Sweet Hawaiian Crockpot Chicken

Ready in 45 minutes

From Gail on Facebook

"I read the reviews and edited the recipe to my taste. I cut the chicken into chunks then fried it first. I added it to the crockpot with the can of pineapple chunks, a little more soy sauce and brown sugar. The flour from the fried chicken ended up making the sauce thicker. My family enjoyed the recipe. 

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- graysfarms  (1)

•     Ingredients

1 cup Pineapple Juice

1/2 cup Brown Sugar

1/3 cup Light Soy Sauce

2 lbs Chicken tenderloins

Original recipe makes 4 Servings

Sweet Hawaiian Crockpot Chicken Preparation

Turn crockpot onto Low

Add all ingredients to crockpot and mix together.

Cook on low 6-8 hours.

It will start to fall apart when done.

Hershey's Bar Cheesecake

Cheesecake Layer:

2 (8-ounce) packages cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup sugar
3 eggs
1/4 cup sour cream
1 tsp vanilla extract
4 oz. chopped Hershey chocolate bar, melted

Chocolate Cake:

2 c. sugar
1-3/4 c.  all-purpose flour
3/4 c. HERSHEY’S Cocoa
1-1/2 tsp. baking powder
1-1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
2 eggs
1 cup milk
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup boiling water

Chocolate Frosting:

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter
2/3 cup HERSHEY’S Cocoa
3 cups powdered sugar
1/3 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 cups Hershey’s Milk Chocolate Chips

To prepare the cheesecake:

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Line a 10-inch round baking pan with aluminum foil. Let the edges of foil extend over sides of pan and then spray the foil with non-stick cooking spray.

In large bowl, beat cream cheese, sugar and vanilla extract at medium speed with an electric mixer until creamy and smooth. Whisk eggs in a bowl; add to cream cheese mixture. Blend just until eggs are incorporated. Stir in sour cream and melted chocolate.

Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake for 45 minutes, or until the top just starts to turn golden.

Let the cheesecake cool completely in its pan on a wire rack then cover and chill for 4 hours.

To prepare the chocolate cake:

Heat oven to 350°F. Grease and flour two 10-inch round baking pans.

Stir together sugar, flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt in large bowl. Add eggs, milk, oil and vanilla; beat on medium speed of mixer 2 minutes. Stir in boiling water (batter will be thin). Pour batter into prepared pans.

Bake 30 to 35 minutes or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes; remove from pans to wire racks. Cool completely.

To prepare the chocolate frosting:

Melt butter. Stir in cocoa.

Alternately add powdered sugar and milk, beating to spreading consistency.

Add small amount additional milk, if needed. Stir in vanilla.

To assemble:

Spread a layer of frosting on top of one chocolate cake.

Using edges of foil as handles, remove cheesecake from pan and peel away foil.  Carefully layer the cheesecake on top of the frosted cake.  If the cheesecake becomes hard to work with, you can place in the freezer for 20-30 minutes.

Spread some chocolate frosting on top of the cheesecake layer.

Place second chocolate cake on top and ice with frosting on top and on all sides. Decorate the sides of the cake with Hershey’s chocolate chips.

Makes 1 (10-inch) cheesecake.

Tomato Basil Parmesan Soup

Recipe: Tomato Basil Parmesan Soup

Saturday was a snowy, icy, and cold day so therefore a perfect day to try out a soup recipe that I've been dying to make for myself. This recipe is from my new favorite cooking website 365 Days of Slow Cooking and it was absolutely delicious paired with freshly-made whole wheat bread from Harris Teeter.

INGREDIENTS

2 (14 oz) cans diced tomatoes, with juice
1 cup finely diced celery
1 cup finely diced carrots
1 cup finely diced onions
1 tsp dried oregano or 1 T fresh oregano
1 T dried basil or 1/4 cup fresh basil
4 cups chicken broth
½ bay leaf
½ cup flour
1 cup Parmesan cheese
½ cup butter
2 cups half and half, warmed (I would go with only a cup and a half though)
1 tsp salt
¼ tsp black pepper

DIRECTIONS

1. Add tomatoes, celery, carrots, chicken broth, onions, oregano, basil, and bay leaf to a large slow cooker.

2. Cover and cook on LOW for 5-7 hours, until flavors are blended and vegetables are soft.

3. About 30 minutes before serving prepare a roux. Melt butter over low heat in a skillet and add flour. Stir constantly with a whisk for 5-7 minutes. Slowly stir in 1 cup hot soup. Add another 3 cups and stir until smooth. Add all back into the slow cooker. Stir and add the Parmesan cheese, warmed half and half, salt and pepper. Add additional basil and oregano if needed (the slow cooker does a number on spices and they get bland over time, so don't be afraid to always season to taste at the end). 

