Zesty Slow Cooker Chicken Barbecue

Super easy recipe with hardly any prep!! I discovered this recipe when we were going to an impromptu cookout and I didn't have anything to make! I googled to see what I could make with frozen chicken breast and this did not disappoint! I have added this to our meal rotation to change up the pulled pork.

Zesty Slow Cooker Chicken Barbecue
adapted from:All Recipes

Ingredients
6 frozen skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
1 12 oz bottle BBQ sauce
1/2 cup Italian salad dressing
1/4 cup brown sugar
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce

Directions
In slow cooker, mix the barbecue sauce, Italian salad dressing, brown sugar, and Worcestershire sauce. Add chicken and stir around a bit.
Cover, and cook 3 to 4 hours on High or 6 to 8 hours on Low.

Crockpot Brown Sugar Balsamic Glazed Pork Tenderloin

I'm trying to use my crockpot more (and not just for beef stew/pulled pork) and this has been so popular in my house! I've made it 3 times and it is still requested! I serve it with roasted veggies and white rice or buttered noodles! I doubled the sauce and then stored the extra in the fridge for the next time. I will say we are a bunch of big eaters, this recipe says it should serve 6 but we find 4 servings and then still have room for dessert.

Crockpot Brown Sugar Balsamic Glazed Pork Tenderloin
Adapted from: Food52

Serves 3- 4

1 teaspoon Italian seasoning or poultry seasoning or sage
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 cup water
2 pounds pork tenderloin
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
1/2 cup water
2 tablespoons soy sauce

• Mix together the seasonings : sage, salt, pepper and garlic, and rub over the tenderloin.
• Place 1/2 cup water in slow cooker, followed by the tenderloin, and cook on low for 6 to 8 hours.
• 1 hour before the roast is finished, mix together the ingredients for the glaze in a small saucepan : brown sugar, cornstarch, balsamic vinegar, water, and soy sauce.
• Heat over medium and stir until mixture thickens, about 4 minutes.
• Brush roast with glaze 2 or 3 times during the last hour of cooking. (For a more caramelized crust, remove from crock pot and place on aluminum lined sheet pan, glaze, and set under broiler for 1 to 2 minutes, until bubbly and caramelized. Repeat 2 to 3 more times until desired crust is achieved.)
• Serve with remaining glaze on the side

BBQ Chicken

Catching up on some posts with this snowy snowy weather!!

BBQ  was a crowd pleasing surprise! I baked the chicken in the oven as we are having a big snow storm but the kids asked for me to make it again! Yay! I couldn't find my brine recipe I used over the summer so I made this one up. When you brine chicken it will keep it more moist especially when it needs to cook for a while, this made such a difference!

Normally I'm all about my silpat mat, but for this it didn't work as planned and I'd recommend using tin foil to line your cookie sheet instead.

I served this with our other family favorites: White Rice and Oven Roasted Broccoli!

BBQ Chicken
Brine
2 tbsp brown sugar
1 cup apple juice
1 cup warm water
2 tsp salt
2 tsp soy sauce

4 Chicken breasts, cleaned and butterflied
BBQ Sauce

Combine all the ingredients for the brine. Soak the chicken for 2-4 hours. I let the chicken defrost while it soaked in the brine.

Grill Directions
Preheat grill on high
Remove chicken from brine and shake to remove some of the water.

Oven Directions
Preheat oven 400F.
Remove chicken from brine and shake to remove some of the water.
Place chicken on foil lined cookie sheet.
Bake 15 minutes.
Remove from oven, cover in bbq sauce, bake 7 more minutes.
Remove from oven, flip, cover in bbq sauce, bake 7 more minutes
Continue until chicken is cooked thru
When chicken is cooked, one file time... flip, cover in bbq sauce, broil on high for about 5 minutes.

M&M Cookies

I ran out of M&M's so I used some chocolate chips too. These are so yummy! One of the kids told me, "These are the best things we have made!" 

If you double the recipe use 3 sticks of butter. If you half the recipe, continue to use the full egg.

