Crockpot Whole Chicken

It's silly to call this a recipe because it's not really, it's so freaking easy too!

I saw this dish on pinterest a while ago and started making it a few months ago. It's SOOOO easy. To be honest, it's not cheaper than buying a rotisserie - I don't know how on earth Costco gets that price down, but I think it tastes better and I love knowing exactly what is going in this.

Ingredients:
1 whole chicken (cheapest to buy the two whole chickens at costco)
any seasoning salt mix (or make your own)
either tinfoil or potatoes to make a "rack" in crockpot

That's it!

If you're using tinfoil, make about 4 big balls and set at the bottom of the crockpot. As the chicken cooks, it releases a lot of liquid, so this prevents the liquid from making the chicken soggy.



You can also use potatoes as your rack, just rest the chicken on top and the liquid that drips out will cook the potatoes with a yummy flavor.



Take your whole chicken and generously sprinkle with your seasoning mix on the inside and out. Make sure to get on the underside of the wings and legs.



Stuff with an onion.



Place on your rack and cook on high for 4 hours.



Halfway through cooking, flip the chicken, and re-season it (generously again).

You can leave the crockpot on warm for 2 hours after the 4 hours high cooking.

This comes out with a crispy skin like a rotisserie and a very tender/juicy meat!

Of course I don't have a picture of the finished product, but imagine a rotisserie. The closest thing I have is it sliced in a tin that you can't really see during dinner - it's the one closest to me:


You like our candid expressions?
Aw I miss you Charlie!

Random Brisket Recipe in the Crockpot

Last Friday, my mom texted me asking if I could make a meat dish for that night, like a brisket. I said sure why not, and went to costco to get the meat. I would normally need some more time for this dish but decided to chance it. It was great but would have been much better if it had cooked for 1-2 more hours.

I kept it simple and used the following:


-1 onion
-3/4 cup brown sugar
-1 beer (any beer really works - you can use coke as well)
-a heaping tablespoon of "garlic garlic" (or use minced garlic, fresh or jarred, same amount).
-(not pictured): 1 cup of low sodium chicken broth (I don't keep beef broth on hand but that would have obviously worked too)

Plus the meat, obviously, and kosher salt and pepper. I don't remember how big the brisket was, but honestly, just cook it for like 6 hours on low in the crockpot whether its 3 pounds or 5 pounds. I think mine was closer to 5.

Before you stick the meat in the crockpot, sear it on both sides. I put a bunch of salt and pepper on both sides and didn't use oil on the cast iron skillet - the meat has enough fat.



I would say sear it on medium high for about 4-5 minutes per side.

Meanwhile, chop up your onion, and put the rest of the ingredients in the crockpot:


I didn't add any salt or pepper to the sauce in the crockpot because I salted the meat pretty well.

Flip your meat to make sure it's browned everywhere:


Move your meat into the crockpot, and deglaze the cast iron with the chicken broth:


Let it reduce in half and pour it on top of the meat.

Cook on low for 6-8 hours. Slice your meat when finished and drizzle generously with the sauce.

Honey-Soy-Sesame Chicken

Cravings: the best crockpot chicken recipe I know

While at my sister in law's I got the chance to do some cooking! Unfortunately everything got put into tupperware and eaten up before I snapped a picture of the finished result. But trust me, it's DELICIOUS.

I made this for Charlie a few months ago and he constantly requests it.

Ingredients:

-nonstick spray (not pictured)
-4 (or more) boneless, skinless, chicken breasts, fat trimmed
-1/2 cup of honey
-1/2 cup of soy sauce
-1 small onion, or 1/2 large onion, diced
-1/2 tbs minced garlic
-1/4 cup of ketchup
-tsp (or more) of cajun seasoning, or red pepper flakes
-1 tbs vegetable or canola oil
-2 tbs sesame seeds
*I accidentally had corn starch in this image, whoops!*


Directions:
1. Spray the crock pot with non stick spray. Put your chicken in the crock pot. I am a firm, firm believer in always salting your chicken. Except for this in this recipe. There really is no need with all the soy sauce, and the fact that it will sit in this sauce for 6 hours.
2. Mix all the rest of the ingredients (excluding corn starch!), in a medium mixing bowl. Pour over chicken breast.
3. Cover and let cook on low for 5-6 hours.