Chicken Parmesan Baked Pasta

Shane and I have both resolved to start eating a little healthier recently. We’re only about two months late to jump on that bandwagon, right? For me, I think it’s a seasonal thing as much as anything. I crave rich, hearty comfort food when it’s cold during the winter months, but as spring and warmer weather (hopefully) approaches, I’m ready to lighten the menu up a bit. So don’t be surprised if you start seeing some healthier recipes popping up from time to time around here. No worries, there will still be plenty of baked goods too – we already give most of those away to family and friends anyway!

Don’t you love how I talk about healthier eating and then present you with another comfort food meal?  This is a good one, and while it’s likely to become more of an occasional splurge around here, it’s definitely worth it!

This chicken parmesan baked pasta is a quick and easy skillet dinner, pretty much my favorite kind of meal. There’s nothing better than finishing dinner and only having to wash one pan! It has all the components you’d expect from traditional chicken parm so you won’t feel like you’re missing out on anything. That said, I did substitute boneless, skinless chicken in place of the breaded chicken called for by the recipe. We didn’t miss the breading, but by all means, use chicken tenders instead if you think you would. This makes a lot of food, so if you’re a family of two like us, you’re definitely going to have leftovers.

Chicken Parmesan Baked Pasta
adapted from Pasta Revolution by America’s Test Kitchen via Pink Parsley

1 (28 oz) can whole peeled tomatoes
1 tablespoon olive oil
6 garlic cloves, minced
1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
1/8 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
2 cups water
1 – 1 1/2 cups low-sodium chicken broth
12 oz pasta (I used shells)
2 oz (about 1 cup) grated Parmesan cheese, divided
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
4 oz (about 1 cup) shredded mozzarella cheese
1 lb boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cooked and cut into bite-sized pieces
2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil

Preheat the oven to 475 F.

Add the tomatoes to the bowl of your food processor and pulse until coarsely chopped, about 10 pulses. Set an oven-safe 12-inch skillet over medium-high heat. Add the oil, garlic, oregano, red pepper flakes, and salt and cook just until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add the chopped tomatoes, the water, 1 cup of the chicken broth, and the pasta to the pan, stirring to combine. Bring the mixture to a vigorous simmer, then cover the pan and continue simmering (you may need to reduce the heat slightly) until the pasta is tender, about 16-18 minutes. Stir the pasta frequently as it cooks.

Once tender, remove the cover and stir in 3/4 cup of the Parmesan cheese, the pepper, and the chicken. Season to taste with additional salt and pepper if necessary. If the mixture seems dry, mix in as much of the remaining 1/2 cup of chicken broth as needed to loosen it up (I didn’t add any of it). {Note: if you don’t have an oven-safe skillet, transfer the mixture to a baking dish at this point.} Sprinkle the top evenly with the mozzarella cheese and the remaining Parmesan cheese. Transfer the pan to the oven and bake for 5-10 minutes, or until the cheese has melted and bubbles around the edges. Garnish with the basil then serve.

Taco Bake

Ingredients:

1 pound ground beef

1 packet taco seasoning*

 water as called for on back of seasoning packet

3 large flour tortillas (8-inch size)

1/2 cup Salsa Con Queso

1-1/2-2 cups shredded Mexican cheese blend

Directions:

Brown and crumble ground beef. 

Drain excess grease.

Add in taco seasoning and water (following directions on back of seasoning packet).

Once the taco meat is ready, turn off heat and add in 1/2 cup salsa con queso.I like a mild salsa con queso. This is a spicy dish so a hot salsa con queso would just be too spicy for us. If you have anyone in your family that is very sensitive to spicy  dishes, you could always use a regular, spreadable cheese dip.

Give it a good stir, until thoroughly combined.It don't look all that pretty, but don't worry, we're gonna dress her up a bit.

Preheat oven to 350F degrees.Spray an 8-inch round baking pan with nonstick cooking spray.Layer the bottom of the pan with a flour tortilla.

 

I like to use a springform pan just to make it a bit easier to get out after it is finished baking. But this taco bake is pretty easy to slice up and serve even without the springform pan. Now add about 1/3 of the ground beef taco filling on the the first layer.

Then add 1/3 of the shredded cheese.

Continue until you are done with all the layers: another tortilla, more taco mixture, more cheese. Bake at 350F degrees for about 15-20 minutes. Until cheese is melted and edges are slightly golden brown.

Allow to cool for a couple of minutes.Then slice and serve.

I like mine with some sour cream and diced tomatoes on top.

