Slow Cooker Sunday: Blackberry Jalapeno Pulled Chicken

I found this delicious recipe on my friend Emily’s blog and I knew I had to make it immediately. We have a lovely house guest this week and I thought this would be the perfect Sunday dinner. I was right. As you all know, I’m a huge fan of my slow cooker and I love making pulled chicken. It’s so easy. This recipe brings so many fun flavors together and it works in a wonderful way.

All you have to do is salt and pepper your boneless skinless chicken thighs and throw them in the slow cooker, topped with sliced onion, minced garlic, and thinly sliced jalapeno. Then mix together your sauce (blackberry jam, ketchup, molasses, balsamic vinegar, Dijon mustard, and salt) and pour over the chicken and veggies and mix it all up! Be sure that everything is fully coated. Cook on low for 6 hours and then shred your chicken and put back into the yummy sauce to coat all the pieces. To plate, pile chicken high on pretzel buns and top with a slice of pepper jack cheese and a sprinkle of jalapenos. The recipe also calls for a sprinkling of bacon, but I skipped that in an effort to make it slightly healthier. It would have been a great addition but I didn’t miss it. I also halved the recipe as it makes A LOT.

The result is AMAZING. The sauce was sweet and slightly spicy. The pretzel buns soaked up all that yummy sauce and the pepper jack cheese was a fantastic addition. It added flavor and cheesy goodness. I served these with a small side of yellow rice and black beans. A simple salad would have also been a great side. Don’t think twice, just make these.

Thanks for sharing on your blog, Emily! 🙂

Jalapeno Popper Chicken Chili

It has been unseasonably cool for the past couple days which has been wonderful. It has given us a break from the oppressive heat that had descended upon the NY Metro area. We slept with our windows wide open and in the middle of the night I had to pull on a sweatshirt! What a great feeling. I love summer, but I’m ready for crisp air and autumn leaves. A chilly day deserves a delicious chili recipe. I decided that Monday was the perfect day to try this Jalapeno Popper Chicken Chili that I saw on Skinnytaste.com. The recipe calls for the slow cooker, but I woke up around 5:15 am and just didn’t have the energy or the time to put anything in the slow cooker, so I decided to just make it like I would a regular chili recipe. Stove-top!

This recipe comes together pretty fast. First you brown the chicken and beef in a large dutch oven. Then you pretty much add all the ingredients into the pot followed by the spices and let it simmer for 20-30 minutes so flavors come together. Ladle into separate bowls and top with chopped chives, fresh avocado, and goat cheese. Yes, goat cheese.

I was very surprised by how much I loved this non-traditional chili recipe. It has goat cheese and sweet potatoes which are two ingredients I wouldn’t think to use. However, the end result is amazing. The creamy tangy goat cheese cools down the spice from the jalapenos and it all comes together wonderfully. This recipe doesn’t use beans, but I personally think you could cut back on the meat and add a can of black beans. But I guess it wouldn’t be paleo then…

This is the perfect chili to serve during football season or really anytime you’re craving chili. Enjoy!

Crock Pot Chicken and Rice

The other week I was racking my brain for a good crock pot/slow cooker recipe to use during the middle of the week. Nothing I was browsing was either easy enough (as in add ingredients to pot and leave for 8 hours) or tasty enough. So I decided to get creative and make my own concoction. Enter chicken and rice. I know it sounds boring but it really had so much flavor! It was perfect for a quick weeknight dinner after the gym. I pretty much just added whatever vegetables I had in the fridge but feel free to use whatever you want. I think that celery or even adding spinach at the end would have been delicious.

Ingredients:
1 package of chicken thighs
2 cups of chicken stock
2 red potatoes, quartered
1 large carrot, sliced diagonally
1 large onion, sliced
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon onion powder
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1.5 – 2 teaspoons turmeric
salt & pepper
1 cup of jasmine rice
1 tablespoon of butter, sliced

Directions:
Salt & pepper both sides of the chicken thighs and then place in the bottom of the slower cooker. Top with the potatoes, carrot, and onion. Add you chicken stock and seasonings and stir. Disperse the butter slices throughout the pot. Set the slow cooker on low for 10 hours. Once you get home, shred the chicken and add back into the slow cooker to keep warm. Cook 1 cup of rice to package directions, we used jasmine rice. To serve, simply add a bit of rice to the bottom of a bowl and ladle the delicious chicken, vegetables, and broth over top.

