Slow Cooker Garlic Chicken

I tried a new recipe this week.  It was a win after a few modifications.  I made slow cooker garlic chicken and paired it with couscous and green beans.  Green beans are our favorite vegetable around here.  This was the first time I tried couscous.  It wasn't too bad but a little goes a long way.  I also cooked it a little differently than the package directed.  I don't like my pasta or rice to bite back.  I found this recipe here, but I modified it quite a bit for our family needs and personal tastes.  I am including two recipes.  One is for the garlic chicken and one is for the couscous.

Slow Cooker Garlic Chicken 

Ingredients:
4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1-2 Tbsp. favorite cooking oil
1 medium onion
3 garlic cloves
2 tsp. dried thyme
3 cups chicken stock
1 cup flour
salt and pepper

Directions:
-In the bottom of the slow cooker, add oil, thyme, onion and garlic.  Take the chicken breasts and roll in the mixture at the bottom of the cooker.  Add salt and pepper.  Lay chicken in a layer in the bottom of the cooker.
-In a bowl, whisk/blend together chicken stock and flour.  Make sure to mix until smooth with no clumps.  Pour the mixture on top of the chicken in the slow cooker.  Cook on high for 4 hours or low for 8 hours.  We always shred our chicken up when it is done but you can keep it whole if you would like.


Couscous 

Ingredients:
1 cup dry couscous
2 cups water
salt

Directions:
Bring water and salt to a boil.  Add couscous to boiling water while constantly stirring.  This process will only take a couple of minutes and the couscous is done.  As soon as the water is soaked up, remove from heat.  Stir and fluff with a fork (much like rice) right before serving.


We made this into 4 meals but it was WAY too much and there was a lot of waste.  None of us could eat an entire serving.  Next time, I will be dividing it into 6-8 meals.  It is great leftover!

Green Bean Fries

During the summer, we spend a lot of time getting produce from the farmer's market.  We would love to grow our own but it just hasn't happened yet.  I have tried herbs and tomatoes but there are too many animals in my neighborhood that like to steal my good garden plants at night.  I am working on a way to put a cover on some garden beds.  One day, we will grow at least some of our own.  For now though, we buy and preserve during the summer.  I have posted before about canning green beans.  They are one of our favorite veggies.  We canned again this summer but my husband wanted to try some fried green beans.  His favorite Chinese restaurant has them.  We did and they turned out really good!  So I'll share.  We tried to convince the 5 year old to eat them by calling them green bean fries.  She didn't go for it.  One of these days...

Green Bean Fries

Ingredients: 
Fresh Green Beans (with the ends snapped off and rinsed)
Eggs
Flour Mix (we used the same one we use for our Fried Chicken)

Directions: 
Heat up oil for frying.  We use grapeseed oil and have a fryer.  Boil some water to blanch the beans.  Boil the beans for 2-3 minutes and immediately rinse in cold water to stop the cooking process.  Coat the beans in egg, then the flour mix.  Then repeat the coating process.  Double coating is key.  We did one coat first and it was okay, but two coats definitely made them crispier.  Then toss the beans in the fryer.  If you are able, you also get a crispier bean if you double fry by pulling the beans out and letting the oil heat back up and dipping them in for a second round of frying.  However, this must be done quick with the beans so you don't overcook them.  They cook much faster than potatoes or chicken.  When they are done, we always spread them out on a paper towel to soak up the excess oil.
We paired these with baked chicken and rice.  It was a really good meal.

Roasted Coconut Sweet Potatoes

This is a yummy veggie side dish and it warms up well when left over.  If you like sweet potato, you will love this.  I am always looking for some healthy vegetable side dishes.  My family is very picky when it comes to vegetables, although they are getting better.  I have also improved in my tastes for vegetables in the recent few years.  This is a dish I could eat regularly.  I hope it is one that my daughter will eventually like to eat as well.  L still doesn't eat a variety of foods since she got so sick two years ago but she seems to be interested again.  She actually touches the food and asks what it is rather than screaming and running away.  We are making progress in very small baby steps.