Skinny Chicken Broccoli Casserole

Skinny Chicken Broccoli Casserole

My Skinny Chicken Broccoli Casserole is the best! It’s easy! It’s fast! It’s filling! And for all its ease, it still looks, feels and tastes like a recipe that just came out of your grandma’s oven! This one is just too good! This is one to warm you up on a cold winter night and will keep the kids at the dinner table for seconds! I love this casserole just as it is, but you can definitely serve it on top of brown rice! If you are watching carbs, this is just as tasty sans the cracker crumbs on top! If you are looking for more fun, family-pleasing casseroles packed with broccoli-cheese flavor, try my Skinny Baked Mac and Cheese with Broccoli!

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Skinny Chicken Broccoli Casserole

Prep time: 20 minutes

Cook time: 20-25 minutes

Yield: 5 servings

Serving size: About 1 cup

Ingredients

• 1 lb boneless, skinless chicken breasts
• 14.4 oz package frozen broccoli, broken apart
• 10.75 oz can reduced-fat cream of mushroom soup
• 2 Tbsp fat-free mayonnaise
• 1/2 cup reduced-fat, shredded cheddar cheese
• 1/4 cup crumbled crackers (optional)
• *Optional ingredients are not included in nutrition calculations

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cut chicken into bite sized pieces.
2. In a large skillet, sprayed with cooking spray, place pieces of chicken in skillet and cook over medium-high heat until there is no more pink in the centers (about 10 minutes).
3. In a large bowl, combine mayo, cream of mushroom soup, frozen broccoli, and shredded cheese. Stir.
4. Add chicken to broccoli mixture and stir until everything is coated evenly.
5. Pour contents of bowl into a 9x13 inch baking dish lightly sprayed with cooking spray.
6. Now, this next step is optional - but I did it once and it stuck. Sprinkle cracker crumbles over the top of the mixture to add some crunch.
7. Bake for 20-25 minutes.

Nutrition Information

Per Serving (About 1 cup):

Calories: 305

Fat: 7g

Carbohydrates: 21g

Fiber: 9g

Protein: 32g

Sugars: 9g

Sodium: 647mg

Vitamin A: 11%

Vitamin C: 261%

Calcium: 20%

Iron: 9%

WWP+: 6 points

Forgotten Chicken

This is my all time favorite, number one, first choice, bestest, loveliest, most deliciousliest meal. It’s so good I had to make up adjectives for it. :)  No exaggeration, this is MY personal favorite meal.  Growing up this was the meal that I requested for every birthday, or actually any day when my mom asked my opinion on dinner.   And I’m pretty sure she was okay with it since it consists of five ingredients and takes about 5 minutes to put together.  (six if you count water.) It is certainly not fancy or exotic (and I’m aware that this isn’t the most healthy meal) but just plain good ol’ comfort food and warm yummy goodness.  I will say that if you are looking for that super-pow recipe that hits you with all its flavors and knocks your taste buds unconscious…this is not it.  I mean come on, it has five ingredients.  But if you want a big dish of simple, good home cooking then give this a try.  I personally think it is the best.

Forgotten Chicken

The ingredients:

Boneless skinless chicken breasts, minute rice, 1 pkg. onion soup mix, can of cream of chicken soup, can of cream of celery soup, water.

Mix together “cream of” soups, 1 can of water, and 2 cups of minute rice (uncooked.)  Pour into a buttered casserole dish.

Lay chicken breasts on top of rice mixture and sprinkle onion soup mix on top. Cover with tin foil. Don’t forget that important step!

(My dad hates onions so a lot of the time my mom would just mix the onion soup in with the rice.  I guess out of sight, out of mind?  Either way works.)

Here is where the name Forgotten Chicken comes in.  Once you have it in the casserole dish you can put it in the oven and forget it!  My mom would always put it in on a low temp. (around 250-275) before we left for church and when we got home three hours later it would be ready.  Or you can cook it at 350-375 (depending on your oven) for one to one and a half hours.   It is hard to mess up so if you forget it is in there don’t worry, it is probably still okay!

The rice on the outside edges should be slightly browned and crispy and the rice on the inside soft and moist.  Serve with a side salad and a nice big slice of bread and you have yourself one tasty meal.  It’s my favorite!  (in case I haven’t mentioned that enough times in this post.)

***Update*** Many people have left comments or sent emails with their concerns over the sodium or MSG in the soups used in this recipe.  I understand, I get it.  As I mentioned, as much as I LOVE this recipe, we don’t eat it every single week.  And if you don’t want to eat it at all, guess what…you don’t have too!  That is the great news.  You can decide what you do and do not want to eat in your OWN house.  For me this is a delicious, easy meal that we will enjoy once in awhile along with plenty of healthy, clean food.  Another tip:  Whole Foods has “cream of soups” that are MSG free and are a great alternative.  There are also lots of recipes out on the web for substitute “cream of soup” so find whatever works for your family and enjoy!

