Slow Cooker Chicken Vegetable Soup

/

So one of my goals now that we are in the new house is to start making more smart decisions on food.  While building the house and moving we ate like crap. We ate out more than in, we didn't pay any attention to what we were eating and we both have gained some weight from that and just feel terrible.I found this recipe on Facebook for Chicken Vegetable Soup the other day, it was originally from the Simple Nourished Living website and it sounded pretty good so I decided to make it with just a few changes.We followed the recipe as written except I replaced the Cole Slaw with Wheat Egg Noodles and I used a frozen mixed vegetables instead of just frozen peas.Ingredients:

  • 1½ pounds raw boneless skinless lean chicken breasts
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • ⅛ teaspoon black pepper
  • ½ cup finely diced onion
  • 2 carrots, chopped
  • 3 cups egg noodles (wheat)
  • 2 cans (14 to 15 ounces each) low sodium chicken broth
  • 1 can (14 to 15 ounces) Cannellini (white kidney) beans, drained and rinsed
  • 1 can (14 to 15 ounces) stewed tomatoes, not drained
  • 1 cup frozen veggies
  • 1 teaspoon dried thyme leaves
  • 1 bay leaf
  • Evenly season chicken with ¼ teaspoon salt and the pepper. Place all ingredients in the crock pot and stir. Cover and cook on HIGH for 3 to 4 hours or on LOW for 6 - 8 hours, until chicken is fully cooked and the vegetables are tender.
  • Remove and discard the bay leaf. Remove the chicken and place in a bowl. Shred each piece using two forks -- one to hold the chicken in place and the other to scrape across the meat and shred it. Return the shredded chicken to the crock pot and stir into the soup.
  • Season to taste with salt and pepper.
  • According to the original post (linked above) the nutrient value is as follows:Per Serving (1 cup): 150 calories, 1g fat, 15g carbs, 4 g fiber, 20.g protein and 3 Weight Watchers Points Plus.

Since I replaced the Cole slaw mix with Egg Noodles the calorie count of course went up a bit but not so much it is not worth doing :)

****************************************

Carolina Pork BBQ

/

I can’t believe how delicious it was and how easy! It makes about 6-8 very healthy servings with left-overs! It’s definitely going to be one of my regulars from now on.

2 large onions, quartered

2 1/2 Tablespoons Brown Sugar

1 Tablespoon Paprika

2 Teaspoons Salt

1/2 Teaspoon Ground Black Pepper

1 4-6 Lb boneless pork butt or shoulder roast

1 1/2 Cups Apple Cider Vinegar

8 Teaspoons Worcestershire Sauce

3 Teaspoon Crushed Red Pepper Flakes

3 Teaspoon sugar (white)1 Teaspoon Dry Mustard

1 Teaspoon Garlic Salt

1/2 Teaspoon Cayenne Pepper

Cut the onions into quarters and place them in the bottom of your slow cooker (crock pot).

Note: Don’t turn on pot yet!

In a small bowl, combine the brown sugar, paprika, salt, and ground black pepper and then use as a dry rub for the roast. Rub over the entire roast, top, sides and bottom. Placed rubbed roast in slow cooker/ crock pot, on top of the onions.

In a small bowl, combine vinegar, Worcestershire sauce, red pepper flakes, white sugar, dry mustard, garlic salt, and cayenne. Stir and mix well. Drizzle 1/4 – 1/2 of this mixture over roast. Then, cover and refrigerate the remaining portion, to be used later.

Cover, turn on pot and cook on low for 10-12 hours. After about 8 hours, start checking to see if roast is thoroughly cooked. The roast is done when it pulls apart easily with two forks. Just insert the forks and pull in opposite directions, meat should fall apart and begin to shred very easily.

After roast is cooked, lift it out of the pot and set on cookie sheet to drain. Remove onions and juices from bottom of pot and put them aside in a bowl. If your family doesn’t like onions, you can just throw them out, but they really do add a nice flavor and texture to the pork. Shred or chop the pork with knife and forks and stir in a few spoonfuls of the reserved drippings. You can also chop the onions now and add them to the shredded pork. If the mixture seems dry, add more of the reserved drippings/juice until it gets to the consistency you like. I like it fairly moist, so it holds together nicely on the buns, so I add most of the drippings. Add another 1/4 of the vinegar mixture to the shredded pork and put the rest on the table (I use a gravy boat) as some people may want to add more to their sandwiches.Serve on hamburger buns with creamy coleslaw as a side, although, to be authentic you really MUST put the coleslaw on top of the pork and eat it right in the sandwich.

Fav New Recipe - Bourbon Crack Chicken

/

I didn’t name it this but after one bite I certainly understood the meaning behind the word “crack” in its title, this could become addicting!I discovered this recipe last week on the Spiced Chefs website. 

The recipe made 4 generous servings with the rice (we are using the 3rd and 4th servings for our lunches tomorrow).

For those on Weight Watchers I ran the recipe on the WW site and it is 6 points per serving before the rice. Very reasonable for such a filling meal.

Here is the recipe taken directly from the Spiced Chefs website so you can enjoy it as well.

Bourbon “Crack” Chicken – Crockpot Style

“The original recipe comes from Busy Mom’s Cookbook but we turned it into a crockpot version”.

Ingredients-

2 lbs boneless chicken breasts cut into bite-size pieces

2 tablespoon cornstarch

2 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil (evoo)

1 garlic clove crushed

1/4 teaspoon ginger

3/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

1/4 cup light apple juice

1/3 cup light brown sugar

2 tablespoons organic ketchup or chili sauce (depending on how hot you like stuff)

1 tablespoon cider vinegar

1/2 cup water

1/3 cup reduced sodium soy sauce

Whisk all ingredients into crock pot and add chicken. Cook on low for 8 hours or high for 4.

Serve over rice with a side of ginger glazed carrots.