Pineapple Barbeque Pulled Chicken Sandwiches

Recipe adapted from Tasty Kitchen

Ingredients: 

1 ½  pounds boneless skinless chicken breast, thighs or combination of both (I used breast)

1 cup chopped onion (small dice)

½ can (20 Oz. Size) crushed pineapple (drained, juice reserved)

1/3 cup reserved pineapple juice

2 cups BBQ Sauce Of Your Choice (I used Sweet Baby Rays)

Whole wheat sandwich buns

To Freeze: Place all ingredients in a gallon size freezer bag. Seal and freeze!

To Prepare: Thaw overnight. Empty contents of bag into crockpot. Cook on low for 6-8 hours, high 4-5 hours.  1-2 hours before done, remove chicken and shred. Return chicken to crockpot and stir. Finish cooking. This will allow the chicken to soak up the sauce.

To Serve: Serving size is approximately ½ cup on bun, top with coleslaw if desired.

Classic Coleslaw:

1/2 cup nonfat Greek-style yogurt, or 2/3 cup regular plain nonfat yogurt

1/4 cup mayonnaise

1/4 cup apple cider vinegar

1 tablespoon honey

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon pepper

1 bag shredded coleslaw mix (16 oz)

Note: We found the flavor for both the chicken and coleslaw better the next day!

Italian Chicken Soup

Hi all, here's the Italian Chicken Soup recipe. Unless a lot of people request the stirfry I think I'll bring this in March.

1 t olive oil
2 sweet Italian sausage links with skin removed
1T dried minced onion
1/8 t garlic powder (heaping)
1/4 c dried barley
1/2 c dried green lentils
1/4 c dried garbanzo beans
1/2 breast chicken
1T dried parsley
1 1/2 chicken buillion cubes
1/2 (12 oz) bag of frozen spinach

Freeze

To prepare defrost. Add 3 1/2 c water. Cook 6-8 hrs. Add 1/2 c salsa.

Black Bean Taco Soup

Ingredients:
1 lb lean ground beef (or ground turkey works too!)
1 medium onion, chopped
1 package mild taco seasoning mix
1 (16 oz) bag frozen corn
1 1/2 c rinsed drained red beans (about 1 can)
1 (14 oz) cans stewed tomatoes
1 (8 oz) can tomato sauce
1 (4 oz) can diced green chilis


Directions:
Brown meat and onion, drain. Let meat cool for a minute, then dump into a resealable gallon-sized freezer bag.
Dump the remaining ingredients into the bag, mix together, and zip bag closed.
When ready to eat, remove from freezer and thaw in fridge for 24 hours. Cook on HIGH for 1-2 hours or LOW for 2-3 1/2 hours.
Serve with tortilla chips, cheese, sour cream, and guacamole.

This is the same recipe as Crystal's, but I went ahead and made a couple of changes. I put in less tomatoes and a different type of bean. Hope you like it :).

Bean Stew

6 cups chicken broth or vegetable broth (add when putting in crock pot)
1 cup dry beans, picked over and rinsed
2 medium carrots, peeled and finely diced
1 small onion, finely chopped
2 celery stalks, finely diced
3 tablespoons uncooked white rice
2 tablespoons minced garlic
1 teaspoon herbes de Provence or dried thyme
½ teaspoon salt
1/8teaspoon ground white or black pepper

Combine ingredients in a gallon zip lock bag (minus the broth). Freeze. Thaw, add broth and bag to slow cooker. Cover and cook on low for 8 hours or on high for 4 to 5 hours. Serves 4-5 people.

Let me know if you enjoy this!

Cheers,
Patience 

CrockPot Chicken Cacciatore

1lb Chicken Breast
1 jar of your favorite pasta sauce (classico, ragu, etc..)
1 can diced tomatoes
1 cup diced green peppers
1 cup diced mushrooms
1 cup diced onions
1 Tbsp minced garlic
2 Tbsp italian seasoning
1/4 to 1/2 cup cream cheese
salt and pepper to taste

Cook on high 4 hours or on low 6-8 hours. When complete, spoon over fettuccini noodles or noodles of your choice. If you would like to thicken the recipe, add a paste of cornstarch. Remember, you can really play with this recipe, You can add or subract the vegetable that you like. Adding parmesan cheese on top is also yummy.

I am typing this from memory ladies, so hopefully I havent forgotten any ingredients!!

Cilantro Lime Chicken with Corn and Black Beans

Ingredients:

1 1/2 pounds chicken breasts
Juice from 2 limes
1 bunch fresh cilantro, chopped
1 (16 oz) bag frozen corn
2 minced garlic cloves
1/2 red onion, chopped
1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 tsp cumin 
salt and pepper to taste


Directions: 
Place all ingredients in a resealable gallon-sized freezer bag. Mix together and zip bag closed.Remove from freezer and thaw in fridge for 24 hours. Cook on LOW for 8 hours (or HIGH for 4 hours). 
Serve with tortillas and toppings such as with sour cream, guacamole, salsa, and cheese.
Recipe adapted from Over the Big Moon.

Tatiana

Honey Rosemary Chicken

Ingredients:
2 lbs Boneless, Skinless Chicken Breasts or Thighs, cut into bite sized pieces
1/3 c balsamic vinegar
1/3 c Honey
1/3 c Olive Oil
3 T Chopped Fresh Rosemary
1 t  Salt. 

**Let marinate for several hours in the refrigerator before freezing.

Cooking Directions:
Let defrost completely in the fridge. Add 1 cup of water and the contents of the bag to the crockpot. Then cook on high for 3-4 hours or low for 6-8 hours. Ten minutes before serving, add cornstarch to thicken the sauce.

Serving Directions
Serve over couscous (or rice). Be generous with the sauce as you ladle- it’s fabulous.  Rachel also thinks that serving it over mash potatoes and adding some prunes or dried cherries would be delicious.   Thanks, Rachel! 

****Rachel Wheeler also suggests that it doesn't need all of the Olive Oil and that chicken stock could act as a great substitute.  

This recipe was adapted from Kojo Designs.

Katherine Lewis