When creaming the butter and sugar continue to cream until there are no visible butter chunks.

To ensure the cookies look similar and stay poofy - refrigerate the dough for 1-2 hours or over night! It isn't necessary but does make them look better.

Red’s Ultimate M&M's Cookie
Adapted from So Tasty So Yummy

makes 4 dozen

1 cup butter, softened
½ cup granulated sugar
½ cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon baking soda
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 12-ounce package M&Ms, approx 2 cups

Preheat oven to 350°F. In large bowl, cream butter and sugars until light and fluffy. Beat in egg and vanilla.

In medium bowl, combine flour, baking soda and salt; blend into butter and sugar mixture. Stir in M&Ms. Drop dough by heaping teaspoonfuls 2 inches apart onto ungreased cookie sheets.

Bake 10 to 13 minutes or until edges are lightly browned and centers are still soft. Cool 1 minute and place on wire racks to cool completely. Store in airtight container.

Slow Cooker Orange Chicken

Very flavorful! I did not brown the chicken prior to putting into the slow cooker because I was worried that it would over cook. Would I make this again? Maybe. If I did - I would prepare it differently. I didn't think the slow cooker aspect was necessary. As the slow cooker only needs 4 hours (at a maximum), it is tough to start when you would normally be at work.

If I was trying to save time, next time, I would make the sauce the night before and clean and cut the chicken up. Then that evening I would fry/brown/crisp the chicken while the rice was cooking.

But the flavors were great and we did finish it off quickly!

Slow Cooker Orange Chicken
Adapted from The Recipe Critic
Serves 4

3-4 boneless chicken breasts, chopped into small pieces (approx 2 pounds)
3 tablespoons cornstarch
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 teaspoon rice wine vinegar
2 tablespoons soy sauce
½ teaspoon sesame oil
¾ cup orange marmalade
2 tablespoon brown sugar
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon ginger

1 teaspoon garlic
pinch of pepper
Sesame seeds (optional)
Scallion, sliced (optional)

1. In the crock pot bowl mix the rice wine vinegar, soy sauce, sesame oil, marmalade, brown sugar, salt and pepper. 
2. In a ziplock bag, add the cornstarch and chicken. Shake to coat. 
3. Add chicken to the crock pot OR Pour vegetable oil in the skillet and brown the sides of the covered chicken. The chicken doesn't need to be fully cooked since it is going in the crockpot.
4. Add chicken into crockpot with the sauce mixture. 
5. Stir.
6. Cook on low 4-5 hours or high 2-3 hours.
7. To serve, sprinkle with sliced scallion and a handful of sesame seeds!

Gingerbread Cookies

Super easy! I made the dough the night before and refrigerated the dough overnight. Leave the butter and egg on the counter for 1-2 hours so it is at room temperature. The butter will cream better if it is on the warmer side. 

When cutting out the cookies keep the other portion of dough in the fridge. Instead of re-rolling the scraps right away, use the chilled dough and put the scraps into the fridge. Alternate until the dough is all used up. 

We made cats, mice, and men! The icing recipe is the one I used with the sugar cookies. This takes food coloring very easily and hardens quickly. I used the recipe without the almond extract and did not add any coloring. Once the icing is dry the cookies are able to be stacked. 

We are looking forward to making these around the holidays!

Gingerbread Cookies

Adapted from Wegmans Recipes

Makes 3-4 dozen (depends on cookie cutter size)

2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
1 cup packed light brown sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1 large egg, room temperature
1/3 cup molasses
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp ground cinnamon
2 tsp ground ginger
1/4 - 1/2 tsp ground cloves
3 cups all-purpose flour

Icing from Sugar Cookie recipe

In a stand mixer add butter, brown sugar, and salt to mixer bowl. Cream on medium speed until combined and lightened, scraping bowl and paddle as needed.

Add egg; mix to combine. Add molasses; mix to combine. Turn off mixer.

Sift together baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, ground cloves, and flour into separate bowl. Add dry ingredients to molasses mixture. Mix on low just until combined.

