Crock-Pot Honey Mustard Chicken

Well, it's been a while hasn't it? lol
I decided that I  should cook something for dinner on my day off this week, since I haven't really tried anything new lately.  Searched online for recipes and found Crock-Pot Honey Mustard Chicken at Lauren's Latest.  The photo made it look so good, I just had to give it at try.

The original recipe uses 2 chicken breasts (or about 1 lb) but for our family of four (two teenagers!) that would not have been enough so I doubled the recipe.

Ingredients:
4 boneless skinless chicken breasts (about 2 lbs)
1 cup diced onion
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup dijon mustard
1 1/2 cups honey
4 tablespoons butter (salted)
2 sprigs fresh rosemary
salt & pepper to taste
4 teaspoons dried chives (for garnish, optional)

Directions:

Place chicken breasts in crock-pot.

Add diced onions and minced garlic.

Add dijon mustard.

Pour honey in.

Add butter.

Place rosemary into crock-pot. Add salt & pepper.

(Forgot I was doubling the recipe and only used one sprig when I was supposed to use two! Oops!)

Cook on high for 4 hours or until chicken is fully cooked.

Discard rosemary sprigs.

Remove chicken breasts from crock-pot, shred, and place back into the sauce. Stir in a few chives for color if desired.

Keep warm until ready to serve.

Serve over rice.

Enjoy!

I must say, the Crock-Pot Honey Mustard Chicken was delicious! The family liked it a lot. My teenaged son even proclaimed it to be the best thing I've ever cooked! Wow!

If you try this recipe (or any of the others) please let me know by leaving a comment below, I'd love to hear from you! :)

Slow Cooker Cashew Chicken

Once again, I was perusing Pinterest for recipes when this one for Slow Cooker Cashew Chicken caught my eye.  It reminded me of my favorite dish from Keo's Thai Cuisine, which has sadly closed (temporarily, I hope).  So, I decided to give it a try.

INGREDIENTS

• 
  
• 2 lbs boneless skinless chicken breasts (About 4 pieces) (I actually used boneless skinless chicken thighs instead)
• 3 Tbsp cornstach
• ½ tsp black pepper
• 1 Tbsp canola oil
• ½ cup soy sauce
• 4 Tbsp rice wine vinegar (I couldn't find rice wine vinegar so I used seasoned rice vinegar)
• 4 Tbsp ketchup
• 2 Tbsp sweet chili sauce (the one I found was called sweet and spicy chili sauce)
• 2 Tbsp brown sugar
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 tsp grated fresh ginger
• ¼ tsp red pepper flakes
• 1 cup cashews

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Combine cornstarch and pepper in resealable food storage bag. Add chicken pieces. Shake to coat with cornstarch mixture.
2. Heat canola oil in skillet over medium-high heat. Brown chicken pieces about 2 minutes on each side. Place chicken pieces in slow cooker.
3. Combine soy sauce, rice wine vinegar, ketchup, sweet chili sauce, brown sugar, garlic, ginger, red pepper flakes, and cashews* in a small bowl; pour over chicken. *Cashews will get "softer" if added at this point and cooked with the chicken, if you want more of a crunch, add them right before serving.
4. Cook on LOW for 3 to 4 hours.
5. Serve over rice. Makes 4-6 servings.

The Ingredients (except for the chicken)

Brown chicken pieces about 2 minutes on each side.

Combine soy sauce, rice wine vinegar, ketchup, sweet chili sauce, brown sugar, garlic, ginger, red pepper flakes, and cashews* in a small bowl

pour over chicken.

Cook on LOW for 3 to 4 hours.

We enjoyed the taste of the Slow Cooker Cashew Chicken very much.  The original recipe states that it can be made without browning the chicken first, so I will probably do that next time to save time (even though it states that it is better with the breading)  Also, I was a little worried that it was going to be too spicy, but thankfully, it was not.  I liked that the sauce was a little on the "thicker" side as opposed to other dishes I've made where the sauce is more "liquid" 

Will definitely make this meal again!

Slow Cooker Hawaiian Chicken

Since I haven't really tried cooking anything new lately, and I was going to be at home on "vacation" for a week, I decided to look on Pinterest for some ideas.

I found this one that I had pinned a while ago but never made for Slow Cooker Hawaiian Chicken from Let's Get Cookin' that looked good!

Ingredients:

• 5 to 6 chicken breasts (you can use any cut of chicken) I actually used a 4 lb bag of bone-in skin-on chicken thighs
• 1 bottle BBQ Sauce (I used Kraft Sweet Honey Barbecue Sauce 18 oz)
• 1 20 oz can pineapple slices in juice

Spray slow cooker with non-stick cooking spray or use a liner.

Place chicken in the slow cooker.

Pour the entire bottle of BBQ sauce over the chicken, making sure to coat each piece evenly.

Place pineapple slices over the chicken. You can keep the pineapple slices from sliding around while cooking by inserting toothpicks to hold them in place on the chicken pieces. But as you can see, I did not do this.

Pour the pineapple juice that is still left in the can into the empty bottle of BBQ sauce, replace cover, and shake vigorously. This is to get all of the remaining BBQ sauce out of the bottle. Pour over the pineapple and chicken.

