I Pintered-3 Easy Meals

I have been using Pinterest for awhile and I love Pinning stuff to my boards.  This past weekend I decided it was time to turn my pins into a reality again.  So I made a few recipes that I had pinned.

Let's start with the healthy one.  I love What's Gaby Cooking and she had a delightful looking raw kale salad on there the other day.  Raw kale scares me a little but I trust Gaby, plus it looked insanely healthy.  So I went for it. 

My Raw Kale Salad...

Results-I think I did a good job following the recipe and I loved the flavor of the lemon vinaigrette but I'm just not a huge fan of the raw kale.  I prefer my kale cooked down.  But yeah, I still think eating this benefited my body somewhat.

2 Ingredient French Dip.
Ok I didn't exactly follow this recipe.  I was looking for easy slow cooker recipes that weren't chicken and I found this 2 ingredient recipe at Six Sister's Stuff .  There recipe called for a beef roast and beef consomme but I couldn't find consomme.  So I bought a beef roast and cooked it in the slow cooker for 8 hours on low with a box of beef stock and a packet of onion soup mix.

I also added cheese to the sandwich and a side of the au jus made from the juice/broth that was left in the bottom of the slow cooker.  Both my husband and I really enjoyed this although I think it's on the high sodium side (but it's ok, we ate kale the day before).

Last but not least, I made these Slow Cooker Pork Chops (ok I actually made these first but whatever).  Again this recipe was really simple.....pork chops, cream of chicken soup and a ranch dressing mix packet.

I like the flavor of this (I used cream of celery soup instead) and I think it would have turned out slightly better if I cooked it a little less.  I used less pork chops than the original recipe called for.  (I also used frozen mashed potatoes instead of making my own garlic ones like the recipe suggests.)  But overall it was good and far easier than trying to grill a pork chop.

In conclusion, Pinterest is cool.  These recipes were easy (especially the last too).  And if you want to feel healthy, eat a bunch of raw kale.  Not only is it good for you but I think you burn extra calories by chewing on the kale for so long. 

What have you pintered for dinner lately?

Oh and let me know if you Pinter so I can follow you.  You can click on the big P at the top to go to my Pinterest and see all these recipes (and a bunch of other stuff I have pinned).

Coming soon...my recent craft Pinters.

Snow Day.....

Sometimes working for a University sucks.....budget cuts, no raises, hiring freezes, robberies (yeah we have had like 2 in the past couple years).  Sometimes it's awesome, like today when we get a SNOW DAY (you can't expect all those college kids to make it to class in the snow/ice).  While my other friends are trying to figure out how to get to work, I'm just chillaxing at home with Hobie and B (whose work trip to Atlanta has been postponed due to the cancellation of all his co-workers' flights). 

Plus I get to wear my favorite snow outfit (which I wore 75% of Christmas Break)...old jeans, Uggs, a Hoodie, and a handmade scarf.

So now I'm going to go ahead and get the slow cooker back out and make some Eazy Peazy BBQ chicken.  If you are snowed in, I recommend that you do the same.

What's your favorite thing to do on a snow day?
What's your favorite cold weather meal to make?

Latin Chicken

I found the recipe for 'Latin Chicken' when I was searching for a different recipe. At one of my work social events someone bought in a sweet potato and black bean salad or compote of some sort. I thought it sounded neat so I started searching the Internet for sweet potato and black bean recipes when I came across this.....
http://allrecipes.com/recipe/slow-cooker-latin-chicken/Detail.aspx

Harris Teeter frequently has a buy 1 get 2 sale of packs of chicken breast so I have a bunch of chicken right now. I don't like baking or pan cooking chicken because I always seem to make it dry and flavorless so I thought it was a good time to bring out my slow cooker. This recipe seemed like a good fit.

I substituted chicken breast for the thighs. I've never actually made anything with chicken thighs and I'm pretty sure breasts are better for you so...voila. Here's my adapted recipe based mostly on the original.....

Latin Chicken

1.5 pounds chicken breast
olive oil
salt
pepper
1 can black beans
1-2 sweet potatoes cut in to chunks (I used one big and one small)
a couple handfuls of frozen mixed bell peppers
1 cup of salsa
3/4 cup of chicken broth
a bunch of cilantro split in half (approximately 1/2 cup)
minced garlic (the kind in a jar that you can refrigerate)
teaspoon of cumin


limes for garnish


1. Brown the chicken for about 3 minutes on each side in some olive oil on a pan on the stove. Sprinkle some handfuls of chopped cilantro as well as salt and pepper while cooking.

2. Place the chicken in the bottom of a lightly greased slow cooker. Pour the can of black beans (after draining), frozen pepper and sweet potato chunks on top of the chicken. Mix the salsa, chicken broth, more cilantro, cumin and garlic together and pour over everything else.

3. I cooked this on high for 3 hours and then switched it to low for the last hour. I shredded the chicken after the first three hours. Serve with lime juice and hot sauce for garnish if you wish.


So I made this for my husband and my BFF. Both said that the chicken was tender and that it was delicious. They have both been known to lie, but swear they were telling the truth. I also liked it. So if you like chicken and have a crock pot, I would definitely recommend this dish. It's not hard and it tastes good.

Browning the chicken................

And I realized that using a potato peeler makes peeling potatoes a lot easier than just using a knife. I finally remembered that I had a peeler.

And here it is, the finished product.........