Super easy crockpot tomatillo salsa chicken

Hello!

Thank goodness it’s finally Thursday!

Is it just me or has this been the longest week ever?

I don’t know what it is but I’ve been struggling to get out of the house on time each morning. “On time” in my world is early so it’s not like I’ve been late to work, I’ve just been less early. #firstworldproblems

But still, that’s not like me. I’ll be glad when the weekend is here! Maybe I can recharge my inner clock and get my mornings back in gear.

Although, I’m fairly certain I know why I was dragging a little this morning.

A quick thunderstorm rolled through last night. I know this because I was awakened at 12:30 by the LOUDEST and LONGEST clap of thunder I have ever heard. Seriously, I swear it was right about the house! And then, immediately afterwards, I suddenly had a 60 pound dog blanket.

Yep, this girl is afraid of thunder storms.

Luckily, the rest of the thunder rumbles were low and far away in the distance so she calmed down pretty quickly and decided to just lay next to me instead of on top of me. 🙂

 So, I’ve been using the hell out of my crockpot this week.

I’m hitting CrossFit after work every day so by the time I get home, I’m hungry and I don’t want to think about what’s for dinner.

I thawed some chicken breasts from the farmer’s market and decided to put this jar of tomatillo salsa we found at Harris Teeter to good use!

Super Easy Tomatillo Salsa Chicken
serves about 6, depending on how many chicken breasts you use

2 large boneless, skinless chicken breasts (or use a combo of breasts & thighs, if you prefer)
1 jar tomatillo salsa (make sure you read the ingredients and avoid fake stuff like high fructose corn syrup, etc)
1/2 cup chicken broth (I added this to cut down on the “green-ness” of the salsa)
salt and pepper to taste
Hot steamed rice
Black beans, rinsed and drained (optional)

Place chicken breasts in crockpot. Top with salsa and chicken broth. Season with salt and pepper.

Cook on low 8 hours. Serve over rice (and black beans), if desired.

OM NOM NOM!!!

I’ll be honest – the leftovers for lunch the next day were even better than the original dinner. So, if you can, make enough for leftovers!

Talk to me: Do you prefer red salsa or green salsa? Do you have any pets afraid of thunderstorms? Have you ever tried the “thunder coat?”

We’ve considered it but it’s expensive (like $60!) and it’s not like we can leave her in it all day during spring/summer when severe thunderstorms pop up without warning. THAT couldn’t be good for her.

– jennifer

Fun and games! + Cumin Chicken and Black Beans with Artichoke Salsa

Hello, hello!

You’ll never believe what we did at CrossFit this morning!

Our warm-up was …. FREEZE TAG!

Seriously!!  We were like a bunch of little kids running around the box!

But, it wasn’t just your plain ole boring version of freeze tag where you’re frozen until someone “unfreezes” you.  Oh no.  This was special.

If you were tagged, you had to do air squats (1st game), push ups (2nd game), and burpees (3rd game).

I didn’t end up doing the air squats because I was a tagger for that one.  Had a blast chasing people around! 🙂

And boy was I trying to avoid the tag during the burpees round.  Was all out sprinting at times!  Haha!

It really was a creative and fun way to warm up!

Then, we did a girl WOD today – Isabel.

Isabel is 30 snatches for time.  Rx weight for ladies was 65#.

We worked on our one rep max leading in to the WOD.

I got up to 75#!

I did one and Joe walked by and made a comment about me using my hips more.

Of course, after that, I couldn’t do another because I was focusing on my hips and not on just doing it.  I think I probably could have done another – or, maybe, that really is my one rep max.  Either way, I power snatched 75#!!  WOOT!

So, of course, 65# for the WOD was easy peasy.

Um, no.  Who am I kidding?  It was definitely NOT easy.

But, I knocked it out in 4:06 and I was pretty darned pleased with my performance. 🙂

I’ve really come a long way with regards to the snatch.  It’s amazing to me sometimes when I think back about how much trouble I had with 45#.

I love getting stronger!

source

So, last night, I was wiped out from yesterday’s track workout and a full day at work and was so totally not in the mood to cook when I get home.

I really try to plan ahead but, sometimes, I just don’t want to do anything.

But, I was hungry (as usual).

And so was everyone else.

So, I had to figure something out that didn’t involve ordering a pizza.

I grabbed a few things from the pantry and some chicken breasts from the fridge.

And dinner happened.

Cumin Chicken & Black Beans with Artichoke Salsa

serves 4

1 bag brown rice (cooks for 10 minutes in the microwave)
4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
2 teaspoons ground cumin
Salt, to taste
2/3 cup black beans (or use more – Thing 2 wished there were more)
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 can (14 ounce) artichokes, drained and chopped
1 cup tomatoes, chopped (I didn’t have fresh so I pulled about 4 out of a can of peeled whole tomatoes)
1/4 cup onion, chopped (I used yellow but red would be good, too)
1/4 cup parsley, chopped
1 lemon, optional
salt and pepper, to taste

1. Prepare the rice according to the package directions.

2. Combine artichokes, tomatoes, onions and parsley in small bowl. Season with salt and pepper.

3. Pat the chicken dry, cut into chunks and season with the cumin and salt. Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add chicken and cook until almost cooked through. Add black beans and cook until chicken is done.

4. Serve chicken and black beans over brown rice and top with artichoke salsa. Garnish with a squeeze of lemon, if desired.

5. Om nom nom!

Questions:  When was the last time you played freeze tag?  Or duck duck goose?  Or any game you played as a kid?  What was your favorite?

We used to play a version of hide and seek/freeze tag in the  dusk/dark.  Gotta love summertime!!  Front porch was base and the idea was to hide and try to make it back to base without getting tagged.  LOVED that game as a kid!

– jennifer