Separate dough in half and form each half into a disk. Wrap each in plastic wrap. Refrigerate at least 3 hours or overnight.

*****

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Using rolling pin, roll out one disk of dough on lightly floured surface to a circle about 1/4-inch thick.

Cut out cookies. Transfer to parchment paper-lined baking sheet, spacing about 1/2-inch apart.

Bake one sheet at a time on center rack of oven 12-14 min, or until cookies are firm but not dry. Cool for 2 min and remove from baking sheet.

*****

Chef Tip from Wegmans:

To control the thickness of any rolled-out cookie dough, use rubber rolling pin rings or roll it between two thin strips of wood or Plexiglas (1/4-inch thick). They will help ensure even thickness of the final product.

Incorporate some of the "scrap" dough into the next piece of dough to be rolled out. This way, you won't be left with only scrap dough when finished.

Turn the sheet pan around halfway through the baking process to ensure even baking of the final product.

Set the timer for about half the time recommended, especially with new recipes. This lets you fine-tune the baking time without fear of over-baking the cookies.

For a crispier cookie, bake additional 2-4 minutes. 

BBQ Ribs

Ribs were on sale at the market so I figured - Why not?! For $15 bucks we had a great meal for two and we know it would have been a lot more if we had them at a restaurant!

The only tricky part was removing the membrane. If this is your first time making these I recommend watching some YouTube videos. I did marinate the ribs overnight in the fridge.

These were amazing! The meat fell so cleanly off the bones and the rub was a perfect mix of sweet and spicy.

BBQ Ribs

Adapted from Chowhound
Makes: 4 to 6 servings

3 tablespoons kosher salt
2 tablespoons chili powder
2 tablespoons brown sugar
2 tablespoons paprika
1 tablespoon garlic powder
2 teaspoons ground mustard
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 full racks ribs (about 5 to 6 pounds)
Favorite BBQ Sauce (I used Sweet Baby Rays)

• Place all of the ingredients except the ribs and BBQ sauce in a medium bowl and stir to combine; set aside.
• Pat the ribs dry with paper towels. Remove the thin membrane attached to the underside of the ribs by doing the following: Flip the ribs over so they’re bone-side up.
• Starting at the end of 1 rack, slide the tip of a paring knife between the membrane and the bone, then lift and cut through the membrane. Grasping the membrane with a paper towel, pull it toward the other end of the rack and completely remove it. Repeat with the second rack.
• Place each rack on tin foil.
• Evenly coat both sides of the ribs with the spice rub. Pull the foil up and over each set of ribs to create 2 completely enclosed packets.
• Place the packets side by side on a rimmed baking sheet. Cover the baking sheet tightly with the remaining 2 pieces of foil. (At this point, you can roast the ribs immediately, but for the best flavor and texture, refrigerate them for up to 24 hours.)
• Heat the oven to 325°F and arrange a rack in the middle. (If you rubbed the ribs in advance, remove them from the refrigerator and set aside at room temperature while the oven is heating, at least 20 minutes.)
• Place the ribs in the oven and roast until fork-tender, about 2 hours. Remove ribs from tin foil and place under the broiler until the sauce caramelizes about 5 minutes. 

Brown Butter Toffee Chocolate Chunk Cookies

This takes a bit more effort but based on everyone's responses it was worth it! These are soft, chewy, salty, sweet, chocolate-y, and actually pretty good! 

I think these cookies would be better larger rather than my normal small bite size cookies if only because it was more difficult to sprinkle the salt. 

Keep your eyes on the browning butter. It is similar to making caramel where nothing happens and then it happens all at once! 

