Crock Pot Pesto Chicken

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This might be the easiest recipe ever. It has only a handful of ingredients, most of which I can pull out of my freezer and pantry at any time. It can be made on the stove top, oven or in the crock pot. I have been so busy lately and this is one of those last minute recipe wonders that helps me keep my life together.

You will notice there are a list of necessary ingredients as well as a list of optional ingredients. This is because I use what I have on hand at the time, and what is in season. I have also added some random vegetables such as carrot, and squash with varying results. I suggest you experiment and find out what works best for your particular tastes.

Crock Pot Pesto Chicken

Necessary Ingredients

1 lb boneless skinless chicken breasts

2 tbs prepared Pesto

1 can cream of chicken soup

Prepared starch of choice

Optional Ingredients

1 large onion, chopped

1-2 cups of baby spinach

2 large tomatoes, deseeded and chopped

1 red pepper, chopped

For the Crock Pot

Place all necessary ingredients in a large crock pot. At this time also add onion, and red pepper if desired. Cook on low for 8 hours or high for 4 hours. Once it is cooked use a fork to pull chicken apart, and stir in spinach. Turn the crock pot on high for an additional few minutes until the spinach wilts. Serve over prepared rice or pasta and top with tomato.

For the Oven

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place all necessary ingredients in a large baking pan. At this time also add onion, and red pepper if desired. Place in the oven for roughly 45 minutes, or until the chicken juices run clear. Once it is cooked use a fork to pull chicken apart, and stir in spinach. Place back in the oven at 425 for about 10 minutes, or until the spinach wilts. Serve over prepared rice or pasta and top with tomato.

For the Stove Top

Cut the chicken into 1-2 inch pieces. Heat 1 tbsp of oil in a large skillet over medium heat and sauté onion and chicken until the onion has softened and the chicken has become opaque (10 minutes or so). Add in the red pepper, pesto, and condensed chicken soup, cook for 5 minutes or so, stirring continuously. Next add the spinach and allow it to wilt 1-2 minutes. Serve warm over starch of your choice and topped with tomato.

See how versatile?

Beef and Broccoli Stew

By Jessica

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Ok there are about a million different version of this one out there but this particular one is all my own, though I did take inspiration from Bon Apetit. I had a leftover pot roast that I made in the crock pot last week with some canned French onion soup; now before you berate me for the use of canned soup listen up. It’s delicious and so darn easy, sometimes we all need an easy recipe, and please check out the label it’s not all THAT bad. In this particular case, I made a little gravy with the drippings and roasted cauliflower and a side salad to complete the meal. So there!

Now the recipe I am sharing with you today is based on having a leftover pot-roast around, if you happen to not have one stew meat, and beef broth are easy substitutes for the drippings, and roast. Also if you would like to make it a clean meal you can use lean sirloin, cut into 1-2 inch pieces, and egg whites, with olive oil for the emulsion.

Beef & Broccoli Stew

2 tbs olive oil

2 large onions, sliced thin

1 large carrot, peeled & chopped

3 cloves garlic, chopped

1 tsp rosemary

1 tsp thyme

1 bay leaf

1 tbs flour

1 cup red cooking wine

1 leftover Pot roast (or 1.5 lbs stew meat)

½-1 cup drippings from pot roast

3 cups beef broth, low sodium

In a thick bottomed sauce pan heat oil over medium-high heat. Add onions, carrots, rosemary, thyme, and bay leaf. Cook stirring often until the onions have begun to caramelize about 10 minutes. Stir in flour until well blended. Add wine, scraping the bottom of the pan to incorporate browned bits. Bring to a simmer and allow the wine to reduce by half. Add the beef, drippings and broth, continue to cook at a simmer until the liquid has reduced, and the broth thickened. 15-20 minutes. Meanwhile bring a pot of water to a boil. Add broccoli and cook until crisp-tender (about 4 minutes) then remove drain, and rinse with cold water to stop the cooking process. Serve the stew hot in bowls with broccoli on top.

Garlic Emulsion

2 large hardboiled eggs, Peeled

2 garlic cloves

3 tbs lemon juice

pinch of salt

1/4 cup vegetable oil

Combine eggs, garlic, lemon juice, and salt in a blender. While blending slowly add the oil in, until a creamy sauce forms. Adjust seasonings and serve.

Beware: The garlic emulsion is garlicky! I would only add a dollop to the stew, and I like it better once it’s well mixed in. It could be because I used way less oil in the emulsion than the regular recipe called. The stew itself is dreamy and having some broccoli at the end to scoop up the bots of stew in the bowl is pretty awesome as well.

Lemon Oregano Chicken and Green Beans

By Jessica

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Today I want to share a recipe that I have made a few times. It is delicious! As well as a wonderful recipe to dress up a cheaper cut of meat. Now the original recipe called for boneless chicken thighs but after making it a few times I have altered it for bone-in thighs because let’s be honest that’s what usually on sale, and we all like it when we can use things that are on sale.

Another huge alteration is that I added some green beans to the mix. As you may know I am trying to add more vegetables to our diets, I am trying to make them the superstar of our meals, as opposed to the meat, and well though there isn’t much for vegetables in this one it’s certainly a start.