Ingredients:
2 Tbsp. coconut oil
2 lbs. (approximately) sweet potatoes, cut into 1 inch chunks
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. black pepper
1 tsp.  fresh squeezed lime juice or grated lime zest (optional but adds a nice zing)

Directions:
Preheat oven to 400*F.  After the sweet potatoes are cut into chunks, put them in a large bowl.  Melt the coconut oil in a small saucepan over medium heat.  Pour the melted coconut oil over the sweet potatoes in the bowl.  Sprinkle the salt and pepper.  Toss the contents of the bowl to evenly coat potatoes in coconut oil.  Spread the potatoes in a single layer on a large rimmed baking sheet.  Roast, stirring every 10-15 minutes for a total of 40 minutes or until tender all the way through the sweet potato chunks.  Toss with lime juice or zest, then serve.

I will come back and add pictures later.  I have many pictures but I am gradually catching up for now.

This recipe came from HERE.  I didn't alter it at all but I have cooked it different ways in different pans without any problems.  Sometimes you don't have enough pans to cook everything at the same time.

Rice

It seems silly to put a recipe for regular ol' rice on here but my group is very picky and I've finally perfected my method so that we can all eat rice.  So here is my method and recipe for the rest of you.  Maybe it will help some who also have to please picky eaters.

Ingredients:
1 cup rice (I prefer Basmati but this will work for any rice.  I've used several.)
1 Tbsp. onion powder
3 cups water
salt and pepper

Directions:
In an appropriate sized pot, stir together all ingredients and bring to a boil.  Reduce to a low boil/high simmer until most liquid is gone.  Serve.

Baked Potato Wedges

These were a big hit with the whole family.  They are baked, not fried.  But they don't get mushy and soggy like most baked fries.  The only oil they have is the oil drizzled to lightly coat the outside and grease the pan.

Ingredients:
Russet potatoes, peeled and cut lengthwise into evenly sized wedges
Olive oil
salt and pepper

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 450°F.  Peel and wedge potatoes. Place the potato wedges in a large mixing bowl and cover with hot, salted water.  Soak for 15-30 minutes.  Lightly grease the pan with oil to coat a rimmed baking sheet.  Sprinkle the pan with salt and pepper.
Drain the potatoes.  Spread them out onto paper towels or a clean dish towel.  Pat dry with other towels.  Dry the bowl which the potatoes were soaking in and put the dry potato wedges back in the bowl.  Drizzle with olive oil and use your hands to turn the potatoes so they are all lightly and evenly coated with the oil.  Spread out on the baking pan and sprinkle with salt and pepper.  Bake until golden brown, about 20-30 minutes, rotating the pan about halfway through.

I don't have a picture right now.  I forgot to take them in the excitement when everyone liked them.  :-)  I will try to remember to take pictures next time.

Cheesy Zucchini Rice

NOTE:  This is not corn-free as is since the cheese is in there.  I am working on this recipe.

As I have mentioned before, I have some picky eaters in my house.  L is actually pretty good about eating vegetables, but she is going through a phase where she refuses to try anything that looks different or is a bright or bold color.  This is a perfect way to neutralize the color and keep a smooth texture.  I think I will try this with other vegetables too.  I've used chopped up carrots in rice before and peas would be good too.  Spinach maybe?  Anyway, here is the recipe...

Ingredients:
1 cup uncooked rice
3 cups chicken broth (watch ingredients)
2 tablespoons butter (oil would work too, but use a little less)
1 medium or 2 small zucchini, grated (my blender pureed the zucchini so I will be grating it in the cheese grater from now on)
1 cup shredded sharp or mild cheddar
1 Tbsp. onion powder
salt and pepper, to taste
splash of milk, if needed (mine did not need this)

Instructions:
Pour the chicken broth and rice into a saucepan and bring to a boil.  Turn the heat down to a simmer.  Simmer, stirring regularly, for 15 - 20 minutes or until most of the liquid is absorbed. Remove from the heat and add the butter, grated zucchini, cheddar, and garlic powder. (Note:  If you are using carrots and prefer to have them tender to be similar in texture to the rice, put the carrot (if shredded or chopped) in the chicken broth with the rice.  You may need to add a little bit more broth) Stir until well incorporated. Cover and let sit for 5 minutes. Stir again and add onion powder and salt and pepper to taste. Add a splash of milk if you'd like to thin out the texture a little bit.

This recipe was modified from the recipe I found HERE.