And you do need to wait a couple minutes before removing the cookies from the baking sheet otherwise they will become awkward oval shapes and you'll have to eat them because they are funny looking :)

Brown Butter Toffee Chocolate Chunk Cookies
Adapted from Two Peas and Their PodYield: 32 cookies

1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg
1 large egg yolk
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon cornstarch (if you don't have any use an extra tablespoon of flour)
1 teaspoon sea salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup chocolate chunks or chocolate chips (milk or dark)
1/2 cup chopped Heath  or Skor or toffee candy bars
Coarse sea salt, to sprinkle on top

Place 1 stick of butter in a medium skillet. Melt the butter over medium heat, swirling it in the pan occasionally. The butter will foam and pop. Continue to swirl the pan often. Remove pan from heat once the butter starts to brown and smells nutty. There will be small brown bits on the bottom. The butter should be an amber color. Pour butter into a small bowl and cool to room temperature, about 20 minutes.

While the brown butter is cooling, in the bowl of a stand mixer, combine the remaining 1/2 cup butter with dark brown sugar and granulated sugar. Beat until creamy and smooth, about 3-4 minutes. Add the cooled brown butter and mix until smooth.

Add the egg, egg yolk, and vanilla and mix until combined.

In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, cornstarch, salt, and baking soda. Gradually mix in the flour on low speed until just combined. Stir in the chocolate chunks and toffee chunks.

Chill dough for at least 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line two baking sheets with Silpat baking mats and set aside.

Remove dough from fridge and form into 2 tablespoon sized cookie dough balls. Place on prepared baking sheets, about 2 inches apart. Sprinkle with sea salt.

Bake cookies for 10 minutes or until slightly brown around the edges. Remove from oven and allow the cookies to cool on the baking sheet for 2-3 minutes. Transfer to a wire cooling rack and cool completely. Store cookies in an air-tight container for 2-3 days. These cookies also freeze well.

Peanut Butter Cookies

Cookie time! I made this recipe with some homemade peanut butter. But other then that it is a very basic cookie dough and most people will have all the ingredients on hand.

I used a small cookie scoop so these cookies are all bite sized. I'm not sure why but I almost always make cookies that are small. But between the size and the sticky dough, the criss cross pattern was not meant to be. The recipe recommended rolling the cookies in granulated white sugar then doing the criss cross. If I did that, I would have reduced the white sugar in the cookies to 3/4 cup. But rolling the cookie in the sugar would have prevented the fork from sticking. Another thought that I think could have helped was if the cookies were larger and the fork was floured or buttered. 

Long story short, instead of making the fork prints - I gently pressed them flat with my fingers. That means I touched EVERY COOKIE! Touch it you take it, right?

Since I didn't want to wait 3 hours to chill the dough so I put it in the freezer for 30 minutes then popped it in the fridge for another 15 while I waited for the oven to free up. Yes, I would love to have double ovens in my kitchen!

What was interesting was the difference in the cookies with chilled batter vs not chilled batter. In this picture the top left is the 1st sheet from the fridge, top left is the 1st sheet without the criss-cross, bottom left is the 2nd round of cookies. Then I put the dough in the fridge between the 3rd and 4th cookie. Taste didn't change but the look certainly varied.

Regardless, these cookies didn't spread very much and I was able to fit 20 cookies on a regular sized cookie sheet.

The recipe said they would look kind of underdone when I take them off the sheet so I probably overcooked them, but we all thought they were great! I cooked them for 12 minutes.

The recipe below is adapted from Sally’s Baking Addiction. The site says that the cookies will store at room temperature for up to one week and that the baked cookies or dough will freeze for up to 3 months.

Peanut Butter Cookies
Makes 80 small cookies

1 cup unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
1 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup light brown sugar
2 large eggs, room temperature preferred
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup creamy peanut butter
3 cups + 2 tbsp all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt

Using a stand mixer with paddle attachment, cream the butter and sugars until smooth. Add the egg and mix on high until combined, about 1 minute. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl as needed. Add the vanilla and peanut butter and mix on high until combined. Set aside.

In a separate bowl, toss the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt together. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix on low until combined. Dough will be thick, yet very sticky. Cover dough tightly and chill for at least 3 hours in the refrigerator.

Preheat oven to 350F degrees. Line two large baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats.