It’s basically chicken and rice stew and it is so comforting. It’s also pretty healthy for you. You can easily skip the butter, but I love the velvety texture and flavor it adds to the broth. Turmeric is also a great spice that has many health benefits. Turmeric is an anti-inflammatory and is used to treat arthritis, heartburn, stomach pain, diarrhea, intestinal gas, stomach bloating, liver problems, and gallbladder disorders. It is also used for headaches, bronchitis, colds, lung infections, and cancer.

Basically this chicken stew will cure you of whatever ails you. Actually, I can’t promise that, but I do know it will cure an empty belly.

Slow Cooker Chicken Verde Tacos

When you’re feeling down, make these tacos.

They require almost no prep so you have plenty of time to relax and contemplate humanity or maybe just breathe.

Ingredients:
1 package of chicken thighs
1 jar of salsa verde
1 red onion
1 tomato, seeded and diced
pepper jack cheese
corn tortillas
salt & pepper, to taste

Directions:
Salt & pepper both sides of the chicken and place in the bottom of a slow cooker. Slice half of the red onion and place on top of the chicken (dice the rest for topping your tacos later). Cover with the jar of salsa verde. Cook on low for 6 hours. Mine stayed on warm for several hours after and it was fine. Shred chicken and add back into the slow cooker to re-heat.

Warm tortillas in the microwave for 15-20 seconds and then build your tacos. We topped our tacos with diced red onion, tomato and shredded pepper jack cheese.

All that was missing was a margarita! Cheesy, warm and delicious. You could also add a jalapeno in the slow cooker to add some spice but we kept it on the mild side.

Enjoy your weekend! Smile and be kind!

Slow Cooker Breakfast Casserole

Look at this! Another breakfast post! Who knew…

For my 30th birthday trip we headed to Charlottesville, VA with some of my absolute favorite people. They made me feel so special and loved. I couldn’t ask for a better group of friends. The weekend was full of delicious dinners, wine tasting, beer flights and a cake that featured a Unicorn pooping sparkles!

I knew we would be spending a lot of money this weekend so I wanted to make breakfast one day to try to cut back on the cost a little. I decided that a Slow Cooker Breakfast Casserole was the best option for breakfast for a group. I put everything together right when I got into town and then before we went to bed I whisked the eggs and added the cheese! All you have to do is hit start and you wake up to a delicious and easy breakfast.

Ingredients:
10 eggs, whisked
1/2 a cup of milk
1 package of spicy turkey breakfast sausage, casings removed
1 red pepper, diced
1-2 red potatoes, diced
1 cup of shredded cheddar cheese
salt & pepper

Directions:
Brown sausage in a large skillet with a little bit of olive oil. Drain any extra fat/oil. Add potatoes to the bottom of the slow cooker with sausage on top. In another layer add the red pepper and cheddar cheese. Toss to combine. In another bowl whisk the eggs, milk, salt & pepper together. Pour the egg mixture over all the ingredients in the slow cooker. Cover and cook on low for 8 hours.

This turned out great! It was perfect to grab something easy in the morning before we hit the road for wine tasting. If you ever find yourself in Charlottesville, VA I highly recommend trying Kings Family Vineyard. It was beautiful and I can only imagine how lovely it will be during the warmer months.

My wonderful husband, Jason 🙂

Love these ladies!

Cheers!

