$5.00 Crock Pot Chicken "Stir Fry"

I love Chicken Stir Fry. It is an easy and healthy meal. However, out of curiosity I wanted to see if there was a way to mimic the flavor in the Crock Pot - therefore making it even easier. I found this recipe for an Asian inspired Crock Pot Chicken. Using the user comments on the recipe I adapted the recipe.

The night before I prepared the sauce to make a quick fix in the morning. If you make the sauce in advance, be sure to stir it well in the morning as the brown sugar will separate out. The sauce probably has a few more calories than regular Chicken Stir Fry, however you are saving fat from not using oil to fry the chicken. I also saved calories by replacing the Sprite with lemon and lime juice. If I had Sprite Zero or Diet Sprite this would have been a good choice as well.

Below I have calculated the approximate cost of both the main dish and a side salad.

Ingredients:

• 2 boneless skinless chicken breasts with rib meat, large $2.70 ($8.11/lg. package divided by 3 meals)
• Frozen stir-fry vegetables $0.99
• Brown Rice $0.56 ($1.69/box divided by 3 meals)
• Total = $4.25

Pantry Items:

• 1 cup brown sugar
• 2/3 cup vinegar
• 1/4 cup Lemon and Lime juice (about 1/8 cup each)
  
• 3 -4 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 tablespoons light soy sauce
  
• 1 teaspoon white pepper
  
• cornstarch

Directions:

1. Place chicken in crock pot.
2. Pour frozen vegetables over chicken.
3. Mix all pantry ingredients and pour over chicken.
   
4. Cook on low for 6 hours.
5. Break up chicken with spoon.
   
6. Add cornstarch to thicken sauce a bit. A shake or two will do.
7. Serve over cooked rice.
8. Enjoy!

Side Tossed Salad

2 bags chopped lettuce $4.98 ($2.49 x 2)
4 tomatoes $3.49
2 cucumbers $1.58
Total = $10.05

Obviously, buying a head of lettuce would have been less expensive, however the store did not have any available while we were shopping. I used the ingredients to make one large salad in a covered bowl. This will save time throughout the week as all I’ll have to do is serve out a small side salad with several meals. I expect to use this salad for at least 5 meals. This makes each day about $2 or $1 per person.

Sticky Chicken - In the CrockPot

Awhile ago, I was introduced to a fantastic resource on the web. Sparkpeople.com is a free online resource that allows you to count your calories, exercise, water intake and more. They also have free meal plans and recipes. I have made their recipe for Sticky Chicken in the oven before.

When I previously made Sticky Chicken, I could only find the small roasting chickens in packages of two. This meant that I had one in the freezer. I took it out of the freezer yesterday to defrost, but it still was rock hard this morning. This might have something to do with my 50 degree kitchen. I knew I could cook it longer, but needed to get those giblets out! Being the awkward chef I am, I ran hot water into the cavity until the giblets were soft enough to scoop out - oh the bag had ripped way early in this process!

Fast forward to rinsing the chicken, my husband said, "Is that going in the Crock Pot." I hadn't planned on it, but figured it was worth a shot. If I can successfully make this in the Crock Pot, it would make it not only a Sunday dinner, but any day of the week. For the seasonings, I followed most of the spark recipe, but adapted for what I had on hand. I also put one can of low-fat chicken broth in the Crock Pot to keep everything moist.

Sticky Chicken
Adapted from Sparkpeople.com

Ingredients

• 1 teaspoon salt
  
  
• 2 teaspoons paprika
  
  
• 1 teaspoon red pepper
  
  
• 1 teaspoon onion powder
  
  
• 1 teaspoon thyme
  
  
• 1 teaspoon white pepper
  
• 1 teaspoon garlic and herb seasoning
  
  
• 3-4 lb. roasting chicken
  
  
• 1 cup chopped onion (or the handy pre-chopped onion from Stop & Shop!)
  
• 1 can low-fat chicken broth
  

1. In a small bowl, thoroughly combine all the spices. Remove giblets from chicken, clean the cavity well and pat dry with paper towels. Rub the spice mixture into the chicken, both inside and out, making sure it is evenly distributed and down deep into the skin.


2. When ready to roast chicken, stuff cavity with onions (I put extra onions on the outside of the chicken), and place in crock pot in a can of chicken broth. After the first hour, baste the chicken occasionally (every half hour or so) with pan juices. The pan juice will start to caramelize on the bottom of the pan and the chicken will turn golden brown. If the chicken contains a pop-up thermometer, ignore it. Let chicken rest about 10 minutes before carving.



Makes 4 servings.
VERDICT: Well, the one thing about this Sticky Chicken in the Crock Pot was that it definitely was not sticky. Not baking the chicken took away the sticky, yummy and full of spice skin. However, the entire chicken was incredibly moist and as you can see from the picture an awesome stock was created. I added some carrots about an hour before we ate and served some of the carroty stock over the chicken. We had a side of green beans. I thought that it tasted delicious. The seasonings made it incredibly flavorful. This is a recipe I will repeat, but also will hold on to the original recipe.

As a result, we are having chicken noodle soup for dinner tomorrow night! I had planned on broccoli cheddar soup, which is quick and easy, but this will be even easier. I returned the leftover chicken to the crock pot in the stock. I will heat this all up tomorrow with some additional vegetables and add pasta. If I'm really ambitious, I'll make some dumplings - however, as a teacher and tomorrow being the first day back from break - I wouldn't bet on it. Stay tuned!

Creamy Crock-Pot Chicken

Today is a snowy, lazy day. I desperately need to grocery shop, but wanted to make something with few ingredients that could sit in the crock pot most of the day. I also wanted my husband to be able to stop quickly at the store so I wouldn't have to go out in the snow myself! I Googled "Easy Crock Pot Chicken" and came up with this. I adapted it based on what we had and the fact that I'm not big on measuring.

This also gives me the chance to sing the praises of Aldi. You cannot beat the quality for the prices offered at Aldi. I love the "Fit and Active" line of healthier options. We stock up on Fit and Active Cream of Mushroom, Cream of Chicken and Cream of Celery soup for days like this! They are delicious, convert meat into a meal in minutes, and less than $1 a can! They also have large bags of boneless, skinless frozen chicken breast for about $5 -- I wish we had some of that left in our vacant freezer!

Creamy Chicken
Adapted from www.betterrecipes.com

Ingredients:

• 4-5 frozen chicken breasts
• 1 small can cream of chicken soup (Fit & Active)
  
• 1 small can cream of mushroom soup (Fit & Active)
• 2 handfuls of baby carrots
  
• 1-2 tsp seasoned salt (I used cajun seasoning)
  
• 1/4 cup milk
• 1 onion, diced
• 1 tsp (or so) minced garlic
  

Directions:

Place frozen chicken breasts in bottom of crock pot add both cans of soup over chicken. Add carrots, seasoned salt, onion, garlic and milk over top. Cook on low for about 5-6 hours.

Serve over brown rice

Number of Servings: 4

Edit: My husband "forgot" to pick up brown rice. We had a box of Spanish Rice from Aldi. About an hour before eating, I mixed in both the rice and seasoning packet. I served the chicken with a dollop of sour cream.