My wife went to visit our niece for her birthday and said for dinner to just cook the pizza that’s in the freezer. Simple. Easy. Can’t mess up. Well, I thought, I should make dinner so I have some left overs that I can take to work the next day for lunch.
As I pulled up Pinterest, I started looking at all the ‘Food and Drink’ section. Now is it just me or does this section make your hunger pains even worse? Well, I guess mine were so bad that I was more excited about the picture than the directions.
I printed out the recipe, ran to the store, and started reading the directions, “Slow cook for 4-5 hours…” WHAT???? It was already 7:00 pm and I didn’t have time for that. I go to be around 8:00. I figured that since I already bought all the stuff that I might as well go through with it- at least I’d have lunch for tomorrow.
It really wasn’t a hard recipe, just took forever to cook, since I had to throw it in a crock pot. I put it on warm so that it wouldn’t burn or dry out the meat, but that wasn’t an issue this night.
It was 2:00 am and my son had his ritual crying session. I went in to change him and figured that since I was already awake I might as well go out to the kitchen, shred the meat, and finish what I had started.
Basically what it all came down to was I basically made a fresh, wholesome lunch for myself that will be great for the next couple of days.
So fellas, try it out. It’s simple, and if you’re smarter than me (which you should be since I already messed up), you will start this before you leave for work. Then when you get home dinner will be ready and your wife will thank you for it. Next time I’m using my meal planning sheet– I have a section made just for instructions like slow cooker (4-5 hours.) You’re welcome!
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HONEY GARLIC CHICKEN
yield: 4 SERVINGS – prep time: 20 MIN – cook time: 5 HOURS
INGREDIENTS:
3 large, skinless chicken breasts (2 1/2 to 3 pounds total)
1/2 cup honey
1/2 cup low sodium soy sauce
1/4 cup blackberry jam
1/4 cup hoisin sauce
2 Tablespoons olive oil
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 cup diced onion
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes (optional)
1 Tablespoon cornstarch
Sliced scallions, for garnish
Sesame seeds, for garnish
Equipment: slow cooker
DIRECTIONS:
Arrange the chicken breasts in the slow cooker so that they are not overlapping.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the honey, soy sauce, blackberry jam, hoisin, olive oil, garlic, onion and crushed red pepper flakes, and then pour the sauce over the chicken. Cover the slow cooker and cook the chicken on LOW for 4 to 5 hours until the chicken is fully cooked.
Using tongs, remove the chicken from the slow cooker (reserving the liquids) and place it on a cutting board. Remove the bones then use two forks to shred the chicken into smaller pieces. Place the shredded chicken in a large bowl.
In a small bowl, whisk together the cornstarch with 3 tablespoons of cold water until cornstarch is mixed completely.
Transfer the liquids from the slow cooker into a small saucepan set over medium-high heat and whisk in the cornstarch mixture. Bring the sauce to a boil and cook it until it has thickened slightly, about 3 minutes. Pour the sauce over the chicken, tossing to combine. Serve the chicken topped with sliced scallions and sesame seeds.
