I'm back to share a new weekend night-in recipe with you guys tonight.
I have to admit, this one isn't all that creative, but it wasn't too shabby either! ;)
Last night, I knew it would be best for us to hunker down and stay in tonight with all of my studying this weekend and the moving-related expenses piling up.
I scratched my head a little, and knew a crock pot dinner would be the best option since I'd be tired from studying all day & probably not in the mood to cook up a storm in the kitchen once I got home.
You might have noticed I've been doing a LOT of crock pot stuff lately. It's just so easy peasy and it really never fails me! :) Plus, who doesn't love coming home to that delicious smell??
I promise next week I will have an non-slow-cooker recipe for you all, but for now, let's get to it!
I search online and found some recipes for Crock Pot Chicken Alfredo. This sounded AH-mazing, because I feel like we've been doing so much tomato-based stuff lately, so I was ready to switch it up.
As they will, plans kinda changed once I got to the grocery store. I mosied on over to the "Pasta Sauce" aisle at Whole Fizzle expecting to find a wide variety of deliciously over-priced Alfredo sauces.
Not so much.
Whole Foods had a HU-mungo selection of pasta sauces (this pic probably shows about 1/10th of the selection), but I was dumb-founded to find only ONE Alfredo sauce in the entire aisle. That's right -- UNO. Do you see that little guy there towards the middle?? It's like playing Where's Waldo trying to find a white sauce in this store!
I decided to roll with it, and picked up the one-and-only choice. I had a mini heart attack. That little sucker has like 5000 calories in it and 500 million grams of fat.
I don't expect Alfredo sauce to be made with lettuce, but seriously, this was not happening. My thighs were screaming "don't dooo it!!"
I stared at the selection for about 10 minutes, and finally landed on this choice:
Lucini Savory Tomato Parmigiano Sauce
This stuff looked & sounded yummy -- and it bosted EVOO, 100% au naturale, and no sugar added. Sign me up!
After witnessing the fairy tale this morning, I got to cookin'.
Jessica's Hodge Podge Crock Pot Chicken
3 boneless, skinless, chicken breasts, cubed
1 onion, finely chopped
2 red bell peppers, sliced up into 1/2 inch(ish) pieces
2 cups of broccoli florets (fresh or frozen works just fine!)
1 jar of your choice of pasta sauce (next time, I will try Alfredo)
1/2 to 1 full cup of dry white wine (I used some leftova sauvignon blanc)
1 tsp minced garlic
2 teaspoons of dried basil
Step #1: Pull out yurr Crock Pot, and get her plugged in.
Step #2: Layer the pepper slices on the bottom of the pot.
Step #3: Add broccoli florets on top of the peppers.
Step #4: Throw the onion, followed by the minced garlic, into the mix.
Step #5: Layer the cubed chicken on top of the mixture.
Step #6: (The best part, IMO) Pour the wine into the crock pot.
**Tip: I like to pour any added "liquids" down the sides of the pot, so that whatever is on the bottom stays moist.
Step #7: Pour the entire jar of pasta sauce on top of the chicken (spread evenly so it's all covered).
Step #8: Sprinkle the basil on top of the sauce.
Step #9: Cover the pot with the lid and turn it onto "low."
Step #10: You know the drill..."set it, and forget it!" Let your meal cook all day (mine cooked for about 8 or 9 hours, and was perfecto!).
Behave Potty! I'll eat you later!
Step #11: Come home to the amazing smell of a delicious meal.
Serve this dish alone with some freshly grated Parmesan (if you want a stew-like dish), or with some whole wheat linguine for a little more substance.
This stuff hit the spot!
The chicken was juicy, the veggies were perfectly cooked, and the sauce was the j.a.m.
I even used REAL shredded Parmesan cheese, not the fakey stuff in the green plastic container.
I think the wine I used for this recipe would be great for sippin along side the meal. It was a super inexpensive Sauvignon Blanc (right around $10), courtesy of Woodbridge.
Can't go wrong, it's very light & refreshing for Spring!
This one might have been a hodge podge, but I think it will be making the rounds in our house again in the near future. Happy bellies.
I hope you all have a great night & weekend!
I'm off to try to convince Justin to watch Little Fockers. Heheh :)
xoxo
Jess
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