Crockpot Pizza Chicken

Who doesn't love a cheap and easy Crockpot recipe, I know I do.   I saw a recipe similar to this on a weight watchers blog, and I was super excited to try it.  This was SO EASY, and the taste was amazing.  This recipe is super easy to customize, and a great weeknight meal.

Ingredients

• 2 pounds of boneless skinless chicken breasts.
• 1 bag of turkey pepperoni (you can use regular pepperoni too)
• 1 6 oz can of tomato paste
• 2 tablespoons of Italian seasoning
• 1 cup of chicken broth
• 2 cups of mozzarella cheese

Directions

1. Place your chicken in the bottom of the crockpot, and all the remixing ingredients EXCEPT the cheese.
2. Place on low for 6 hours or high for 3 (I placed mine on high, and the chicken was perfect)
3. Once 3 hours is up place your cheese on top of your mixture, close the lid and let the cheese melt.
4. I served mine over rice, but I think serving this with pasta would be really good!
5. Enjoy

Final Product

Lemon Pepper Wings

As I promised here are the second batch of wings I made on Monday night.  I thought the Sweet and Spicy wings were really good, but these here are so delicious I wish I tripled the recipe!  They were so good that I had a request to make them this Sunday for the games.  These are different than the Sweet and Spicy wings because it is more of a dry rub.  These come out so nice and juicy, and the lemon is the perfect kick.  I would make these any day, rather then going to a bar for wings.

Prep time: 20 minutes
Cook time: 30 minutes (it took me three uses in the fryer to cook all the wings)
Servings size: This made about 25 wings.
Price: 10 dollars (Wings were on sale BOGO)
Recipe adapted from: Food Network

Ingredients

• Oil for frying (lucky for me I did not dump my oil from Sunday, and I just strained the oil and reused it)
• 3.4- 4 pounds of young chicken wings
• 1 Tablespoon of Adoba Seasoning
• 1 Tablespoon of garlic powder
• 2 tablespoons of parsley
• 1 cup of Dijon mustard
• 1.5 cups of flour
• 2 lemons
• 1 tablespoon Lemon-pepper seasoning (Use more if you want the wings more spicy)

Directions

1. Turn your fryer on 375 degrees and let oil warm up.
2. While oil is warming separate your wings (check my last post for the link for easy tips to separate the wings)
3. Place your wings in a large bowl and place your Adoba, garlic, pepper, and parsley. 
4. Add your mustard and make sure all chicken is nicely coated.
5. Add your flour and coat all your chicken in the flour (this part gets a little messy try and keep a hand dry so your hands don't get the batter stuck
6.  Add your chicken to the oil, fry until cooked through about 10-13 minutes. 
7. Once your last batch of chicken is done, place chicken in a bowl and sprinkle the juice of your lemons over the chicken, and then add the lemon pepper seasoning.
8. Enjoy!

Final Product

 

 

 

Sweet and Spicy Wings

I FINALLY MADE MY OWN WINGS.  Now that's out of the way, I am super excited how great these turned out.  My boyfriend has been begging me to make wings for a while now.  What better day to try wings then on football Sunday.  He loved the wings so much, that I had to make more the next day (no lie, I will post the other recipe this week) Wings are definitely work to make, but so worth it AND so much cheaper then buying them for your favorite bar.  Our friend described these wings as General Tso Wings, which I thought was awesome.

Prep time: 30 minutes (it may be shorter, but I had to separate the wings)
Cook time: 30 minutes (it took me three batches to cook all the wings)
Serving size: This made about 30 wings
Price of meal: 15 dollars (It will be cheaper if you have some of the ingredients, I had to buy everything)
Recipe Adapted from: Rasa Malaysia

Ingredients

• 24 pounds of chicken wings (separated)
• Here is a great how to on separating wings- How to Separate Wings
• Oil for frying (I used about 16oz containers of oil, I have a decent size fryer)\
• 2 tablespoons of Adoba
• 2 teaspoons of pepper

Sauce Ingredients

• 1/2 cup of flour
• 1/2 cup of orange juice
• 2 tablespoons of Siracha  hot sauce
• 1/4 cup of chicken broth
• 3 tablespoons of soy sauce
• 3.5 tablespoons of sugar
• 2 teaspoons of apple cider vinegar
• 1.5 tablespoons of Chinese Rice Wine
• 1.5 tablespoons of corn starch (you may need more if your sauce isn't thick enough)

Directions

1. Fill your deep fryer with oil, and place heat on 375 degrees.
2. While your oil is warming, coat your chicken with pepper and Adoba. Once your wings are coated, add your flour and make sure wings are coated. (they will only be lightly coated and that's OK)
3. Place your wings in your deep fryer, make sure wings are completely covered with oil.
4. Cook for 10 -13 minutes, and remove from deep fryer. 
5. Repeat steps 3-4 until all wings are cooked
6. Add your sauce ingredients in a sauce pan, and warm until sauce is thickened.
7. Remove from heat and place in large bowl.
8. Add your chicken to the sauce mixture, mix well.
9. Enjoy!

Final Product

Homemade Chili

It's about that time where the weather is getting super cold, and whenever I think of cold fall weather...I think of chili.  I have made a few different chili's and this one by far was the easiest, and had an awesome taste. My boyfriend said this was one of his favorite chili's (he went for thirds, which is always a good thing.)  One of my favorite things about chili is that it makes so much, which means plenty of leftovers!

