vegetable-chicken stir-fry

i found this easy recipe on bettycrocker.com. i knew it would be the perfect recipe to try out the wok we got as a wedding gift, and i also knew that with only 5 ingredients, it would be a perfect weeknight dinner recipe. so we made it tonight! i followed the recipe exactly for the stir-fry portion, and i added a side of rice. i "doctored the rice up" a bit with soy sauce, stir-fry sauce, salt, pepper, and sesame seeds.

i LOVED this recipe, and it will become a weeknight dinner staple. it was ridiculously easy, tasty, and super healthy! i might try it with some shrimp, pork, or beef sometime soon too.

ingredients:
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 pound boneless skinless chicken breast halves or thighs, cut into 1-inch pieces
3 cups cut-up assorted vegetables (bell peppers, broccoli florets, and shredded carrots)
1 garlic clove, finely chopped
1/2 cup stir fry sauce

as i mentioned above, i added rice as a side dish.

directions:
1. heat 1 tablespoon of the oil in 12-inch skillet or wok over high heat. add chicken; stir-fry about 3 minutes or until no longer pink in center. remove from skillet.

2. heat remaining 1 tablespoon oil in skillet. add vegetables and garlic; stir-fry about 2 minutes or until vegetables are crisp-tender.

3. add chicken and stir-fry sauce. cook and stir about 2 minutes or until hot.

4. while not included in the directions, as mentioned before, i made rice to go along with it. i made regular white rice (according to package directions). i made 4 servings of rice, because the stir-fry yields 4 servings, and we planned it to have leftovers. once the white rice had cooked, i added soy sauce, just a bit of stir-fry sauce, salt, pepper, and sesame seeds. i didn't really measure any of these ingredients. i just kind of played with it. there are also some "fried rice" packets that you can get at the store. that might go pretty well with this too.

i love the way that a well-balanced meal looks on a plate. it's even better when it smells delicious!

close-up of the rice. i sprinkled some more sesame seeds on top. i may have gone a bit overboard. i don't really even think sesame adds that much as far as flavor is concerned, but it sure is PRETTY!

i added a few sesame seeds to the stir-fry too. looks pretty, huh? :)

aaaaaaaaand another clean plate! (YES!) that means a job well done!

all in all, i was VERY happy with this meal. i must admit, the rice, even with all its additions, lacked a lot of flavor. however, if you eat each bite of the stir fry with a bite of rice together, it is PERFECT! next time i make this, i plan on putting the stir-fry on top of the rice. i usually separate those, because i don't like when my food touches each other on a plate, but, in this case, i'm willing to make an exception.

something that made this meal even easier was that we did a lot of the prep work ahead of time so all of our veggies and chicken were already cleaned and cut up, so preparation time was amazingly quick - i'm talking less than 5 minutes. this makes a great make-ahead meal.

i ate it up so quickly, and i'm already looking forward to lunch tomorrow. it was super easy, super quick, and super delicious - everything you need in a weeknight meal! we'll be doing this again soon!

fin.

crockpot barbeque chicken

so much has happened since the last time i posted to this blog. my apologies for this blog being such a late bloomer. i promise that from this point forward, this blog will be kicked up a notch, because now... I'M MARRIED!!! i've been married for 20 days now, and i'm loving every minute of it! along with being a good little wifey, i've began cooking even more. it's great to break in all of the awesome kitchen gadgets we got leading up to the wedding, and it impresses the heck out of my husband, which i love doing.

my newest source of culinary inspiration is pinterest. if you haven't logged onto it, you must. there are all kinds of fresh ideas for recipes, decorating, home organization, wedding and event planning, holiday gifts and decorating, and the list goes on and on. this recipe came from pinterest. i'm not sure why, but it has been taken down since i got it, but i am posting it here for you to try!

without further ado...

CROCKPOT BARBEQUE CHICKEN

here are the ingredients:
4-6 pieces boneless skinless chicken breasts
1 bottle of BBQ sauce (whatever you prefer will do, but i used sweet baby ray's, and it was great)
1/4 cup vinegar
1 tsp. red pepper flakes
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/2-1 tsp garlic powder (i used 1 full teaspoon. there is no such thing as too much garlic.)

directions:
mix bbq sauce with all ingredients listed under it. place chicken in crockpot. pour sauce over it and cook on LOW for 4-6 hours.

yep. that's it.

and to make it easier, i've got pictures!!

here is how the chicken and sauce mixture looked when it went in the crockpot.

on a side note, i lined my crockpot with liners made specifically for crockpots. i picked them up at walmart, and i'm officially obsessed. i HIGHLY recommend. it makes clean up a snap.

onto the food...

6 hours later...

ta da!

 the finished product... the sides got a little burnt, but that's because i had to run out for an errand and it took a little longer than expected. whoops! luckily, the hubs likes slightly burnt stuff, so that worked out in his favor.

so, here's a chef secret. i'm a big believer in investing time in one dinner item and making it easy on the rest. and, personally, i will eat potatoes out of a box anyday over potatoes from, well, real potatoes. i like them stiff and buttery, and sometimes the "real deal" doesn't quite hit my taste buds the right way. sooooooooo, these are potatoes out of a box and sweet peas out of a can. in my house, if we have peas, we must have mashed potatoes to go with it. that's just how we roll. if you've never eaten them together, do yourself a favor and put them together. your life will never be the same. BUT in my culinary defense, i did provide the hubs with sour cream and sharp cheddar to top his potatoes with in an effort to dress them up a bit.

and here were our plates!

we had knives, but we didn't need them. this stuff fell apart!

nothing says "that was delicious!" like having clean plates at the end of a meal. and the hubs got seconds! that's when i know i've done an exceptional job.

the only things i can say about this recipe that i would change for next time are:

1. only do a little sprinkle of red pepper flakes or omit them altogether. the taste was fantastic, but it was a little hot for me. if you prefer hot over mild barbeque, then you should probably follow the recipe exactly.

2. there was a lot of sauce. it probably could have stood a little more chicken if you are feeding a larger crowd. i used 3 large breasts of chicken and i cut them in halves, but i would suggest having 6-8 smaller boneless skinless chicken breasts instead of 4-6 large ones.

3. want to know something that will make your jaw drop??? you can use frozen chicken in this recipe, and it will still turn out delicious! (is your jaw dropping yet?) the chicken i used was still frozen in the middle, and it turned out so tender and delicious. so, in other words, this is a busy mom's dream dinner recipe.

this one was a winner. and super easy! definitely adding this to the "dinner favorites" list...

fin.

props.

i must give thanks where thanks is due...

sarah wildman, you rock my face off for sharing this site with me.

i've heard that "nothing tastes as good as skinny feels". i beg to differ. check out this site that has all the flavor and none of the fat. i'm building my recipe book as we speak!

fin.