Crockpot Hawaiian Chicken

I've been so busy lately with school and work that I've been making a lot of crock pot meals. I made Hawaiian Chicken for tonight's dinner. Crock pot meals are quick and easy to put together considering the little prep work that needs to be done. Throw in the ingredients, turn on the crock pot, and let it do its thing. I had two very ripe pineapples that needed to get eaten up so I put together Hawaiian Chicken. It was delish!

This meal is easy peasy! There's no need to brown the chicken or sauté veggies. In my opinion, the point of making a crockpot meal is for its simplicity, and browning and sautéing beforehand is not my idea of an easy crockpot meal if I have to cook it first. My boys like the texture of shredded chicken but if you don't, then I recommend browning the chicken in a separate pan before you add to the crockpot.

For the freezer: Lately, I've been freezing a lot of crockpot meals and I'm adding this to my "freezer meal" list. To make it a "freezer meal," throw all the ingredients into a gallon-size ziploc bag. I double-bag my ziplocs just in case as I don't want sauce leaking all over my fridge or freezer. Anyways, throw ALL of the ingredients into a gallon-size ziploc, squeeze air out, zip shut, and carefully squish and shake the bag to incorporate sauce throughout the ingredients. Store flat in the freezer. Place "freezer meal" in the fridge the day before you want to cook your crockpot meal. I put my "freezer meal" in a rectangular tupperware in the fridge just in case the sauce thaws and there's a hole in the bag or the bag comes "unzipped." The next morning, carefully dump all ziploc ingredients into the crockpot. It'll still be frozen but you should be able to loosen the ingredients so it all fits inside the crockpot. Cook on high for 4-6 hours or low 6-8 hours. The time depends on your crockpot and the amount of food you're cooking. I keep 4-6 different "freezer meals" in my freezer for busy week nights so I can still serve a homemade dinner that doesn't take a lot of effort. Good stuff!

Crockpot Cookin'...my idea of "fast food."

Crockpot Hawaiian Chicken

Yield: 6-8 servings

Ingredients:

• 2 lbs chicken (I used thighs.)
• 1 onion- sliced
• 4-5 baby gold potatoes (or 1-2 russet potatoes)- cubed
• 4-5 garlic cloves- sliced
• 1/2 c soy sauce
• 1/2 c water
• 2 Tbs brown sugar (add 1/4 c if you prefer sweet)
• 2 c pineapple (canned or fresh)

Directions:

1. Slice onion and garlic- spread around bottom of crockpot.
2. Cube potatoes- place on top of onions.
3. Spread out chicken over veggies.
4. Layer pineapple over everything. 
5. Combine soy sauce, water, and brown sugar- mix well. Pour over chicken and veggies.
6. Place lid on crockpot, plug it in, and cook on high for 4 hours. Do NOT open lid while cooking.
7. Stir AFTER the 4 hour cook time. Make sure the chicken is cooked thoroughly. If using breasts, it may take longer to cook. 
8. Serve over rice. ENJOY! 

Note: This recipe makes a great "freezer meal." Place all ingredients in a gallon-size ziploc and freeze flat. Store in fridge the day before cooking, dump all ingredients in crockpot the next morning, and cook on high 4-6 hours or low 6-8 hours.

Egg-Free Brownies

While my boys were vacationing in Lake Tahoe with my parents, my ten year-old's first pet, a cute Crested Gecko, died on my watch. :( I'm not sure what happened, but my best guess is that it got too warm upstairs and with the additional heat from the warming lamp, the poor little guy overheated. So. Sad. My boys were devastated and a lot of tears were shed when I told them last night.

Luckily, I had already arranged a play-day/sleep-over for my ten year-old so he's been in good company and his buddy has kept his mind off his gecko. Unfortunately, my eight year-old is missing his brother's pet so I needed to cheer him up. Chocolate always works for me so I figured it would work for him, too. It worked! A big piece of brownie brightened my son's day.  :)

I've baked egg-free brownies a few times and haven't had much luck. They were too "cakey," too flat, hard and asphalt-like, didn't have the right flavor, or lacked the right brownie-like consistency. I finally found a decent recipe and modified it quite a bit to have less sugar and butter. Mine was a pretty good version if I say so myself and my allergy-boy definitely approves. This recipe's a keeper!

All this needed was a big scoop of vanilla ice cream!

Egg-Free Brownies


Yield:  8"x8" 


Ingredients:

• 1/4 c butter (1/2 stick)- softened
• 1 1/2 c flour
• 3/4 c cocoa powder
• 3/4 c sugar
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 1/2 Tbs corn starch
• 1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 c "buttermilk" (1 c milk + 1 Tbs apple cider vinegar: mix together and let sit for 3-5 mins.)
• 1/2 c chocolate chips
• optional: powdered sugar

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350F.
2. Grease 8"x8" brownie dish.
3. Place softened butter in mixing bowl and add flour, cocoa powder, sugar, baking powder, and corn starch. Mix well.
4. Add vanilla and "buttermilk." Mix until combined well but do not over-mix.
5. Fold in chocolate chips last.
6. Spread mixture evenly into baking dish.
7. Bake for 30-35 mins.
8. Optional: dust with powdered sugar 

Source: Adapted from allrecipes.com.