Chicken Stew with Biscuits

I found this recipe as I was going through my grandmother's recipe cards again. It was so easy and has become a favorite of ours.  You get the same taste and texture as chicken pot pie without all the calories.  It's a perfect comfort food.

Directions

• Preheat oven to 375
• In a ovenproof skillet or dutch oven, melt 1/4 cup of butter. Blend in 1/3 cup flour, 1/2 tsp salt, and a dash of pepper.
• Add 1 1/3 cups chicken broth and 3/4 cups of milk.  Cook, stirring until thick. 
• Add 2 cups cubed cooked chicken*, 1/3 cup chopped onion, 2 cups frozen mixed veggies (peas, carrots, corn, green beans, etc). Simmer til bubbly.
• Top with raw biscuits.
• Bake in oven 20 to 25 mins or until golden brown.

*Sometimes I will use meat scissors to cut up chicken in small pieces and will cook the onions and chicken in the butter, adding a little extra butter once cooked.  Then continue with the recipe starting with the flour.  I have also cooked the chicken breasts in the chicken broth the recipe calls for in a covered pot and then cut up the chicken to add to recipe later.  A third option for you, buy a rotisserie chicken when you are at the store or next time you grill, grill a few extra chicken breast to use in this recipe later.  Lots of options ;)

Chicken Teryaki

I made this and well, Tom liked it so much he ate himself sore!  It's SO easy and SO yummy!  Basically dump in the crock pot and go!

Ingredients:

3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup soy sauce
6 tablespoons cider vinegar
3/4 teaspoon ground ginger
3/4 teaspoon minced garlic
1/4 teaspoon pepper
4 1/2 teaspoons cornstarch
4 1/2 teaspoons cold water
Hot cooked long grain rice

Directions:

Place chicken in a 4 qt. crock pot. 

In a bowl, combine sugar, soy sauce, cider vinegar, ginger, garlic and pepper. Pour over chicken. 

Cover and cook on low for 4 to 5 hours or until chicken is tender. 

Remove chicken to a bowl leaving liquid in crock pot.

Skim fat from cooking liquid.

Turn crock pot on high to heat up remaining liquid.  

Combine cornstarch and water until smooth.

Gradually stir into liquid and stir until sauce is thickened. 

Turn crock pot down to Keep Warm.

Add chicken back to sauce.

Serve over rice. ( I like to seam some broccoli to go with it)

Tamale Pie

So I'm all about crockpot meals. Just makes life easier with a toddler around.  This is hardly what anyone would call mexican, but it's still yummy!

Step 1: In a large skillet warm in a Tbsp of olive oil a spoonful of minced garlic (I buy the big jars or pre-minced garlic).  Then brown 2 lbs ground beef (or any ground meat of your choosing).

Step 2: Dump meat into crock pot.  Add in 1 can each of black beans, diced tomatoes (not the Italian style), whole kernel corn, and one packet of taco seasoning (or any seasonings you want such as cumin, chili powder, pepper, etc).  Cook on low for 6-8 hours.

Step 3: In a bowl combine one box of corn bread/muffin mix and 2 eggs.  Spoon in small dollops over meat mixture. Do not dump in all at once, you will not be able to spread the mixture over the meat and you will get lopsided tamale pie!  Cover and cook 1 hour longer or until a toothpick comes out of the center of cornbread clean.  Sprinkle with cheese, cover and let stand 5 minutes to melt.

Serve with sour cream, cilantro, and anything else you think would taste yummy.

Hearty Beans & Rice

I created this off a recipe I saw in a slow cooker magazine.  It's like a cross between BBQ beans and Red beans & rice.  In fact, next time I make it I'm going to replace the steak seasoning with creole seasoning.  I also recommend reducing the spicy brown mustard from 1/2 cup to 1/4 cup as the flavor was kinda obvious, but it was still tasty!

WARNING: You will need a large crock pot in order to do this!

Step 1:
Brown 2 lbs of ground beef (or any ground meat of your choosing) in a pan.  (Prior to browning the meat I recommend heating up some minced garlic and sweating a whole medium to large diced onion)

Step 2: Dump the following into a crockpot and stir:

   2 large cans of baked beans (I like Bush's original)
   2 cans kidney beans, drained
   2 cans pinto beans, drained
   1 pound smoked kielbasa or Polish sausage, sliced (or more, whatever will fit in your pot)
   1 cup BBQ sauce (I like Sweet Baby Ray's)
   1/2 cup spicy brown mustard
   1/4 cup steak seasoning (I used McCormick's Montreal Steak Seasoning)

Step 3: Cook on Low all day and serve over rice.