Prep time: 15 minutes
Cook time: 30 minutes
Serving Size: 8-10 people

Ingredients

• 1.5 pounds of ground turkey( Feel free to use ground beef)
• 1.5 tablespoons of onion powder (equivalent to one onion, my boyfriend HATES onions, so I have to use powder)
• 2 tablespoons of minced garlic
• ½ teaspoon pepper
• 2 cups water
• 1 (28 oz.) can of crushed tomatoes
• 1 (14.5 oz.) can of diced tomatoes with green chilies
• 1 can of  kidney beans
• 1 can of black beans
• ⅓ cup chili powder
• 1 teaspoon of cayenne pepper
• 1.5 tablespoons of cumin
• 1 tablespoon of Italian seasoning
• Cheese for topping

Directions

 

1. In a large pot brown your ground beef and add your onion powder, and garlic.
2. Once your meat is browned, add your water, crushed tomatoes, diced tomatoes, beans, chili powder, cayenne and cumin, and Italian Seasoning. Bring  mixture to a boil.
3. Once boiling reduce heat and simmer for 20-30 minutes (the longer the better).
4. Top with cheese, and enjoy!

Final Product

 

 

Crockpot Creamy Chicken Noodle Soup

It's about that time of year again, where the weather is getting cold AKA soup weather.  I really don't like brothy soups at all, they remind me of food you eat when your sick.  When I saw the recipe for creamy chicken noodle soup, I knew I had to try it.  This was SO DELCIOUS and hit the spot on such a cold day.  I think that next time I may double the recipe so I have enough to take with me for lunch.  If you like chicken noodle soup, but aren't in the mood for a lot of broth... here is your solution!
Recipe Adapted from:Six Sisters Stuff
Serving Size- about 6 cups
Prep time- 5 minutes
Cook time- 3-6 hours

Ingredients

• 2 10.75 oz. cans cream of chicken soup (or you can substitute one for cream of celery)
• 5 cups of 2% milk
• 2.5 cups of shredded chicken (I used an oven roasted rotisserie chicken)
• 1 bag of mixed frozen vegetables (mixture of green beans, corn, carrots and lima beans)
• 1 tablespoon of Season All
• 1 tablespoon of onion powder
• 2 cups of egg noodles

Directions

1. In your crockpot add your milk and cream of chicken soup.  Whisk well into everything is combined.
2. Add your chicken, vegetables, Season All, and onion powder.
3. Place your crockpot on high, and let cook for 3 hours (if using low, cook for 6 hours)
4. 30 minutes before soup is done, add your noodles and continue to cook.
5. Enjoy!

Final Product

Seasoned Baked Chicken Drumsticks

Here is another quick and easy dinner idea, and who doesn't love that?  As you saw from my previous post, I am  tight on money so this recipe was perfect.  I got about 10 large drumsticks for 6 dollars.  That left me with plenty of dinner, and left overs to take for lunch!

Prep time: 2 hours (or however long you want to marinate your chicken)
Cook time: 1 hour (or until chicken is nice and browned, and no longer pink inside)
Serving size- 4-5 people

Ingredients

• 7-10 chicken drumsticks (I had about 4.5 pounds)
• 3 tablespoons of minced garlic (it may seem like a lot, but it was perfect)
• 1 tablespoon of ground black pepper
• 1 tablespoon of Adoba seasoning
• 2 tablespoons of Onion powder
• 1 cup of lemon juice.
• 1 tablespoon of Dijon mustard

Directions

1. In a large bowl place your chicken, and add the remaining ingredients.
2. Let marinate for 2 hours (more or less, depending how much time you have)
3. Place chicken on a greased baking tray, and bake at 375 degrees for 30 minutes.
4. Turn your chicken, and bake for another 30 minutes (you may need to do cook more if the chicken is not cooked through.
5. Remove from oven, and sprinkle with a little lemon juice.
6. Enjoy!

Final Product

Pan Fried Cod With Fresh Herbs

I have started a new job, and living in a new place which equals NO money.  I had a bag of cod in the freezer, and I thought why not have cod for dinner.  I can be pretty picky with fish, and I don't really like the taste of fried cod (I think it has too much of an oily taste.)  This recipe was something I quick threw together, and it was delicious.  It had that nice crispness of being fried, but without the taste of oil.  This seriously was such a cheap an easy meal, I suggest it to anyone who only has 20 minutes to throw dinner together.
Prep time- 5 minutes
Cook time- 10 minutes
Serving size- This recipe was for just one person, so just adjust the recipe accordingly.

Ingredients

• 1 cod fillet
• 1/2 tablespoon of onion powder.
• 2 teaspoons of minced garlic (1 0r 2 fresh garlic cloves)
• 2 teaspoons of smoked paprika
• 2 teaspoons of Adoba seasoning (sounds weird, but trust me on this!)
• Flour (I would say about a tablespoon, just enough to cover lightly so the fish browns )
• 1 tablespoon of oil
• Fresh parsley for topping

Directions

1. Combine your onion powder, garlic, paprika and Adoba.
2. Place your fish in the seasoning mixture, and coat both sides.
3. Then sprinkle flour on your seasoned fillet ( you really don't need a lot of flour, just a dusting so the fillet gets brown)
4. Place your oil in a pan, let sit for about 3-5 minutes to warm.
5. Place your cod in pan, and let cook for 4 minutes per side.
6. Serve with fresh parsley on top.
7. Enjoy!

Final Product