Crockpot Chicken And Rice

4 medium boneless chicken breasts
16 ounce family size package Vigo Saffron Yellow Rice mix
5 cups chicken broth
1 medium onion
2 large bay leaves
1 teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon pepper

Place the chicken, onion, bay leaves and pepper in a 6 quart crock pot
Pour 4 cups chicken broth over the chicken
Cook for 3-4 hours on high or until the chicken is cooked through
Remove chicken from crock pot and break apart into large chunks
Remove the onion and bay leaves from the crock pot and discard
Return the chicken to the crock pot
Add the yellow rice to the crock pot and stir
Cook for an additional hour or until the rice is tender

Thoughts
I love Chicken And Yellow Rice and so does my family. I think I’ve only made it in a Crockpot once before, and in the oven once. Both are ways to make it when you are too busy to spend much time on the chicken. It was good but not as good as the way I’ve made it since I started cooking.

My family and I think the recipe that tastes the best is the one I’ve been making for over 40 years, using bone in/skin on whole chicken leg quarters.  It’s more steps and time but tastes so much better and definitely worth the extra time if you have it.

Weekend Cooking

Weekend Cooking

Souper Sunday

Brunswick Stew

2 (15-ounce) cans stewed tomatoes
2 (15-ounce) cans creamed corn
2 (13-ounce) cans chicken
2 (10-ounce) cans BBQ pork
1 (14-ounce) bottle ketchup
1 tsp. garlic powder
1 tsp. apple cider vinegar
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. pepper

Combine all ingredients in slow cooker and cook on low for two to three hour. Serve with Jiffy cornbread or Ritz crackers

Thoughts
I had both Jiffy cornbread and Ritz crackers so decided to have use the crackers and save the cornbread for beans.

I ordered the ingredients online and the canned BBQ pork was out of stock so I bought a container of Jack Daniel’s Pulled Pork, hoping it would turn out ok. It was very good.  I’ve made this before and forgot to use less ketchup, it was still good, but hopefully next time I’ll remember to use 3 or 4 oz. and see how that tastes.

This is a very quick and easy recipe and I love it any time of year.

Weekend Cooking

Chicken and Veggies Ramen Noodles Skillet

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 small yellow onion , diced
2 garlic cloves , minced
4 carrots , cut in long ribbons (use a vegetable peeler)
salt and fresh ground pepper , to taste
1 bag (8 ounces) fresh sugar snap peas
2 cups cubed cooked chicken breasts (rotisserie chicken works great)
2 packages (3 ounces each) any flavor ramen noodles, broken (discard flavor-package)
2 cups low-sodium organic chicken broth
2 green onions diced , green parts only, for garnish

Heat olive oil in a large skillet
Add onions, garlic, and carrots; season with salt and pepper and sautee for 3 minutes
Stir in snap peas and continue to cook for 3 to 4 minutes, or until the sugar snap peas are crisp tender
If mixture is dry, add a tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil
Add cooked chicken, broken noodles and chicken broth; bring to a boil
Cook and stir about 3 minutes, or until noodles are tender and most of the liquid is absorbed
Remove from heat
Garnish with green onions
Serve

Thoughts
We thought this was very good. I decided to use rotisserie chicken instead of breasts. When I tasted it before serving it, it was a bit bland so I stirred in the chicken flavor packets (I LOVE the flavor) from the Ramen noodles and let it cook a little longer. I also added and mixed in the cut up green onions instead of using them for garnish, and used matchstick carrots because I had some and they needed to be used.

So quick, easy, and good. I’ll be making it again.

Skyline Chili Recipe

2 lbs ground beef
2 cups chopped onions
4 cups beef stock
2 (8 ounce) cans tomato sauce
2 -3 tablespoons chili powder
2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
1⁄2 ounce grated unsweetened chocolate or 2 3/4 tablespoons cocoa
2 teaspoons instant minced garlic
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1⁄2 teaspoon salt
1⁄2 teaspoon ground red pepper or 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1⁄4 teaspoon ground allspice
1⁄4 teaspoon ground cloves
1 bay leaves or 1/8 teaspoon bay leaf powder

Toppings
chopped onion (optional)
finely shredded cheddar cheese (certainly NOT optional)
kidney bean (optional)

Brown ground beef and onion
Drain
Add beef stock to beef mixture and simmer 10 minutes
Add remaining 13 ingredients, simmer uncovered 1 hour
Remove bay leaf, skim off extra fat
Serve over hot spaghetti, or hot dogs in buns for chili dogs
Top with plenty of cheese and other optional toppings

Thoughts
Sorry the picture is a mess, it was late and I was tired and didn’t want to stand in the kitchen until I got the lighting etc. just right.

My son and I went to Skyline Chili a few years ago and he loved it, me not so much. The other day he asked me to find a recipe and make it so I did. I didn’t think I’d like it but to my surprise I loved it. He said it tasted like what the restaurant had but I thought it was a lot better. I’m thinking it was all the shredded cheese I put in mine, they don’t give you very much.

You can add beans to the chili (my personal recipe has beans in it) but they don’t add beans at the restaurant so I didn’t. You can also serve it over spaghetti or hotdogs.

This is a quick and easy recipe and since we both liked it I plan on making it again sometime.