Cook on low for 5 to 8 hours or on high for 4 to 5 hours.

Serve over rice or mashed potatoes. The sauce goes great over rice!

After I decided to make this, I was a little concerned because the recipe did not state what size bottle of BBQ sauce to use and also because I usually like to use the "low" setting if I have time, but the "5 to 8 hours" cook time was such a big "window" that I wasn't sure what time I should get it started.  I didn't want it to be finished too early or too late since we usually eat at around 6:30pm.

I decided that since I was using bone-in chicken thighs, I would let it cook a little longer and ended up cooking it on low for about 7 hours.

The chicken was "fall off the bone" tender and very tasty! The whole family liked it a lot! Definitely something I'd make again, especially since it was so easy to make, as well as delicious! ;)

Chocolate Italian Love Cake

Recently, I was invited to a potluck with an Italian theme.  Yum! I love Italian, although I quickly came to the realization that I don't really make any Italian dishes... I usually always opt for dessert since I am more of a "baker" rather than "cook" so I headed on over to Pinterest to try to find an Italian dessert that I could take to the potluck.  I did a search for Italian desserts and saw the usual, such as tiramisu and cannoli, but I wanted something different.  Then I saw a recipe for Chocolate Italian Love Cake from Chew Nibble Nosh and my search was over!  The recipe seemed simple enough and looked pretty cool with its layers so I bought the ingredients I needed.  The potluck was on a Saturday night and since this cake needed to be chilled for several hours, I actually made it Friday night and then put it in the fridge until the big event.

Ingredients:

• 1 box chocolate cake mix AND the ingredients needed to make the cake according to the package directions
• 2 lbs (32 oz) ricotta cheese
• 4 eggs
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
• 1 box instant chocolate pudding mix (recipe said 5.1 oz, but the one I found in the store was 5.9 oz)
• 1 cup cold milk
• 8 oz Cool Whip topping

(The extra eggs and vegetable oil in the photo were needed to make the cake)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and spray a 13x9 inch pan with nonstick spray.

In a large bowl, mix together cake ingredients according to the directions on the box.  Set aside.

In another bowl, beat together the ricotta cheese, eggs, sugar, and vanilla extract until smooth, using a hand mixer.

Pour the cake batter into the prepared 13x9 baking dish.  Spread to fill pan evenly.  Once the cake batter is in place, carefully pour the cheese mixture evenly over the top of the cake batter.  Spread to cover the cake batter as best you can.  Please note:  cake batter goes on the bottom, cheese mixture goes on top. When baking, the layers "switch" and the cheese part will be under the chocolate cake.

Bake at 350 degrees F for 1 hour. Remove from oven and allow to cool completely before frosting.

(Don't worry if the top looks like this, you're going to frost over it anyways!)

Once cooled, stir the box of pudding mix and milk together with a whisk until combined.  carefully, fold the Cool Whip topping into the pudding until combined.

Spread the pudding mixture over the top of the cooled cake. Cover and refrigerate for at least 6 hours before serving.  (It tastes great the next day!)

Enjoy!

So, the verdict:  This cake is pretty tasty, and everyone at the potluck said it was good.  I actually already made it again for Valentine's day for my family and they liked it also!  The only disappointment (for me) was that when it was finished baking, it was "lumpy" so I did not get the nice evenly defined layers like I saw in the photos online.  But, hey, what's more important - looks or taste? Definitely taste!

I hope you enjoyed this post and please feel free to comment. I'd love to hear your thoughts!

Baked Honey Garlic Chicken

Well, it's been a while since I last blogged here. I originally started this as a place to post things about the best tv show ever - LOST, but I never really had much to share and now that the show has been off the air for a while, this blog has just been sitting here idle. I had another blog at Empower Network where i just wrote about random things, but I have since lost access to that blog so I decided to just use this one again.
For my first post, I decided to share a recipe I just made tonight for dinner. I found it on Pinterest and it was called Baked Honey Garlic Chicken from the website damndelicious.net I made some slight changes to the recipe below, such as doubling it since I am feeding a family of four.

The ingredients:

• 1 lb boneless skinless chicken breasts (I used thighs)
• kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste (I used regular salt and pepper)
• 2 large eggs
• 1 cup Panko Japanese bread crumbs

For the honey garlic sauce:

• 1/3 cup honey, or more, to taste
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 tablespoons soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon Sriracha, optional (I did not use)
• 1 tablespoon cornstarch
• 1/3 cup water
• 2 green onions, thinly slice (I did not use)
• 2 teaspoons sesame seeds

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.  Lightly oil a 9x13 inch baking pan or coat with non-stick spray.  Cut chicken into 1 inch chunks.  Season chicken with salt and pepper, to taste.  Beat eggs.  Dip chicken pieces into beaten eggs, then dredge in Panko, pressing to coat.
Add chicken to prepared baking pan. Place into oven and bake until golden brown and crisp, about 15 - 20 minutes.