Download the PDF Recipe

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Grilled Chicken & Strawberry Salad Wrap

Posted by Ree

172

commentsprint recipe

Would it be a cliché to say “yum” on a cooking website? If so, I’m in big,big trouble.

And furthermore: Yum.

I made this deliciously simple salad after church yesterday, and since I was ravenously ravenous, I decided to introduce some carbs into the picture and make the salad into a wrap. It was so utterly delightful, especially after the ridonkulously hot weekend of soccer, soccer, and soccer. With a little soccer thrown in. It was fresh, crunchy, with a nice combination of protein and fruit and greens…oh, and goat cheese.

Oh, and a few other things, too.

Here’s how I made it!

Throw a couple of chicken breasts into a ziploc bag and use a rolling pin to pound the thicker areas of the chicken until they’re a uniform thickness.

Then, either whip up your favorite balsamic vinaigrette yourself…or grab a dang bottle of Paul Newman’s (or whatever kind of vinaigrette you like) out of your pantry. Because sometimes life is too short to make your own vinaigrette.

Now that’s deep, Ree.

Drizzle a little dressing into the bag with the chicken…

Then seal the bag, squeeze out the air so the dressing is totally coating the chicken, and marinate it in the fridge for an hour or two.

You can use any vinaigrette you want: Raspberry vinaigrette would be lovely!

After it’s marinated, cook the chicken on a grill pan (or outside on the grill if you haven’t been at soccer games all weekend).

A couple of minutes into cooking, rotate the chicken 45 degrees so it’ll have pretty, fancy grill marks.

Do the same on the other side.

Then, when then chicken’s totally done in the middle, remove it to a board…

Slice it on a diagonal in one direction…

Then again in the other direction.

Next, grab some lovely, juicy strawberries.

Hull them, then cut the strawberries into quarters.

Keep going until you have a nice pile.

And here’s why I like quartering the strawberries: If I were to simply slice them, each slice wouldn’t wind up with much surface area. This way, you see some of the beautiful strawberry skin with each piece of strawberry.

That’s my story and I’m stickin’ to it.

Crumble up some goat cheese and try not to eat one of the crumbles.

Goat cheese inhabits my dreams.

Next, slice up some green onions…

Then grab a few pecans…

And chop ‘em up.

Last thing: Pour the salad greens into a big ol’ bowl.

Now you’re ready to assemble the salad, honey baby!

First, toss the greens in a little salad dressing…

Then add the strawberries…

The chicken…

The green onions…

And the goat cheese.

Mmmm. Luscious!

Now, you can toss it all around and serve it like a normal salad…

Or you can make wraps! Start with a flour tortilla. I used whole wheat.

Lay a generous amount of salad all across the middle.

You may have to “style” it a little and make sure you have even amounts of strawberries and chicken throughout.

I put a little more goat cheese across the top because goat cheese is my life.

Roll up the wrap as tightly as you can. You can also roll it like a burrito, where you tuck in the sides, but I like the purty stuff to be visible on both ends.

Use a really sharp knife to slice it in half…

Then serve it with chips and/or fruit.

Food like this makes me happy. Try it this week! And you can add in some blueberries if you have some…or even some diced mozzarella. I’ll do that next time!

Here’s the handy dandy printable.

Recipe

Grilled Chicken & Strawberry Salad Wrap

Prep Time:

 15 Minutes

 

Cook Time:

 10 Minutes

 

Difficulty:

 Easy

 

Servings:

 8

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Ingredients

• 2 whole Boneless, Skinless Chicken Breasts
• 1/2 cup Bottled Balsamic Vinaigrette
• 1 whole Package (12 Ounces) Mixed Salad Greens
• 12 whole Medium Strawberries, Hulled And Quartered
• 4 whole Green Onions Sliced (white And Light Green Parts)
• 1/4 cup Pecans, Chopped
• 4 ounces, weight Goat Cheese Crumbled
• 6 whole Large Whole Wheat Tortillas

Preparation Instructions

Place the chicken breasts in a large plastic storage bag. Seal the bag, leaving a small opening, then use a rolling pin to pound the breasts until they're a uniform thickness. Pour in half the balsamic vinaigrette, then seal the bag and marinate in the fridge for 1 hour.

After the chicken has marinated, grill it until it's done in the middle, about 5 minutes per side. Remove from the heat and set aside to cool slightly. Dice up the chicken when it's cool enough to handle.

Add the salad greens to a large bowl. Add half of the remaining dressing and toss it to coat the greens. Add more if it needs it. Add the strawberries, chicken, green onions, and pecans. Toss it gently a few times until it's all combined. Top with crumbled goat cheese and toss a couple of times.

Place an equal amount of salad down the middle of each tortilla. Roll up, then slice in half.

Serve wraps with chips and extra strawberries.