There's nothing better than coming home to a homemade meal already fixed and waiting on you to enjoy. The crockpot. It's truly a God-send during the school year. I never really grew up eating too many crockpot meals because I was blessed enough to have a mom that stayed home. We had home cooked meals every night and we ate really well. I guess I just never really knew how handy a crockpot could be, until lately.
I love being able to cook for Ryan and myself, but there are some days that I just need a little break from the kitchen. These are the days that I whip out the crockpot and try out a new recipe. Thanks to Pinterest, I've been able to find some really tasty crockpot recipes to experiment with. And I have not been disappointed yet!
Last week I made Crockpot Honey Sesame Chicken that I found
here. It's seriously yummy! It had a good bit of flavor, so I opted to serve it over steamed rice and made some skillet Asian green beans.
Crockpot Honey Sesame Chicken:
serves approximately 4 people
- 2 1/2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts (thighs would be fine too)
- Salt and pepper
- 1 cup honey
- 1/2 cup soy sauce
- 4 tablespoons diced onion
- 4 tablespoons ketchup
- 2 tablespoon canola oil
- 2 clove garlic, minced
- 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes (optional)
- 4 teaspoons cornstarch dissolved in 6 Tablespoons water
- Sesame seeds
Season both sides of chicken with lightly with salt and pepper, put into crock pot. In a small bowl, combine honey, soy sauce, onion, ketchup, oil, garlic and pepper flakes. Pour over chicken. Cook on low for 3-4 hours or on high 1 1/2 – 2 1/2 hours, or just until chicken is cooked through. Remove chicken from crock pot, leave sauce. Dissolve 4 teaspoons of cornstarch in 6 tablespoons of water and pour into crock pot. Stir to combine with sauce. Replace lid and cook sauce on high for ten more minutes or until slightly thickened. Cut chicken into bite size pieces, then return to pot and toss with sauce before serving. Sprinkle with sesame seeds and serve over rice or noodles.
Asian Green Beans:
1 bag fresh whole green beans
Pam spray
About 1 1/2- 2 tsp. lite soy sauce
2 tsp. minced garlic
small handful of brown sugar
1/4 of a purple onion sliced
almonds
Spray skillet with Pam to coat bottom and edges. Add in green beans, soy sauce, garlic, brown sugar and onion. Mix all ingredients well and simmer on low for 10-15 minutes, tossing around occasionally. The green beans should soften a bit, but still need to have some "crunch" to them. About 5 minutes before serving, sprinkle almonds on top and mix well.
Enjoy!
