2 Recipes: Slow Cooker Whole Chicken and Left Over Chicken Pasta with Roasted Asparagus and Tomato.

Did you know you can cook a whole chicken in a slow cooker? And that after ten hours of slowly steaming itself with constant, low heat, you get a moist, succulent, fall off the bone chicken dinner? All you have to do is come home after a long day, maybe make some roast or mashed potatoes and a few steamed veggies and dinner is served!

And here's something even better...

If you buy yourself a bigger chicken, a nice five pounder that will serve 6-8 people, you can take the leftovers and use them the next day to make another dinner: Left Over Chicken Pasta with Roasted Asparagus and Tomato. Nice!

Slow Cooker Whole Chicken
(Prep Time: 15 minutes/Total Time 10 hours. Serves 4 plus leftovers)

Ingredients:
5 pound roaster chicken
1/2 cup chicken stock
Lawry's Seasoning Salt (or any other preferred seasoning salt you have on hand)

Directions:
Prep slow cooker by making 3 small tinfoil balls and placing them at the bottom of the cooker (prevents chicken from sticking).

Remove neck and giblets from chicken cavity, rinse with cold water and pat dry.

Season chicken generously with Lawry's Seasoning Salt. Rub it in well with your hands.

Place chicken breast side down in the cooker. Without getting any liquid on the chicken, slowly pour chicken stock in the cooker.

Cover and cook on low for 10 hours. Serve with roasted potatoes or mashed potatoes and vegetable of your choice.

And then the next night...

Left Over Chicken Pasta with Roasted Asparagus and Tomatoes
(Prep Time: 20 minutes/Total Time: 30 minuutes. Serves 4.)

Ingredients:
leftover chicken, chopped into bitesized pieces
1 bunch of asparagus, trimmed and cut into 1 inch pieces
1 pint cherry or grape tomatoes, cut halfways
1 tablespoon olive oil
sea salt and pepper
3 cups small rotini or penne pasta
grated parmesan cheese for topping

Directions:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F, Place asparagus and tomatoes on a baking sheet. Drizzle with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Roast, stirring once.

Meanwhile, boil pasta according to package directions. Once cooked, reserve 1/2 cup of the pasta water, then drain but do not rinse. Place pasta back in pot.

Add leftover chicken and roasted veegatables. Toss to heat through then serve with grated parmesan on top.

flatbread with roasted butternut squash

I saw these cute little flatbreads at our local bakery and picked a couple up not quite knowing what I wanted to do with them. While rifling around in the fridge, my eyes laid upon a butternut squash that I had yet to use. Now, challenging eater oldest likes butternut squash pasta but not roasted squash in pieces. It's a texture thing. If it's all mushed up or blended in with something then it stands a slight chance of getting past his lips.

Well, I wasn't about to spend a few hours making ravioli but I did have some time to roast the squash. Roasting squash brings out the natural sweetness of the vegetable and if you give a child something sweet, even a vegetable, it just may become a family favorite! I know my guys liked it...

Flatbread with Roasted Butternut Squash
(Prep Time 20 minutes/Total Time: 50 minutes. Serves 4)

Ingredients:
1 small butternut squash, cored, peeled and cut into 1 inch cubes
2 tablespoons olive oil
sea salt
1/4 - 1/2 cup vegetable or chicken stock
2 (or 3 if you have bigger kids) flatbreads
1 large sweet onion, sliced into thin circles
*6 - 9 pieces of prosciutto or ham
1 - 1 1/2 cups grated fresh parmesan cheese

*Can easily be made vegetarian by deleting ham or prosciutto.

Directions:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

Toss squash pieces with olive oil. Spread out on a baking sheet and rub around to grease the pan. Sprinkle with sea salt. Cook for 40 minutes, flipping the squash every 10 minutes.

While squash is roasting, cook onions in a bit of olive oil over medium heat until carmalized. Carefully slice flatbreads lengthwise so that 1 flatbread ends up being 2. Grate parmesan and get ham slices or prosciutto slices ready.

Once squash is cooked, place it in a blender or food processor. Add 1/4 cup of stock and blend until smooth like a paste. (You may have to add more stock and turn the machine off to mix everything a bit a couple of times).

Spread equal amounts of the butternut squash paste on the  flatbreads. Top with onions, ham/proscuitto and grated parmesan. Place in oven for 10 -15 minutes until cheese is melted and bubbly.

oh so yummy orange beef and broccoli stir fry

I'm not going to say too much about it other than it's delicious, it's quick and it's easy. Even oldest loved it! (Although I admit I kept some of the steamed broccoli to the side that had no sauce on it and rinsed it under hot water to heat it up again before serving.)

I had a half full (empty?) jar of orange marmalade in the fridge and I've been trying to use everything up before buying more. I had beef, I had broccoli and I always have soy sauce. And this is what I did:

Orange Beef and Broccoli Stir Fry
(Prep Time: 10 Minutes/Total Time: 20 minutes. Serves 4)

Ingredients:
1 small head of broccoli, cut into florettes
1/2 cup beef broth
1/2 cup orange marmalade (I had sugar free)
3 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1 1/2 pounds (750 grams) top sirloin steak, sliced thin*
1 tablespoon grapeseed or vegetable oil
1 cup rice

*Cut slightly frozen to get nice, thin strips

Directions:
Begin to cook rice according to package directions. When almost fully cooked, begin stirfry.

Steam or boil broccoli until tender crisp ( 2 - 3) minutes. Rinse under cold water. Drain and set aside.

