half so they would fit perfectly on the Hawaiian rolls.
• Set your sliced pork into a large bowl. Make sure it is big enough for all of the pieces to fit, as well as the sauce.
• In a sauce pan, add all of the ingredients for the sauce, and cook it on high until it starts to boil. Make sure to continue stirring the whole time.
• When it starts to boil, take it off the heat and dump all of the sauce into the bowl of sliced pork. It may not coat every piece perfectly evenly, but there will be more than enough at the bottom to accommodate the BBQ sauce-lovers out there.
• Cut your rolls in half, then use tongs to place your sliced pork onto each roll.

With a 4 lb pork, and 1-inch thick slices, I was able to make 24 sliders.

Also, I tried to make a BBQ sauce that wasn't too sweet but wasn't too vinegary, so it would appeal to all tastes. If you would like it sweeter, add more brown sugar, 2 Tbs at a time until it's how you want it. If you would like it to have more of a vinegar taste, add more of the white vinegar 2 Tbs at a time until it's how you want it.

I can't wait until I get to make these for my parents and see what they think. I hope they compare to the almighty Zeb's! Oh, and a huge congratulations to my dad for getting to go home from the hospital today!

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