That's it! It's ready. Go eat it.


It can cook for 8 hours if you want to put it on before work or before going to bed, but it's ready after 5-6. Some people say you can cook it on high for 3-4 hours, and you can, but I don't think it comes out as good. If you do not have a crock pot, put it in a dutch oven at 200 degrees for 6 hours.

Chili Verde

I have several bags of frozen green chilis in my freezer that our friends left us when they PCS'd to a new base. (PCS means permanent change of station for the military and happens every few years).

Ingredients:
-About 3-4 pounds of any stewing meat, cubed. I used pork chuck, but you can use chicken thighs, beef chuck, even turkey loins!
-One bottle of beer. I used miller light because we have it around, but you can use any!
-One small can of tomato paste, plus 2 cans of water
-Salt and pepper, to season the meat
-2 tbs Chili powder
-1 tbs Cumin
-1 tsp cinnamon

Directions:
1. Season both sides of the stewing meat with salt and pepper. Sear for about 3 minutes on high heat on both sides.
2. Transfer to a crock pot. Add the rest of the ingredients. Cook on low for 6-8 hours.
3. Enjoy!

*This can be a healthy recipe if you use lean meat such as chicken or turkey breast, or a lean pork loin*

A night downtown

We both love Vegas and no matter where the AF takes us we know we want to end up here (maybe not permanently but for a long time). I know now we're going to get pcs orders within the year, now that I've put it out there for the universe. But we'll be back here.

One thing we dont like about Vegas is its lack of a true downtown where you can around, shop, have a coffee, a beer, etc. Every major city has one and we don't. I know we have the strip etc but there really isn't the down to earth jeans and flip flops bar area, or the places where you can just randomly walk around and explore new stores and restaurants.

The Andersens (Jeff was Charlie's roommate in UPT and are our business partners now) decided to get a babysitter and go out and invited us to join them. SOMETHING MADE CHARLIE GO OUT!!! Thanks Jeff and Allison!  Although it's not the downtown we crave, it was fun and different. There are definitely interesting people there. As we were walking around the arts district Charlie made certain that we agreed on private school for our future children :-)

It's first Friday so they had all the local artists at the arts district. We saw this and thought my parents would like it for their house with the copper.

What do you think mom?

I had a very pink drink that was blood orange and something with champagne:


Picture came out good so I wanted one of me and my man:

Something was funny but I don't know what. Look at what a gentleman holding my jacket!


I like this picture because you can see the Stratosphere in the background.

There was a car show type thing and this van was just too funny:


We wanted to go to fremont and do the zip line but we ended up eating at Hugo's Cellar and got stuffed and then Jeff and Allison had to go home for the babysitter and me and Charlie have to wake up early to go hiking with Nikki at Red Rock. The restaurant is very cute and delicious and although it's not inexpensive, it includes sides and an AMAZING salad and chocolate covered strawberries for dessert.

Here is a picture of Jeff and Allison w/their food - Jeff got the smaller of the two options for his steak and I don't think this picture really does it justice.


I was stuffed although my portion was much smaller, I had a seafood trio so Charlie helped and I only had a bite of his steak, so I felt okay. I also had a total vegan lunch so I felt better. Last night I put veggie ground in the slow cooker with several of the green chilis the Mountains left us, one whole onion, tomato paste and two cans of water, one miller light, 1 tbs cumin, 2 tbs chili powder. Cook on low all night. I added one can of black beans and one can of kidney beans today. Yum!


Not sure it's the most aesthetically pleasing picture but it's chili, come on! Katy came over to help finish the bookshelves and she and I couldn't tell it was vegan, although Charlie claims he could. Maybe next time I'll add bacon grease. (oh wait......)