Tag Archives: chicken

Crock Pot Sweet and Sour Pork

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Some days, you just want to find a way to have take-out without the take-out prices and “nutritionals”. (I put “nutritionals” in quotes mostly because the salt, fat and calories from take-out food can just be astronomical, and eating in is a really good way to control all of that.) I was trying to find a way to get a simple “one-off” dinner, and I’ve made sweet and sour chicken in the crock pot, so I thought I’d make some sweet and sour pork for a slight change of pace. I had a recipe for a skillet-based sweet and sour that required a number of ingredients (ketchup, pineapple juice, etc.) – and one of the ingredients was CORN SYRUP. Hrm. Not so sure I like that idea. Believe it or not, the La Choy Sweet and Sour Sauce has no corn syrup of any kind in it in it. The sodium was also fairly low, so I figured that this was one of those times where reaching for the bottle was not only convenient but also more in line with what I’d rather have filling the crock.

 

Crock Pot Sweet and Sour Pork

Who needs takeout?

We put this over rice, but it goes just as nicely over soba noodles, if you want a different accompaniment. And, if you’d prefer this in chicken form – no worries: substitute boneless skinless chicken breasts for the boneless pork sirloin chops and you’re good to go!

 

Prep Time: 10 mins + 5 mins

Cook Time: 6-8 hrs on LOW, + 15mins on HIGH

Serves: 4

 

Ingredients

1-1/4 lbs boneless pork sirloin chops

10 oz jar La Choy Sweet and Sour Sauce

8 oz can sliced water chestnuts, drained

8 oz can bamboo shoots, drained

1/4 cup water

15 oz can straw mushrooms, drained

15 oz can baby corn, drained

 

Make it Happen

1. Coat inside of crock with nonstick cooking spray.

2. Cut pork into 1″ cubes; place in crock.

3. Add the sweet and sour sauce, water chestnuts, bamboo shoots and water to the crock. Stir well to combine.

4. Cover and cook on LOW for 6-8hrs. (If you need to cook longer, I recommend adding more sweet and sour sauce – maybe another 4-5oz, to make sure that the pork doesn’t dry out during cooking.)

5. When done cooking, add the drained mushrooms and baby corn to the crock and stir to combine. Cover and cook on HIGH for 15 minutes, then serve over rice or soba noodles.

Crock Pot Sour Cream Salsa Chicken

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I wasn’t expecting this to be the week of “things that include salsa and taco seasoning”, but so be it. Sometimes, you just get lucky.

This particular dish is a favorite of ours because it’s stupid-easy to make and can be eaten in a variety of ways. You can shred the chicken – or not. You can eat it on a tortilla (or flatbread) with cheese and lettuce, on bok choi with cheese, on rice…so many ways to make it work. It’s also yummy any time of year – so it’s not something that you feel is a fall or winter-only dish. Versatile, easy & yummy…those are definitely perfect characteristics of a great crock pot dish, in my opinion. Note: even though I list the cooking time as 6-8 hours, this one can definitely go all day. We routinely let it go for 11 hours and it’s perfectly fine!

One other thing of note to parents of wee ones: we tend to serve the chicken and sauce separately, to keep the kiddos happy. It’s up to you how you want to serve it, but you may find that having them separate at the dinner table cuts down on some of the “I don’t want SAUCE!” complaints that we get from the little ones. In their defense, though, I would like to point out that it was dd’s suggestion to put it on bok choi this time out. Even though she didn’t eat all of her leaf tonight, the fact that she’d even suggest it means that the CSA experiment has already borne some seriously good fruit. Yeay!!

 

Crock Pot Sour Cream Salsa Chicken

Chicken, sauce, cheese & bok choi...OM NOM NOM

 

Prep Time: 5 mins

Cooking Time: 6-8hrs on LOW

Serves: 4

 

Ingredients

2 large boneless, skinless chicken breasts (1-1/4 to 1-1/2lbs total)

16 oz jar salsa

1 pkg (1/4 cup) low-sodium taco seasoning

2 Tb cornstarch

3 Tb water

1/2 cup sour cream

Optional toppings: shredded cheese, shredded lettuce

 

Make it Happen

1. Coat the inside of a 4qt crock pot with non-stick spray.

2. In a bowl, stir to combine salsa and taco seasoning. Spread a small amount of the mixture on the bottom of the crock pot, to create a small liquid bed for the chicken.

3. Place the chicken breasts in the crock pot. Pour the remaining salsa/taco seasoning mixture on top of the chicken evenly, so that the breasts are fully covered.

4. Cover and cook on LOW for 6-8 hrs (or up to 11 hrs, really, based on my experience).

5. Just before serving, remove the chicken breasts from the crock pot. If you plan to shred them, now’s a good time. Otherwise, just place them on a plate or in a serving bowl.

6. Mix the cornstarch and water in a small bowl and add to the salsa mixture in the crock pot; stir to combine.

7. Add the sour cream to the crock pot; stir to combine.

8. Either spoon the sauce over the chicken or place it in some other serving dish (we use a gravy boat). Serve the chicken and sauce with your choice of toppings (such as shredded cheese and lettuce) on your choice of bed/delivery vehicle (bok choi, soft tortilla, flatbread, rice, etc.).

Bok-os!

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Problem #1: the week 7 veggie box shows up with just over 2lbs of bok choi in it. Holy carp…what am I going to do with TWO POUNDS of bok choi?

Problem #2: the usual Saturday evening blahs over what to have for dinner on the one unplanned night of the week, and we were missing one of the usual key ingredients. We decided to make tacos, and though it took some convincing, I was finally able to persuade dh that if you have no ground turkey in the house, the taco gods will still approve of you making tacos with diced chicken. [We don’t typically use ground beef – the one exception being the “meatloaf mix” of ground beef and pork that we get from BJ’s a couple of times a year.]

…and then I said, “What if we use bok choi instead of taco shells?” We had taco shells in the house. As a matter of fact, we had two boxes of them, due to a shopping oops on my part a few weeks before. Still, the idea intrigued him. “So, what – it would be like the lettuce cups from PF Chang’s?” he asked. Yep, that was the idea.

So, we created the tacos in the usual fashion (less the ground turkey) and then put them on bok choi leaves instead of taco shells. The verdict? OMG, this may be the only way I have tacos again if I can ever help it. And thus, we proudly present…

BOK-OS!

Note also that this is a bit healthier than using the shells – at least 100 cal less. And, you get all the benefits of the hard shell (crunch!) with the benefit of the soft taco (no breakage!). It’s really a win-win situation.

Bok-os

Bok-os: Crunchy, soft, healthy...what a combination!

Prep Time: 5 mins

Cooking Time: 15-20 mins

Serves: 4

Ingredients

1 lb boneless, skinless chicken breasts

1 Tb olive oil

1/2 pkg reduced sodium taco seasoning

2/3 cup water

4 leaves bok choi, washed

toppings of your choice (we went with reduced fat sour cream, shredded monterey jack/cheddar blend, and medium-heat salsa)

Make it Happen

1. Dice the chicken breasts (small pieces) and cook with the olive oil in a large non-stick skillet over medium-high heat.

2. When the chicken is fully cooked, add the taco seasoning and water; stir to combine and stir frequently throughout cooking to ensure no sticking.

3. Once the majority of the liquid is gone from the pan, remove the chicken from the heat. Serve on leaves of bok choi (one per person), with the toppings of their choice, and fold the leaf as you’re eating it (like a soft taco shell).