Lemon Oregano Chicken & Green Beans

1 lemon, sliced thin (discard seeds)

4 Large skin-on, boneless chicken thighs (for bon in us (x) cooking times)

Salt & pepper to taste

1 tbs olive oil

3 sprigs of oregano

1 minced shallot

1/8 tsp crushed red pepper flakes

1/4 cup dry white wine

1/2 cup low-sodium chicken broth

Preheat oven to 425°. Season chicken thighs with salt and pepper. Heat oil in a nonstick, oven safe skillet. Place the chicken skin side down and cook through, pouring off excess fat. Allow the skin to brown, for roughly 10 minutes (15-20 minutes). Scatter half the lemon slices over the chicken and the other half on the bottom of the skillet and place in the oven, roasting until the skin is crisp and slices in the skillet have caramelized, 5-8 minutes (10-15 minutes). Remove the chicken to a plate, skin side up (to keep it crispy), as well as the lemon from the skillet, leaving the slices on top of the chicken in the pan. Over medium heat add oregano, shallot and red pepper flakes. Cook until the shallot begins to soften and the mixture smells fragrant, about 1 minute. Add the green beans and toss. Add in the wind and continue to cook until it has reduced by half, 2-3 minutes. Next add in the broth and cook until thickened, about 3 minutes. Adjust the seasonings and return the chicken (skin side up) and lemons to the skillet to rewarm. Serve with sauce from the pan drizzled on top.

I suggest making a mellow side dish of pasta, without much fuss on it, maybe just some parmesan cheese, because the sauce from this dish is so good you will want to dowse your whole plate in it. The super crispy skin and crisp green beans add a dimension of crunch and taste that marries so well together you will think you’ve died and gone to heaven, at least that’s how I feel about it. Every time I make this I feel as though I’m eating at a restaurant. And leftovers the next day are just as good, though you may lose some crispiness on the skin, the sauce has had time to really soak in and it’s downright dreamy. Can you tell how much I like this recipe?

On a side note I am thinking of doing a giveaway soon. Any ideas?

Reasons I Eat Clean

By Jessica

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Source (Great article)

I know this may seem silly to some, but I often get berated because of my eating habits, mostly the fact that I don’t eat cake, so I thought it was time to give a little discussion on why I choose to eat a mostly clean diet (I say mostly because I have another post coming that explains the reasons I cheat on my diet also). I started out making a list of the reason I eat clean, but quickly realized that I could bunch them together in tiers of Immediate, semi-immediate, and long-term, this is also pretty much ranked by importance for me.

The main reasons I eat clean are because of how it makes me feel. I like the way my body and mind function on a clean diet; I feel alive, healthy and strong. When I overeat or eat a lot of carbs in one meal I feel fat and sluggish. Overly greasy food, or food with little nutritional value makes me actually feel greasy, my face, and hair mostly, I also tend to have an upswing in zits when I eat a lot of it, such as around the holidays. Keeping a clean lifestyle makes it easier for me to say no to sweets since I simply don’t crave them anymore. If I am going to waste some of the day’s calories on sweets it had better be the most decadent, amazing thing available, or I better have been craving it for a month. That’s right a month. I do not give in to my bad cravings (except for maybe wine) unless I have wanted them for a long time, cravings usually pass, or give way for something else, which means I don’t really need it.

The next set of reasons is semi-immediate health concerns; I am anemic, and I get awful migraines. Lean red meat, egg yolks, and green leafy vegetables are all very high in iron. I know there is some debate about the yolks part, but I don’t skimp on my yolks, I eat lots of spinach, and am always trying to add a salad to every meal, and who doesn’t love a good juicy steak? A lot of sea food is high in iron as well, such as clams, mollusks and scallops. Like you need another excuse to eat seafood! I noticed that I often get headaches if I am dehydrated and then they often turn into migraines, so I am always sure to drink a lot of water, and eat citrus fruits, I don’t know what it is about them but if I don’t have something citrus for a few days I always get a headache.

The final set of reasons is long-term health, obesity, heart disease and diabetes runs in my family. Most of these are diet related, and can be avoided, or at least curbed with proper diet and exercise. I have seen the struggle of my parents and grandparents and I do not want to face the same reality.

The last reason doesn’t really have a category, but is the single most important reason as to why I eat clean. I have pride in myself, my body, and my capabilities. I never want to have to ask for help with any physical activity. I want to be able to wear whatever I want and feel confident. I know this is vain, prideful, sinful maybe, but it’s the truth.

There are a million other reasons to eat clean. These are just mine. What are yours?

Blue Cheese Stuffed Steak

By Jessica

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Ok so this is one of those recipes’ that you will hold on to forever, not only is it easy, and clean, but it’s also MAN APPROVED! Does it get much better? Oh yeah it’s also fairly cheap. There are only two non-pantry items to buy so even though you’re cooking steak, if you make sides of salad and a baked potato, or simple pasta, you still have a full meal for less than $6 a person. I love it, oh do I love it.

I think what I like best about it is that it looks complicated, taste’s decadent, and is totally easy! You would never know.

Blue Cheese Stuffed Steak

1 lb sirloin steak, cut in half

1 tbs worchestshire sauce

1 tbs balsamic vinegar

½ tsp Pepper

3 oz Blue Cheese Crumbles

1 tbs oil

Combine worchestshire sauce, balsamic vinegar, and pepper in a plastic bag. Place steak in the bag shaking the cover the steak. Allow it to marinate for at least 30 minutes, or overnight. Remove the steak from the bag and cut the Steak in Half, then carefully cut a slit in the middle of the steak to make a kind of pocket. Be sure to take care and not poke out the sides or you will have cheese oozing out while cooking. With one hand hold open the steak pocket and stuff it with half the cheese, do the same for the other piece until they are full. Heat oil in a cast iron skillet and place steaks in to sear. Cook each side for roughly 5 minutes or until desired doneness, take care while flipping that you don’t lose all of the stuffing. Let stand another 5 minutes before serving. (serves 2)

Crock Pot Pesto Chicken

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