Thai Red Curry Beef

I love coconut, in all forms. I especially love a coconut curry. Which is why I knew I had to make Thai Red Curry Beef in the slow cooker. Curry has always scared me a little because I’m not used to cooking with these ingredients. However, this recipe could not be easier and the flavor is outstanding. Jason was supposed to come tonight after being in Iowa for the past week coaching wrestling; however, they are stuck in Chicago due to weather. So this turned out to be dinner for one! Looks like I know what I’m eating for lunch this week…

First brown your beef in a large non-stick skillet. I used a little bit of olive oil but the recipe doesn’t call for it. While the beef is searing, I chopped up an onion and four cloves of garlic. Place the beef in the bottom of your slow cooker and saute the onion and garlic in the same saute pan until soft, about 5 minutes. Cover the beef with the onion & garlic mixture. I also made sure to sprinkle the beef, onion and garlic with salt and pepper while in the saute pan.

Now it’s time for your sauce! Combine 3/4 a cup of beef stock, 1 tablespoon of brown sugar, 3 tablespoons of red curry paste, 2 tablespoons of fish sauce, 2 tablespoons of fresh lime juice, 1 can of lite coconut milk and 1 minced jalapeno. I removed the seeds and only used half of the pepper. Whisk it all together and pour over the beef in the slow cooker. The recipe suggests cooking on low for 6 hours. Mine went for about 8 which I think helped the meat get more tender. Those big chunks of stew meat really need to cook for a long time. 15 minutes before you’re ready to eat, cook your Jasmine rice and stir in your spinach. Serve the Red Curry Beef over the Jasmine rice.

This was so delicious! I did feel like I wanted more heat, so if I did this again I would add the whole jalapeno, sans seeds. This dinner totally pulled me out of my comfort zone and I know I will attempt more Thai inspired food. The flavors and so tasty.

Happy Eating!

Slow Cooker Sausage and Peppers

The second item from my Super Bowl menu that I never got to make was Slow Cooker Spicy Italian Chicken Sausage and Peppers. This worked out well for me because I ended up making it on Wednesday when I had a super busy day. I went in early to work and also decided to go to a Barre class that evening, so I didn’t get to eat dinner until around 8:45 pm. Luckily I prepped everything the night before so when I woke up around 5:45 am all I had to do was throw the ingredients into the slow cooker and press start.

Ingredients:
1 package of spicy Italian chicken sausage
1 red pepper, sliced
1 green pepper, sliced
1 onion, sliced
1 24 oz. can of fire roasted tomatoes
1 tablespoon of dried garlic powder, oregano and salt
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme and basil
1/4 teaspoon of fresh ground black pepper
Fresh grated Parmesan cheese
Gluten free pasta, cooked to package directions

Directions:
Prep all ingredients the night before to make your life easy in the morning. Place the peppers and onion at the bottom of a the slow cooker and place the sausage on top. Cover with tomatoes and herbs. You could also probably use a jarred pasta sauce, but then I would skip all the extra herbs. Cook on low for 6-8 hours. Cook pasta to package directions right before you want to serve dinner. Serve sauce, sausage & peppers over pasta.

Delicious! This was perfect for a busy weeknight. I hope you all enjoy your weekend. I am hoping to put together some tasty lunches and desserts because my blog certainly seems to be lacking those recipes…

Super Bowl Menu

Well Super Bowl weekend is upon us. I personally don’t really watch football but I always watch the Super Bowl. Sign me up for food & drinks! Oh, and commercials. I love the commercials. My mom will be in town this weekend so I decided I would whip up a few snacks for us while we watch the game. Follow me on Instagram @misslauralang for photos while I’m cooking away in the kitchen!

Super Bowl Sunday Menu:

Meatballs – I have my own delicious meatball recipe that I used to create the delicious Mozzarella Stuffed Meatballs a while back. I plan to serve these with toothpicks and a spoonful of sauce! Yum!

Bacon Wrapped BBQ Shrimp – I know my mom loves shrimp and I want to make something that she will enjoy. I’m sure this will do the trick! Only change I’m going to make to this recipe is to cover with organic gluten-free BBQ sauce after they are cooked and skip the BBQ seasoning.