Mix together broth, marmalade and soy sauce. Set aside.

Spread tenderloin out on a plate and sprinkle with cornstarch. Toss to coat.

Heat oil over medium high heat in a wok or large frying pan.  Add steak and cook until nicely browned. Add sauce mixture and continue to cook until thickened, abot 1 - 2 minutes. Toss in broccoli. Mix well until heated through and serve over rice.

Easy Peasy Slow Cooker BBQ Baby Back Ribs

Here's a great slow cooker recipe that you can throw together on one of those days when you know you are going to be running around like a chicken with your head cut off and you really won't want to do more than maybe get some veggies together at dinner time.

The ingredients are pretty basic. You most likely will have all of them in your kitchen and fridge already. I threw in the chili sauce because we have a Costco sized one in the fridge and hubby loves it. The sauce itself is more sweet than spicy and it adds a nice zing.

As for the ribs, I suggest using baby back for this one. Others will do in a pinch but baby back ribs generally have much more meat, less fat and are mmmm, mmm, yummy!

Slow Cooker BBQ Baby Back Ribs
(Prep Time: 10 minutes/Total Time: 8 hours. Serves 4)

Ingredients:
2 racks baby back ribs, cut into 2 - 3 ribs per piece
2 cups ketchup
8 - 10 cloves garlic, smashed and chopped
1/4 cup honey
1/4 cup sweet chili sauce
1 teaspoon Worcesterchire sauce
1 teaspoon soy sauce

Directions:
Mix all sauce ingredients together in a medium bowl.

Pour over ribs and toss the ribs to coat.

Cook 8 hours on low. Done. Told you it was easy!

Salmon Burgers with Yam Fries

My friend Linda sent me a great recipe on how to make salmon burgers. Well, me being me, I made a few changes and they turned out fabulous! I love that they are quick and easy to make, and quite economical too as you use canned salmon market salmon. The kids loved them and so did hubby. And that's all I'm going to say about that!

Salmon Burgers with Yam Fries
Prep Time: 15 minutes/Total 45 minutes. Serves 4.

Ingredients:
1 can (150 grams or 5.3 ounces) skinless, boneless salmon, drained
1 egg, slightly beaten
1/2 small onion, chopped
¼ cup thick barbeque sauce
1 cup course breadcrumbs (you can also use crushed rice crackers or quinoa if gluten intolerant)
4 whole wheat buns
desired burger toppings (lettuce, tomato, red onion, cheese slices)
4 medium yams, cut into fries
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
sea salt

Directions:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Toss yam fries with vegetable oil and spread out on 2 lightly oiled baking sheets. Sprinkle yam fries generously with sea salt. Bake fries for 30 minutes, making sure to flip the fries every 10 minutes,

Meanwhile, in a food processor, combine salmon, egg, onion, BBQ sauce and bread crumbs. Pulse until mixture is well combined and smooth.

Divide mixture into 4 and make 4 patties.

Cook burgers on a slightly oiled BBQ grill over medium heat for 4 - 5 minutes per side. Or, if weather doesn't permit BBQ-ing, use the oven:

Remove fries and turn oven on to Broil. Place a broiler pan about 4 to 5 inches from heat, and cooking the salmon patties for 8 - 10 minutes, flipping the burgers halfway through. While prepping burgers, turn heat of oven off and place yam fries in to reheat.

Serve salmon patties on whole wheat buns with desired toppings and yam fries.

almond butter oatmeal chocolate chip cookies

Since my youngest son has been diagnosed with dairy, egg and peanut butter food sensitivities, the way I bake around here has changed quite a bit. Throw in the fact that I am trying to reduce the amount of refined sugar we eat and well, let's just say, I've had to rely on a few resources to help me along the way.

One of my favorite online bakers is Michelle of Brown Eyed Baker. She posted a very yummy looking peanut butter oatmeal chocolate chip cookie recipe that I knew I would have to try out. I then turned to one of my favourite cookbooks, Allergy Free Cookbook to read up on substitutions. No refined sugar? I used crushed brown cane sugar instead of white refined sugar and the results were delicious.A few tweaks here and there and what we end up with is a fabulous dairy free, egg free, and peanut free cookie! 

Here's the orginal recipe with tweaks in brackets. Whatever you choose to do, the results will be delicious

Almond Butter Oatmeal Cookies

(Makes 16 large cookies or 24 if you make them smaller)

Ingredients:
1 cup all-purpose flour (I used half whole wheat and half white)
1 teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon salt
1 stick (½ cup) unsalted butter, at room temperature (I used dairy free margarine)
½ cup creamy peanut butter (I used almond butter)
½ cup granulated sugar (I used crushed raw cane sugar)
1/3 cup light brown sugar (Again, raw cane sugar)
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
1 egg (I used 2 tablespoons applesauce)
½ cup rolled oats (I used old fashioned large flake oats...you could use quick too)
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips (dairy free)
 
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.
 
Whisk together the flour, baking soda and salt; set aside.

On medium speed, cream together the butter, peanut (almond butter), granulated sugar, brown sugar and vanilla extract, about 3 minutes. Add the egg (applesauce) and beat to combine. On low speed, gradually add the flour until just combined. Stir in the oats, and then the chocolate chips.

Use a large cookie scoop (3 tablespoons) and drop dough onto prepared baking sheets about 2 inches apart. Bake for 10 minutes, or until the cookies are lightly golden. Cool completely on the baking sheet and then store in an airtight container at room temperature.