Sunday, June 9, 2013

Brown Sugar Chicken

Hi everyone!
I've been on a major red-meat kick lately (I loooove steak!).  But I've been reading the book "Eat Right 4 Your Type" - and according to that book, red meat is a no-no for my blood type. *sob*  I know that TOO much red meat is not good, but... cutting it out is going to be a hard one for me.

So I thought I would find a new-to-me chicken recipe this week, and see how that goes.

Brown Sugar Chicken.  I know, sounds weird, right?  But I read the reviews, and a huge percentage of them were positive.  And the only thing I needed to get was chicken, and a new bottle of soy sauce because I ran out of it.  So I picked that up yesterday.  Oh - this is where I got the recipe!  http://crockpot365.blogspot.ca/2008/08/crockpot-brown-sugar-chicken-recipe.html

These are my ingredients:


I didn't use all of the chicken.  In fact, I only used two chicken breasts, cut up into large chunks.  The other 3 breasts are in the freezer for another day.  I made the sauce as per the recipe (but added a touch more vinegar than called for because that 1 cup of brown sugar had me doubting the recipe).  I left my chicken in the crockpot for 7 hours on low, made some carrots and broccoli, and heated up some leftover long-grain rice, and this was my supper:


The verdict:  it was good.  Kind of sweet-and-sour'ish (although the extra vinegar pushed it slightly more to the sour side).  I enjoyed the veggies and rice with the broth, and the chicken was tasty as well.  This will be my lunch tomorrow at work.  Anything left over after that will go in the freezer for a future fast meal.

I would make this again!

Monday, June 3, 2013

Beans, beans, the musical fruit....

Hi everyone!

I bet you couldn't help yourself but finish off the title, right? LOL.

I'm behind again on my new-to-me recipe resolution.  But that's ok, I'm not stressing about it.  I'm still doing it, though - and we're in June now!  Yay for me!

This week's recipe comes courtesy of my friend's cousin's wife's Mom.  Got that? ;)  I do not like baked beans.  Categorically do NOT like baked beans.  Never have.  Anyway, I went to my friend's wedding shower on the long weekend in May.  Her cousin's wife hosted it (see where I'm going with this?).  Karen (the cousin's wife) put on a FEAST for us.  And the first dish that she served (yes, it was a sit-down meal at this shower.  Totally blew me away!) was these beans.  I thought it was chili, so I took a big spoonful.  Thought it didn't have much kick for a chili.  Took another spoonful, still thought it was kind of different tasting for chili.  Then it hit me - I was eating BAKED BEANS!  That had hamburger in it!?  And.... I liked it?  Will wonders never cease!

Here is a photo of the ingredients:


And now you can understand why I first thought it was chili, right?

Here is the recipe that I got from Karen.  It's from her Mom.

1/2 lb hamburger
1/2 lb chopped bacon
1 chopped onion
1/3 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup white sugar
1/4 cup ketchup
1/4 cup barbecue sauce
2 tbsp prepared (yellow) mustard
2 tbsp molasses
1 tsp chili powder
1 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
1-14oz can kidney beans
1-14oz can Pork & Beans
1-14oz can lima beans

Brown hamburger, bacon and onion in a pan.  Add the rest of the ingredients (not the cans of beans yet though).  Mix well.  Place in a roaster.

Do NOT drain the beans.

Add the cans of beans (with liquid) to the roaster with the rest of the ingredients.  Mix well.
Bake for 1 hour at 350 degrees, covered.

Verdict:  I still liked it!  I had it for supper last night, and brought it to work today for lunch.  I think I like this one because of the hamburger, and the lima beans.  It's not just "mush", which is what I associate baked beans to.  The lima beans and kidney beans help to give it some texture.

I think this recipe is a keeper.  Thanks to Karen's Mom!