Slow Cooker BBQ Chicken Cobb Salad

 

  Alright so I totally failed at starting a new blog.  I guess I admit I'm a little embarrassed.  You see, I was kinda hoping that this fresh start would inspire and motivate me to regularly blog since I was starting at square one.  That, plus a lot of the posts on this here blog were old and not very well written and consisted of weird formatting... blah blah.  But then I came to realize that this blog still has a ton of recipes that I love and will always come back to... and so what if the writing is a little immature? So what if a bunch of the recipes were posted in 2010?  This blog is me and it's just a fun outlet for me to write about food that I love.  Ha sounds a little cheesy.  

I'm not gonna stick to any set posting schedule, I'm just gonna post about recipes that I've made and both my husband and I have loved when I get the chance.  I don't post anything on here that (at least) I haven't loved! My husband is a little bit pickier than I am when it comes to healthier foods but he will still eat anything I put in front of him.  I always make sure to get his opinion on everything I make because his is a different perspective than mine.  I have very broad taste buds; I love trying new things whereas my husband already knows what he likes- and that's what he wants. 

This here recipe is super yum!  It's made in a slow cooker, so it's super easy.  I altered it a bit and made a homemade BBQ sauce instead of buying the bottled kind.  You can find that homemade recipe here.  I used one whole recipe for the chicken, but you could probably get away with halving it.  I had a lot of leftover sauce in the crock pot.

Slow Cooker BBQ Chicken Cobb Salad

adapted from Six Sisters' Stuff

Makes about 6 large salads

5 chicken breasts
1 recipe homemade BBQ sauce or 18 oz. bottle BBQ sauce
12 cups chopped Romaine lettuce
2 avocados, diced
3 Roma tomatoes, diced
1 green pepper, chopped
2 carrots, thinly sliced
6 slices of bacon, cooked and crumbled
3 hard-boiled eggs, diced
2 cups cheddar cheese

Other toppings you might want to add: cucumbers, red onion, green onion, bleu cheese . . . the possibilities are endless!

Directions:
Spray the inside of your crock pot with non-stick cooking spray. Place chicken breasts inside and pour the bottle of barbecue sauce on top. Cover with lid and cook on low for 4-5 hours (or high for about 2 1/2 hours). Take chicken out of slow cooker and cut into bite-sized pieces.
Once chicken is cut, assemble your salads. Place about 2 cups of lettuce on the bottom of your plate and top with the vegetables/toppings of your choice. Top salad with your favorite salad dressing (Ranch, Italian, Thousand Island- whatever you want! I prefer Ranch)

Bacon Cheddar Florentine Quiche

KAY so I'm just gonna get right down to it.  Never made quiche before today (yes I actually made this recipe today!) and I was pleasantly surprised at the easiness and deliciousness! I'm thinkin' this recipe might be on the repeat for this Sunday's morning brunch..

Bacon Cheddar Florentine Quiche
recipe adapted from the Picky Palate cookbook
serves ~4 main dish servings

2 cups spinach
1/2 cup white onion, chopped
1/2 pound bacon, chopped
8 eggs
1/4 cup milk
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
2 Tbsp. fresh parsley, chopped
1/2 cup cheese- cheddar or monterey jack
1 refrigerated pie crust (or frozen pie crust- I used this, or homemade pie crust)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Unroll the pie crust and put in a 9-inch pie plate.  Poke the bottom of crust with a fork several times.  Put chopped bacon in large nonstick skillet over medium heat until it is cooked through, about 10 minutes.  Place bacon on a paper-towel lined plate.  Discard all but 2 tablespoons of the bacon grease. Add spinach and onion to the reserved grease over medium-high heat and cook until onions are tender and spinach is wilted, about 5 minutes.
When oven temperature is ready, bake pie crust for about 10 minutes to pre-bake it (do not need this step if using a frozen pie crust).  In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs, milk, salt and pepper.  When crust is done baking, take out of the oven and spread the spinach and onion mixture over the pre-baked crust, and top with the bacon. Pour egg mixture over, and then top with parsley and cheese.  Bake in the oven for 30-35 minutes, until eggs are set.  Let cool for about 5 minutes before cutting into wedges.

Pioneer Woman's Breakfast Burritos

Here's my picture:

 

Here's her picture:

Umm. Let's just pretend I took both, okay? But for real, this is PIONEER WOMAN we are talking about here.  The first here recipe of hers that I've tried and LOVED!

If you are unfamiliar with Pioneer Woman, just google her.  Or turn on the Food Network because she and her ranch family have made their debut on the small screen now, too.  She is known for her love affair with butter and more butter and/or cheese but her recipes just all seem like true comfort food at its finest.  And these were the very best breakfast burritos I have ever had.  My husband, who adores anything with eggs and/or burritos also agreed.

This recipe is in Pioneer Woman's, otherwise known as Ree Drummond's, cookbook that I got at my wedding.  When I am bored I will pull out that cookbook and just drool over the pictures and recipes.  If only food that food had zero calories, right?  Sigh...

Her recipe calls for her breakfast potatoes, which recipe I included.  However, I didn't have time to cook potatoes so I just used about 1 1/2 cups or so of frozen hash browns.  They were even shredded.  But it still turned out fabulous!

