Crockpot Masala Chicken & Chickpeas

January 20, 2015 by Jennifer

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 (5)

September 29, 2014 by Jennifer

Hello, hello!

I finally got back on my Sunday food prep program. Now I feel so much more prepared for the week!

And, it’s going to be a busy one.

But, that’s good, right? It should make the week fly by!

But then, it also makes Christmas get here a little sooner and I’m not sure I’m ready for that yet.

Pssst…..there are only 86 more sleeps until Christmas……

And, moving on.

So, what went down in my kitchen yesterday?

Well, I started off my day by making some Crockpot Steel Cut Oats – the apples and cinnamon variety.

I used this recipe from The Yummy Life – used lite coconut milk instead of fat free. I also added the butter (cuz butter is awesome).

DO NOT FORGET TO SPRAY YOUR CROCKPOT WITH NON-STICK SPRAY!!!

Trust me.

It made four servings, perfect for quick reheating in the morning or as my 2nd breakfast at work. 🙂

Add in your toppings of choice.

Continuing on the scents of Fall theme, I decided I needed to make enough chili to feed a small village.

I found this recipe from Perry’s Plate and decided to give it a try.

I only made a couple of changes to fit our preferences – I went with a full teaspoon of the cayenne, I added 1/2 teaspoon of this fancy new Ghost Pepper sauce (um, ghost pepper is seriously hot) I got, and at the 3 hour mark, I added in 1/2 cup of pumpkin.

Yes, that’s random but you’ll understand further down in the post. 🙂

My only complaint is that the chili was not as thick as we would prefer. When I was transferring it to containers, I ended up using a slotted spoon so I could get the goods and I left a lot of the soupiness behind.

It was really tasty – and, no, you won’t be a fire breathing dragon even with my additions – and the meat literally falls apart.

This will serve as lunches and dinners through the week. 🙂

And finally, ever since the Pumpkin Spice Latte made its way back to the Starbucks® menu, it seems the whole world is on a massive pumpkin kick.

So, I’ve been thinking about something different I could do with pumpkin.

I’ve made pumpkin brownies before (another kind here) but I didn’t just want to do that again.

What about brownie cookies?!

Genius!!

These little things are all soft and chocolately and pumpkin spicy and delicious! I couldn’t be happier with the way they came out!

And on the first try, even!!

I’ll share the recipe in tomorrow’s Tasty Tuesday post.

You’ll be okay. You can wait. I promise. 🙂

Finally, crockpots of yumminess bubbling away and neither one is dinner?

Madness!

OH! The extra pumpkin! Well, I had a 1/2 cup left and that chili recipe said to stir occasionally and I’ve made Pumpkin Chili before so……yeah!

Variety is the spice of life and I decided to make a double recipe of my Chana ma-Chicken for dinner and give us an additional leftover option this week.

*side note: my sailor has taken to calling this china man chicken. He thinks he’s funny.

Even though I followed my own recipe, this turned out a little spicier than the last time.

That’s fine for us but if you don’t do spicy, ease back on the cayenne.

Serve over rice or couscous or with naan to mop up all the delicious juices!

Random Spam Comment: “What a material of un-ambiguity and preserveness of valuable familiarity concerning unexpected emotions.” This was in reply to my Quick Cinnamon Buns with Buttermilk Icing post.

Talk to me: Did you food prep this weekend? What did you make? Have you jumped aboard the pumpkin train?

– jennifer