Press fork into the tops to create the criss-cross pattern. Bake for 12 minutes or until very lightly browned on the sides. The centers will look very soft and undone. The cookies will continue to "set" on the baking sheet during this time.

Spicy Cashew Stir Fry (Chicken, Tofu, or Tempeh)

Basic stir fry and not as spicy as I had hoped. Stir fry is a great way to use up lots of left over ingredients and will also cook really fast.

Next time I would include extra spice such as a Thai chili pepper. I also marinated tempeh in soy sauce while I was chopping the veggies. I put the Tempeh in the frying pan with the last 5-10 minutes to heat up and cook through. Firm tofu would have also been a good substitute as well.

Spicy Cashew Stir Fry
Serves 4

2 chicken breasts, cut into bite-sized pieces (or diced Tempeh or Tofu)
4 Tablespoons soy sauce, divided

Chili Garlic Sauce

black pepper
2/3 cup fat-free, reduced sodium chicken broth
2 Tablespoons brown sugar
1 1/2 Tablespoons Thai chili garlic sauce
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 Tablespoons canola oil, divided
1 stalk celery, sliced thinly on the bias
1 large carrot, sliced thinly on the bias
2 cups broccoli florets
1 1/2 cups snap peas (or snow peas)
1/2 onion, thinly sliced
1/2 cup sliced water chestnuts
1/2 cup chopped canned baby corn
3/4 cup cashews
1 cup uncooked long grain white rice, (click here for no fail white rice, or use a rice cooker and follow those directions)

Toss together chicken (or tofu or tempeh), 1 Tablespoon soy sauce, plus a couple grinds of black pepper in a bowl then set aside. In a separate bowl, combine remaining soy sauce, broth, brown sugar, Thai chili garlic sauce, and garlic. Microwave for 20 seconds in the microwave, then stir and set aside.

Heat 1 Tablespoon oil in a frying pan over high heat. If using chicken...Add the chicken and cook until no longer pink on the outside, about 2-3 minutes. Otherwise, add celery, carrot, broccoli, snow peas, onion, and remaining oil if needed, then stir fry for 5-6 minutes or until vegetables are crisp-tender.

Add water chestnuts and baby corn (and tofu or tempeh if  using), then stir to combine.

Add the sauce and cashews to the the pan for a couple minutes. Serve over cooked white rice.

Apple Cinnamon French Toast

Looking for a quick dinner? Or breakfast? This french toast was so easy to create!

I used Trader Joe's Multigrain Country Bread which I don't really care for for sandwiches since it is a little on the drier side. BUT this was perfect for this eggy french toast! I'm not a fan of syrup so I wanted to make a fruit topping (last time I used raspberry jelly, delish!). There were apples waiting to be used to this would be perfect! The topping is based around an apple pie filling. You could also add apple pie spice or nutmeg if you wanted.

Next time I would use half the amount of yolks (ie 2 eggs, but separate one egg from the yolk) to see if it would change the texture while making it a little healthier.

Naked French Toast

Topped with Apples and Cinnamon

A lil dollop of jelly

French Toast

The general rule of thumb is 1 egg per slice of bread. For 6 eggs (6 slices of bread) I used about 1 tsp cinnamon and vanilla, 1/4 cup of water.

In bowl (or a 9x9 baking dish) scramble the eggs, cinnamon, vanilla, and a splash of water (or milk). Dip bread slices in egg batter and let the egg get a bit absorbed (about a minute). Heat frying pan over medium, cook until brown on one side (approx 3-5 minutes), then flip and cook the other side.

Apple Cinnamon Topping
Tops 6 slices of french toast

1/2 tbsp butter
1 tsp brown sugar, packed
1 tsp (ish) cinnamon
a splash of water (2 tbsp?)
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
1 medium apple, small dice, I didn't peel it

Heat skillet over medium. Melt butter, brown sugar, and cinnamon. Add the apple and walnuts and stir until coated. I wanted a little "sauce" so I added a splash of water. Cook until apples are starting to soften and a sauce is starting to form.