Sausage & Peppers – I plan to throw some spicy & sweet Italian sausage, tomato sauce, onions & peppers into my slow cooker and let it do all the work for me. These can be served on hoagie rolls or over a little bit of pasta. Honestly you can just eat it right from a bowl…

What are you cooking for Super Bowl Sunday? Have a great weekend!!!

Slow Cooker Pulled Pork with Purple Cabbage Slaw

I finally conquered the pulled pork in the slow cooker (with a little help from a recipe from Handle the Heat). I love using my slow cooker. It makes dinner so easy and I love having my apartment smell delicious all day. I prefer to use the slow cooker on weekends, as I don’t really like to get up early for prep during the week. However, this would be super easy to do in the morning before work. Slow Cooker Beer Pulled Pork was the perfect dinner at the end of this long weekend.

Add sliced onion and pork shoulder into your slow cooker add one 12 oz beer, salt, pepper, smoked paprika and soy sauce. The recipe recommends cooking on low for 6 hours, but mine went for 8 hours and it was perfect. After 8 hours, shred the pork and remove the bones. Discard the liquid reserving about 1/2 a cup in the crock pot. Add pork back into the slow cooker and cover with your favorite BBQ sauce. I used an organic smoky BBQ sauce from Whole Foods. Continue to cook for another hour. I served this pulled pork with a Purple Cabbage Slaw. I used organic pre-sliced purple cabbage from Whole Foods. The dressing is made up of 1/2 cup of mayo, 3 tablespoons of rice wine vinegar, white sugar to taste, and a sprinkle of salt & pepper. Mix all the ingredients together and let the slaw sit in the fridge for the rest of the day until it’s ready to serve the pork. I picked up a couple of delicious fresh rolls from the bakery below our apartment and topped them with the smokey delicious pork and the tangy slaw. This was soo good! It’s no Woodlands, but it’s a pretty delicious alternative when you aren’t in Blowing Rock, NC. And in case you are wondering, Woodlands is the best BBQ in the world. In. The. World.

This is a great to feed a group! Perfect for a Super Bowl party or a quiet picnic for two! And of course, it’s perfect for Monday night dinner after a long weekend. I hope you all enjoy! Check back later this week for a delicious Chili Cheese Mac recipe 🙂

Slow Cooker Sunday: Beer Braised Pork Loin & Black Beans with Skillet Hush Puppies

I have to be honest. I totally botched this Beer Braised Pork and Black Bean Soup recipe. It did NOT turn out the way it was supposed to. This is completely my fault because I did not follow the ingredient list properly. That being said, it ended up being pretty delicious anyway.

My first mistake was buying pork loin instead of pork shoulder or butt. I wasn’t thinking clearly and just picked up the one that said boneless. STUPID! I also didn’t read the ingredient list carefully and picked up canned black beans instead of dried. Lastly, I used Coors Light beer instead of a lager which is never a good idea. We had two Coors Light beers in our fridge from about a year ago. Clearly we are not a fan as alcohol doesn’t normally last that long in our household…I have only myself to blame. I do however really want to make this recipe the right way because it looks soooo delicious.

The slow cooker does most of the work for you. You simply add all the ingredients in the crock pot and cook on high for 5-6 hours. Next time I think I will cook on low for 8-10 hours as I prefer the texture of the meat when it’s cooked on low for a longer time.

The pork loin did get tender, but there isn’t much fat on this cut of meat, so it wasn’t as tender as I would have liked. The beer, black beans and cumin add a lot of flavor. I topped our meal with a fresh pico de gallo that I picked up at Whole Foods. This added so much freshness and acid to the dinner. It wouldn’t have been nearly as good without it. You could also top with a Greek yogurt or sour cream but we skipped that.

I also made skillet hush puppies that turned out great! I followed the instructions on the back of the corn meal package and just pan-fried them in olive oil, turning frequently to make sure that all sides browned and nothing burned. They were a great addition to this dinner and sopped up all that yummy broth!

Overall it turned out delicious but not what I was hoping for! You win some and you lose some 🙂 Hopefully I can redeem myself later this week.

I hope you all have a great full week back to work!!