In a medium sized saucepan over medium high heat, combine honey, garlic, soy sauce, and Sriracha (if using).  In a small bowl, combine cornstarch and water.  Stir mixture into the saucepan until thickened, about 1-2 minutes.  Stir in chicken and gently toss to combine.

 Serve immediately, garnished with green onions and sesame seeds, if desired.

I served this Baked Honey Garlic Chicken with white rice and Garlic & Olive Oil Vermicelli.  the honey garlic sauce was really tasty and it was a big hit with the whole family!  There were hardly any leftovers!

This recipe is definitely a keeper! I know the family will request it again, for sure!

If you try this recipe, please let me know how you liked it! :)

More LOST Season 5 Finale filming!

*** BEWARE - SPOILERS BELOW ***

I cannot believe my luck, finally, here so close to filming the end of Season 5 of LOST! This morning I was at home when I got a hot tip (via Renee on twitter) that LOST was filming again today! I was surprised to hear this because yesterday (Saturday, March 28) was supposed to be the final day of filming for Season 5. I asked the hubby if we could go check it out and he agreed (even though it was kind of a far drive). We all piled into the truck and were on our way. We saw where the filming was taking place so we found a place to park and walked over there. At first we were told that we couldn't go where we were trying to go watch. So, we crossed the street and watched from there. We also were told not to take pictures. So I didn't get any pictures at all today which was a bummer! Anyways they were filming a street scene that involved a car in a hit and run with a woman on the ground and Sayid running to her aid. It was really cool to watch them film. The cars had California plates and were relatively recent models. They took a lunch break and so did we. We went back to see if filming had resumed when we were done eating. It had, so we went back to stand in the same places we were previously. They were filming scenes of Sayid and the woman on the ground from different angles. Then we were told we had to move so that we wouldn't be in the background so we went across the street to where we were trying to go when we first got there. At this point, there wasn't much action as the scene was most likely close-ups of Sayid and the woman on the ground. I noticed a cool street sign that indicated that this was supposed to be the corner of Santa Monica Blvd and La Brea Ave. I also spotted LOST podcaster Ryan Ozawa with a bird's eye view of the scene! Later, Ryan came to talk to us and he said that the woman on the ground was Sayid's wife, Nadia! Wow! I was trying to figure out who the woman was, but with my bad eye sight and the distance that we were at, I couldn't tell who it was. I knew it had to be "somebody" though, not just some random person, and I was right! Soon after, filming wrapped and they started to break down the set and go home. We were standing on the corner when a van drove by shuttling people to "Base Camp" and Naveen Andrews was sitting in the front seat with the window down. I waved as they drove by and he smiled at me! Woo-hoo, what a day!

LOST Season 5 finale filming!

*** BEWARE - SPOILERS BELOW ***

Yesterday (Thursday, March 26) I had the day off from work and was at home with the kids when the hubby calls at around 11am. He said that he thought they might be filming LOST at the prison near his work. The kids and I piled into the car and off we went on the hunt for LOST! We got there at around 11:30 am, but there was nothing there. Either it was not LOST filming that he and his co-workers saw or they were finished by the time we got there. We were bummed : (

So today (Friday, March 27) I go to work. As soon as I get there, a co-worker comes up to me to tell me that they are going to be filming LOST nearby today at a church on Renton Road. I asked the boss if I could go home early today, but unfortunately, I had to work all day. When I got back in the office in the afternoon, the same co-worker said that they were still there. She said that when she was in the area earlier in the day, they were still setting up, so they were still there filming in the afternoon. I went home to change clothes and grab my camera. I drove to Renton Road and she was right - they were still there filming. They would actually stop traffic as they were shooting. I drove by and then parked my truck at the Post Office. Walked a little ways down the road until I was across the street from the church where they were filming. I didn't want to get too close so I stayed across the street and took a few pictures, trying to be incognito. I realized I wasn't at a very good spot to see the actual filming - I could mostly see the camera guy and crew and extras - so I walked a little further down the road. This was a better spot and I could see them filming a scene. Unfortunately for me, I was also spotted taking pictures. So, one of the guys came over to talk to me. He said that it was okay for me to watch, but that they didn't want me to take pictures because they didn't want them to show up on the internet because they were shooting the season finale! Wow! So I said okay and then asked him if he could tell me anything about the shoot. He said that the scene is a young James meeting Jacob! The scene is set in the 70's and they are filming a double funeral scene with two caskets so I assume this is young James Ford's parents' funeral. (James' father killed James' mother and then himself in a murder-suicide when James was 8 years old back in 1977) Since I couldn't take any more pictures, I decided to move in a little closer where I saw other people watching. I watched them film another scene of mourners at the funeral, and then the pall bearers loading both caskets into two hearses and then they drove away. It was so cool to be so close to the action. I only wish I had seen some of the stars from LOST like Josh Holloway, Matthew Fox, or Jorge Garcia.

I have a few pictures (nothing great though) but am not posting them out of respect for the cast and crew of LOST who asked me specifically not to. I will post some and a link to the rest later after the season finale airs.

Okay, so the Season 5 Finale has aired so I posted two of the pictures above and the rest are available on my Flickr account.

click to see more on flickr