Baked Balsamic Chicken

Ingredients:
1/4 cup soy sauce
1/2 cup barbecue sauce
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
1/4 cup honey
1 tbsp. chili powder
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 tbsp. fresh ginger, grated
3-4 lbs. chicken pieces (whole fryer cut up, skinned, and left on the bone)

Directions:
Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Mix the soy, barbecue sauce, vinegar and honey together.
Add the garlic, chili powder and ginger and blend in well.
Dip the chicken pieces into the sauce covering them well.
Arrange the chicken pieces in a single layer on a baking sheet. Bake 60 minutes or until the chicken is no longer pink inside.

Put chicken in crock pot, pour sauce over it, cook on low for 3-4 hours
I used the sauce as the liquid when making some rice to go with it - oh so good!!

Chicken Chili

Ingredients
1 tablespoon vegetable oil (1/2 T)
1 3/4 pounds ground chicken breast (1 lb)
1 teaspoon kosher salt (1/2t)
2 garlic cloves, minced (2 cloves pressed)
1 medium onion, finely diced (1/2 medium onion chopped)
2 tablespoons Mexican-style hot chili powder (1/2 t chili powder)
1 teaspoon ground cumin (1/2 t)
1 (14.5 oz.) can chicken broth (1 1/2c broth)
1 (14 oz.) can crushed tomatoes (1 can diced tomatoes with green chilies *mild*)
2 tablespoons tomato paste (1 T ketchup)
1 (1 lb.) bag frozen bell-pepper strips, thawed (1 cup chopped green and yellow bell peppers)
1 (15 oz.) can small red beans, drained and rinsed (3/4 can)
Shredded cheese, optional
Chopped scallions, optional
Tortilla chips, optional

Preparation
Heat 1/2 the oil in a large saucepan over medium heat; add chicken and salt to pan. Cook chicken, stirring to break up meat, until it is crumbly and no longer pink, about 5 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer chicken to a plate.
Add remaining oil, garlic, onion, chili powder and cumin. Cook, stirring often until onion is tender, about 7 minutes. Stir in 1 cup broth, tomatoes and tomato paste (ketchup) and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 15 minutes. Stir in pepper strips and beans and simmer, stirring occasionally, until sauce is thick, about 10 minutes. Return chicken and any of its juices to saucepan and cook for 1 minute to heat through. Add remaining broth if needed to keep chili from being too thick

Serve with cheese, scallions and tortilla chips, if desired.

Slow Cooker Apricot Chicken

1 1/2 cups apricot preserves (3/4 cup)
1 cup Russian dressing (or California Honey French) (1/2 cup)
1 envelope dry onion soup mix (1/2 envelope*)
6 chicken breasts (whole fryer chicken cut up and skinned)
Penzeys Florida Pepper to taste

Mix together the preserves, dressing, pepper and soup mix.  Place chicken in bottom of slow cooker; pour mixture over chicken.  Cover and cook on High for 1 hour.  Reduce heat to Low and continue cooking for 3-4 hours.

*I pour the dry soup mix into a small bowl and spoon out all the onions and 1-2 additional teaspoons of the powder mix

Ready to cook

Slow Cooker Creamy Ranch Pork Chops and Potatoes

4-6 pork chops (3 pork shoulder blade steaks)
6-8 medium potatoes, chopped into large pieces (5)
2 cans fat-free cream of chicken soup (1 can)
2 packages dry Ranch dressing mix (1 package)
1 cup milk (3/4 cup milk)
1/3 of a green bell pepper, chopped
1/3 of a red bell pepper, chopped
1/4 of a large onion, chopped
Weber’s Garlic & Herb seasoning mix
Tony Chachere’s Cajun seasoning
black pepper
paprika
cumin
Dried parsley to sprinkle on top (optional) (didn’t use)

Lightly spray the bottom of your slow cooker with non-stick cooking spray and put potatoes on the bottom. Place the pork chops on top of the potatoes. Mix together the condensed soups, Ranch dressing mix, milk, peppers, onion, and seasonings *seasonings to taste*. Pour on top of the pork chops and cook on LOW for 6-7 hours or on HIGH for 4 hours.
Use the extra sauce in the slow cooker as a gravy for the potatoes and the pork chops – thicken in a separate pot by whisking in a corn starch and water mix that is just above a paste, stir over medium heat til thickened . Sprinkle with dried parsley if you want (didn’t want).

