Crockpot Masala Chicken & Chickpeas

Hi there!

Guess what day it is?!

Um, no. It’s not Wednesday. Yet. That’s tomorrow. Patience, grasshopper.

It’s Tasty Tuesday!!

After you check out my tasty new recipe and subsequently go to the grocery store to buy the ingredients so you can have it for dinner tomorrow, don’t forget to head on over to Lena’s page to check out all the other Tasty Tuesday yumminess!

Oh wait, check out her page first. She’s got tomorrow’s breakfast covered.  🙂

 I had picked up some organic boneless, skinless chicken thighs from Harris Teeter but I didn’t really have a plan for them.

I wouldn’t recommend doing that on a regular basis. If you’re me, you might forget that you bought them, never be inspired, never come up with a plan and then they’ll go bad and you’ve just wasted money.

Wasting money is bad.

BUT, turns out I was inspired!

I decided to make a riff on Chana Masala and my Chana ma-Chicken and use my crockpot to do the heavy lifting.

Yes, Chana ma-Chicken. I told you I need work on recipe naming. #dontjudgeme

When I got home from work, the house smelled so delicious with all the lovely curry and Indian spicy smells.

You know, it just occurred to me how much that must torture my dogs when I cook in the crockpot. A dog’s sense of smell is what, a bazillian times greater than ours? Can you just imagine the anguish they must feel smelling delicious dinner ALL DAY LONG and then, they don’t even get any?!

It’s quite possible that I’m the worst doggy mama ever.

Crockpot Masala Chicken & Chickpeas
serves 4-6

2-3 pounds boneless, skinless chicken thighs
1 can chickpeas, rinsed and drained
1 can (14.5 ounces) fire roasted diced tomatoes
1 tablespoon allspice
1 teaspoon garam masala
1 teaspoon turmeric
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground pepper
Cooked rice, for serving

1. Place chicken thighs and chickpeas in crockpot.

2. In a small bowl, mix diced tomatoes and spices. Pour over chicken and chickpeas. Cover crockpot and cook on low, 8 hours.

3. NOM. NOM. NOM.

 Talk to me: What’s your favorite chickpea recipe? How many times a week do you use your crockpot?

 

 

– jennifer

Sunday Food Prep – what went down in my kitchen (10)

Hello, hello!

Welp, Monday’s back…

…and that means I get to share my Sunday food prep adventures with you!

I was feeling less than inspired – much like the Redskins offense – and only accomplished a little – much better than the Redskins offense. *sigh*

I decided that I needed to make some brownies. Because … duh … brownies.

I’ve been fiddling with my recipe a little and I like what I did this time around. I decreased the flour (gluten-free) to 3/4 cup, only used 1 egg, subbed peanut butter chips for the dark chocolate chips, and threw in some chopped pecans from the pecan tree in our backyard. We have a few so I figured why not?

I also added a couple teaspoons of this new chia, hemp, and buckwheat cereal I found at the Fresh Market.

These are definitely winners! Not overly sweet and dense but still thick and fudgy. Just the way a brownie should be! Have you tried them yet?

I roasted a chuck roast in my crockpot.

I defrosted some homemade chicken broth and used that as the liquid. I skipped all the fanciness and just went with salt and pepper and a little bit of garlic powder as my seasonings.

For a girl who doesn’t like pot roast, I was really reluctant to share!  So good!

My sailor and I had some last night for dinner with some quinoa and roasted broccoli and there’s plenty leftover for a few sandwiches or to top a sweet tater throughout the week. 🙂

This broccoli. It’s like veggie crack. Seriously, I could eat the whole pan.

Finally, I decided to make a loaf of The Lean Green Bean’s Dutch Oven bread.

Yeah, yeah, I know. I’m not doing that whole gluten thing right now.

Well, I’ve been gluten free for a few weeks now and I’ve been assessing my tummy situation. I’m not exactly sure that gluten is the problem (I see my doc tomorrow and we’ll discuss all the tummy things then) and I read Erin’s post about why she stopped being gluten free and it really resonated with me. I mean, I don’t eat a lot of gluten anyway (as long as I don’t eat an entire baguette in one sitting!) but I also wasn’t having any of those other, more serious issues like balance and headaches, etc.  So, unless a test comes back indicating that I need to eliminate all gluten, I figure I’ll eat it in moderation. And maybe only in homemade foods so I can control all the ingredients.

Like in this bread.

Which, incidentally, I made with 2 cups of whole wheat flour and 1 cup of gluten-free flour and, while the loaf might be smaller than one that uses all gluten-y flour, it was still pretty delicious toasted and smeared with avocado this morning. And my tummy wasn’t mad. 🙂

Random Spam Comment Time!

…in response to this post

“Today, I went to the beach with my kids. I found a sea shell and gave it to my 4 year old daughter and said “You can hear the ocean if you put this to your ear.” She put the shell to her ear and screamed. There was a hermit crab inside and it pinched her ear. She never wants to go back! LoL I know this is totally off topic but I had to tell someone!”

Talk to me: Have you ever done an “elimination” diet? What did you eliminate? What did you learn about yourself?

– jennifer

Friday favorites – 5 things I’m loving lately

Hi there!

Happy, happy, happy Friday!!!

source

And Friday means it’s time for me to share some of my favorite!

I’ve got 5 things I’ve been loving lately – some new, some not new.

One.

Can we please talk about this yogurt?

Holy. Cow.

My Harris Teeter stopped carrying my Stonyfield Organic nonfat plain greek yogurt (I literally threw a tantrum in the store when I realized it wasn’t just out of stock) so I’d been eating Chobani nonfat plain.

And then, I tried this. I’ve tried the Fage 0% before but still preferred my Stonyfield Organic. This Total 2% though.

BY FAR the best tasting yogurt I’ve ever eaten.

Smooth, creamy, FULL of flavor. SOLD. It’s my new fave. 🙂

Two.

You know how much I love sweet taters and I’m all about the sweet tater chips but a RUFFLED sweet tater chip?!

*SWOON*

They have the perfect crunch, will stand up to a dip if you so chose, and are just plain delicious.

Nothing fancy – just sweet taters, a little bit of oil, and sea salt. The only danger is I want to EAT ALL THE CHIPS.

Three.

I’m like a kid at the fair with this stuff! Except, this stuff is so much better than what you get in those oversized, strangely shaped bags.

I can be guilty of mindless snacking so I’ve been measuring out a serving – 3 cups. It seems silly but it’s actually the perfect amount. At least that way, I won’t UN-consciously eat the entire bag in one sitting. 🙂

Four.

These little cups of yumminess. I love them so.

They come in packs of 6 and I go through at least a pack a week.

I prefer the spicy but they do come in mild. Perfect for snacking with tortilla chips or veggies, perfect for topping leftover chili, perfect for putting on an omelet in the morning, perfect for EVERYTHING!

Five.

First time I’ve tried these Applegate Naturals sausages and I must say, I’m impressed.

They have terrific flavor, don’t take any longer to cook than the Al Fresco sausages I was eating, and I can feel better about them because they are made from humanely raised chickens that aren’t fed any strange hormones or antibiotics.

I mean, I’m a red head – I don’t need any more strange hormones coursing through my body. 😉

Plus, I like that they’re frozen – the Al Fresco were refrigerated – so they last longer. I can feel better about buying more when they’re on sale. 🙂

Talk to me: What things have you been loving lately?

– jennifer