Chicken & Sausage Jumbalaya

Ingredients

12 ounces boneless skinless chicken breasts
1 1/2 cups green peppers, chopped
1 medium onion, chopped
2 celery ribs, sliced
4 garlic cloves, minced
1 (14 ounce) can whole tomatoes
1/3 cup tomato paste
1 (10 1/2 ounce) can beef broth
1 tablespoon parsley
1 1/2 teaspoons basil
1/2 teaspoon oregano
1 teaspoon Tabasco sauce
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/2 teaspoon salt3 cups cooked rice

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Cook Time: 8 hours

Easy recipe, takes a bit of time to get the ingredients cut up but other than that really easy.

Cut up onion, celery, garlic, sausage and chicken and place in crock pot. Pour in beef broth, tomato paste, and tomatoes. Combine in spices and tabasco. Stir and put on low for 8 hours. Before serving stir in rice.

Rating: 4 1/2 out of 5. 

This one is really good. A bit on the spicy side, but good to enjoy with a beer. :)

Cranberry Catalina Chicken

Recipe # 3:

Cranberry Catalina Chicken

Ingredients

1 can of whole berry cranberry sauce
1/2 cup of Catalina Dressing
1 packet of French Onion Soup mix
8 Chicken Thighs

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Cook Time: 4 hours

Rating: 4 out of 5.

This is cheating because I have had this already. I admit that this is a recipe that my mom cooks. However she does not use a crockpot for it but rather cooks it in the oven.

So anyway, place chicken in the bottom of the pot. Mix together the cranberry sauce, catalina dressing, and soup mix. Pour over chicken. Done.

Easy rating: 1 out of 5

Check back later this week. I am going to try roasting a whole chicken. Not sure I am ready for the big leagues yet but we'll see.

Easy Barbeque Chicken

Ingredients

6 chicken breast
1/2 Cup of Apple Cider vinegar
1 bottle of Barbeque Sauce (Your choice)
A couple squirts of Worchester Sauce
2 Tablespoons McCormicks Chicken seasoning

Directions: Mix ACV, 1/2 bottle of barbeque sauce, and the Worchester Sauce in a measuring cup. Rub chicken in seasoning and place in the bottom of the crockpot. Pour liquid over chicken. Cook for 6-8 hours. When done cooking, pull apart chicken on a cutting board. Take about 1/4 to 1/2 cup of the jous and mix with the rest of the bottle of barbeque sauce. Return chicken to crockpot, pour new liquid over chicken and stir.

Prep time: 5-10 minutes
Cook Time- 6-8 Hours in crockpot

Rating: 4 out of 5

I like this recipe. I have made it twice now.

Meal 1: Hawaiian/Orange/Citrus Chicken

I am not really sure what to call this one but part of the credit goes to my friend Whitney for her suggestion (I modified her recipe). So here goes. By the way, I do not have pictures of this one, as I had already put it away before the blog idea came to mind.


Ingredients
1 20 oz can of Pineapple Chuncks (you could do rings)
1 8 oz can of Mandarin Oranges
1/2 cup of Orange Juice
1/4 cup of soy sauce (I eyeballed this one, so my measurements may be a bit off. Really I did this to taste)
2 cloves of garlic, chopped.
1/3 of an onion, chopped
10 chicken thighs, boneless

Prep:
Drain juice off pineapple and oranges into a measuring cup. Mix in soy sauce and orange juice. Add pineapple, oranges, onion, and garlic to the bottom of the crockpot. Place chicken on top of citrus mixture. Pour liquid over top of chicken.

Cook Time: I cooked it for 6 hours. I guess this is your preference.

Rating: 3.5 (Pretty solid for first try)

I like this one, although next time I think I will tweak it a bit. I think I will not add so much sauce and drain off more. This was a little soupy when I made it and I prefer some body to my sauces. Also, if you prefer you could add some corn starch to it to thicken it up a bit I guess. I also shredded the chicken to make it easier to add more to my lunch tupperware but that is also not necessary.

I hope to do a different one this week. Again if you have any suggestions just leave it in the comments.

Thanks,

The Crockpot Chef

Week 1 of the Crock Pot Conundrum!

So I got a crockpot for my birthday. Yes, a 25 year old bachelor asked for a crockpot for his birthday. But, in my defense I don't exactly cook much and I wanted an excuse to start cooking more often. Also I don't cook unless it is something easy...so a crockpot is a natural fit to my cooking style. So what does one do when he has a new toy to play with...well naturally he plays.

So this is what the blog is for. I am going to start a food blog. Each week for the unforseeable future I will post another "adventure" with my crockpot (yes I said adventure, not sure how many of the meals will turn out), recipes included. Also will be my rating scale 1-5, with 1 being I will never eat that again, and 5 being a new favorite meal.

So I hope you enjoy this blog, whatever readers I get. And if you have a recipe that think I must absolutely try. Post it in the comments or email it to me at matthew.jenkins279@gmail.com.

Thanks in advance,

Matt AKA "The Crockpot Chef"