Honey Garlic Chicken

1½ pounds boneless, skinless chicken thighs (3 boneless, skinless, chicken breasts)
3 garlic cloves, chopped or grated (2 large cloves, pressed)
½ cup soy sauce
½ cup ketchup
½ cup honey
fresh basil, shredded, for garnish (omitted)

Place the chicken in the bottom of a 4-quart slow cooker. In a small bowl, whisk together the garlic, soy sauce, ketchup and honey. Pour over the chicken and cover.
Cook on low for 6 to 8 hours or high for 3 to 4 hours. (cooked mine on low for 3 hours) Remove chicken, place on a plate and tent with foil to keep warm. Transfer the remaining sauce to a saucepan and reduce down over medium heat until desired consistency is reached.  

Serve over rice & garnish with fresh basil.

Beer Crock Pot Chicken

Like Beer Can Chicken?
Then you may like this!

4-6 chicken breasts or 1 whole or cut up chicken
1 can of any kind of beer
1/2 tsp garlic powder (1 clove fresh garlic, pressed)
1/2 tsp basil (Perfect Pinch Italian seasonings)
1/2 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp kosher salt (omitted)
1/2 red bell pepper, chopped
1/2 medium onion, chopped
Weber's Garlic & Herb spice mix
Tony Chachere's Cajun seasoning

Put all ingredients into crock pot
If frozen cook on high 4-5 hours or low 8-10
If fresh cook on high 3-4 hrs or low 7-8 hours

Chicken Spaghetti

Ingredients
2 C cooked chicken (pack the cup) (shredded instead of pieces)
3 C uncooked spaghetti, broken into two inch pieces (works out to be 12oz uncooked noodles)
2 cans Cream of Mushroom soup (1 Cream of Mushroom & 1 Cream of Chicken)
2 C grated Sharp Cheddar cheese (1 cup Colby Jack)
¼ C finely diced green pepper*
¼ C finely diced onion*
1 jar (4oz) diced pimentos, drained (omitted pimentos, used red/orange bell pepper instead)*** 
2 cups reserved chicken broth from pot
1 teaspoon Lawry's Seasoned Salt (omitted Lawry's, any seasonings you think will taste good, to taste. I recommend salt free seasonings if you have them)
⅛ teaspoons (to 1/4 teaspoon) cayenne pepper (omitted)
Black pepper, to taste
1 cup additional grated Sharp Cheddar cheese (Monterey Jack)

Preparation Instructions
Cook and cut up 1 fryer and pick out the meat to make two cups (two large chicken breasts boiled in seasoned water).  Reserve 2 cups of the chicken broth. Cook spaghetti in remaining chicken broth until al dente. (I used 4C water with Better Than Bullion Garlic in it) Do not overcook, drain well. When spaghetti is cooked, combine with remaining ingredients except additional 1 cup sharp cheddar. (by using less cheese I didn’t need to use all the broth, add it in gradually, mixture needs to be easy to stir, not watery)  Place mixture in greased casserole pan (I greased it with a light coat of butter) and top with remaining sharp cheddar (Monterey Jack).
Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes until bubbly. If the cheese on top starts to get brown, cover with foil. **

*I didn't finely dice the peppers or onion - 1/4 in slices of all peppers and onion with a regular dice then sautéed until almost soft 
**I cooked it 20 minutes covered, 15 uncovered, added the cheese and cooked 5 more minutes
***Try adding 1/2C salsa and reducing the broth amount - brings a whole new flavor

You can make this ahead and save it (do not bake if you are saving it)
Cover and refrigerate up to two days 
Cover and freeze up to six months