 Breakfast Burritos  

(can easily half this recipe- calls for making 12 servings but I halved and it made about 5 burritos,) from The Pioneer Woman

Ingredients

• 1 whole Recipe Of Ree's Basic Breakfast Potatoes* or 1 1/2 cups frozen hashbrowns
• 1 pound Breakfast Sausage
• 2 red bell peppers, seeded and roughly chopped
• 10 whole Eggs
• 1 teaspoon seasoned salt, such as Lawry's
• black pepper to taste
• 1/4 cup half-and-half (I used 2% milk)
• 2 Tbsp. chopped fresh chives
• 2 cups grated Monterey Jack Cheese
• Flour Tortillas
• picante sauce

Preparation Instructions

1. Begin by browning the breakfast sausage over medium heat. Drain off grease and reduce the heat to low.  Next, add the Basic Breakfast Potatoes and red bell peppers and stir to combine.  Cook over low heat for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.

2. Crack the eggs into a bowl.  Add the seasoned salt, pepper, half-and-half and whisk to beat the eggs lightly.  

3. Add the chives and Monterey Jack and stir to combine.

4. With the heat still on low, pour the egg mixture over the sausage/potato mixture.

5. Now, with a spoon or spatula, very gently stir the mixture.  The potatoes will break apart if you stir too much, so go easy.

6. Continue lightly cooking over low heat until eggs are set.

7. Now taste and adjust the seasonings, adding more seasoned salt, pepper or cheese if desired.

8. To assemble, warm the stack of tortillas in the microwave for about 30 seconds.  Place a heaping spoonful of egg mixture into the middle of a warm tortilla.  Add more cheese if desired.

9. Tuck in the sides, then roll the tortilla until closed.  

10.  Wrap in foil sheets and keep warm until ready to serve.  Serve with picante sauce.

Basic Breakfast Potatoes

Ingredients

• 4 whole (to 5) Large Red Potatoes
• 1 whole Onion
• 1 Tablespoon Vegetable Or Canola Oil
• 1 Tablespoon Bacon Fat (optional)
• Salt And Pepper, to taste
• Red And Green Bell Peppers, Diced (optional)

Preparation Instructions

Place potatoes in a large pot and cover entirely with water. Bring to a boil and cook until potatoes are fork tender. (Or place potatoes on a baking sheet in a 375 degree F oven for 34 minutes or until fork tender.) When they are ready, place the potatoes on a cutting board and dice them into 1-inch pieces.
Next cut up an onion into a large, rough dice.
In a large skillet heat oil and bacon fat over medium-low heat. Put the onions in the skillet and sauté until they start to turn brown. (You can also use red and green bell peppers diced up. If you do, throw them in at this point).
Next, throw in the diced potatoes. Stir well and then slightly press/pack then. Now you will cook them without stirring for several minutes. You want the pan to be hot enough to crisp the potatoes but not hot enough to char them. (Optional step: sprinkle a bit of flour over potatoes as they cook). Cook for several minutes and then flip them with a spatula. Salt and Pepper them as they cook. Cook until desired brownness.

Healthy Meal/Snack Ideas

Well, it has been a while since I last posted.  My time was well-spent, however, in beautiful Utah, sunny Las Vegas, and then rainy Flagstaff, Arizona over the past week and a half.

I met my cheer team in Utah on the 23rd for practice, and then we left that next Monday to leave for cheer camp in Vegas.  Practices were very long and camp was pretty strenuous, but we came out alright; we won a gold bid to the NCA cheerleading Nationals competition next April- basically they will PAY US ($25,000) to go to Nationals and compete!

After I got back, I left the very next day to go to the cinders by Sunset Crater, just outside of Flagstaff, Arizona to camp out and ride quads/motor vehicles with the family.  It was a blast!

But, back to more serious matters; my new goal is to eat REALLY well these next couple of weeks before I go back to Utah for yet more cheer practice.  I have to.  I will.  This blog could even possibly become my food journal, just to keep me on track.  Just saying.

I ate pretty well today; here are the things I ate that I would recommend as healthy meals/snacks.

BREAKFAST:

I had a bowl of the new Banana Walnut "Hearty Medleys" oatmeal from Quaker with a packet of Splenda sweetener and half of a banana's worth of slices.  

It was really delicious, but my only complaint is that these oatmeal packets are extremely small!  You only use 1/3 cup of water to make it, as opposed to 2/3 cup for most Quaker oatmeal packets, yet both have about the same calories.  Hence, I was a little disappointed.

LUNCH:

I love eating eggs for lunch!  This was an Egg Beaters scramble I came up with that was super easy and really good.

Turkey & Tomato Egg-Beaters Scramble 

1/2 c. liquid egg substitute, such as Egg-Beaters

1/2 medium tomato, chopped

4-5 slices turkey breast, chopped

1/4 c. fat-free cheddar cheese, shredded

salt and pepper to taste

Spray a medium skillet with nonstick cooking spray.  Heat to medium heat.  Add egg substitute and let set for about 30 seconds to 1 minute.  Add tomato and turkey, and scramble until mostly cooked.  Add cheese, salt, and pepper, and continue to scramble until fully cooked.

Makes 1 serving

Nutrition:  approx. 165 calories 

SNACK:

PRETZELS & PEANUT BUTTER!

This is so delicious, and healthy too, if portions are kept under control.

STRAWBERRIES & VANILLA ALMOND BREEZE

I love this brand of Almond milk; it's really tasty and only 40 calories per cup! It makes a great substitution for milk for those who are lactose-intolerant.  It is not soy milk, either, although the taste is similar.  I prefer Almond Breeze to soy milk though!

This was the first time I tried strawberries & "milk" (I had heard it done before!) and I really loved it!!