Zesty Ginger Ale Chicken N' Veggies

SPRING has finally shown her glorious face here in the MW!! Thank heavens, because I was starting to get one serious case of fever folks! That polar vortex rubbish was no joke; it had me feeling all kinds of unmotivated and sluggish. Isn't it funny how just a little sunshine can really brighten our days? I'm feeling all kinds of energized now like my lil' solar battery of a spirit has been fully charged or I just chugged a pot of coffee, jug of soda, and a couple red bulls type of amped up! Fresh air, sunshine, and temps that don't freeze your face give me happy vibes galore. On another positive note, I just welcomed a new fur buddy to my pack, named Quagmire. He's a total ball of too much youngster energy (& a little creep lol)! If puppies can't lift your spirits and put a lil smile on your face and some pep in your step, I don't know that anything can!? FOR REAL, if you don't like puppies just hit the back button now, cuz we can't be pals, seriously though. N.E. WHO < Moving onto this Divine Ginger Ale Chicken, it's so freaking scrumptious peoples! I've seen numerous recipes for Dr.Pepper & Coke Pulled Pork, 7-Up Chicken, and I personally, adore BBQ Root Beer pulled pork, but what about some GINGER ALE MEATS YO?! It seemed like that left out, misfit soda in all these meaty creations on the inter web, so I decided to show it a little love and embrace its' unique gloriousness. PLUS, Ginger Ale just so happened to be on sale for 99 cents a 2 Liter (and whole chickens were on sale as well, so it was like the cosmos wanted me to make this glorious thrifty, chicken concoction for y'all lol)! Move over Dr.Pepper, Coke, and 7-UP, because it's Ginger Ales' time to shine ;)

Whatcha ' Need:

• 5-7 lb Whole Chicken (mine was slightly over 7lbs, and it will serve many of delish purposes to follow)
• 2 cups Ginger Ale (more/less depending on size of bird^)
• 5- 7 med/lg Russet or Idaho potatoes 
• 1 large onion (diced)
• 1/2 bag frozen green beans (or 1 can drained)
• 4 TBS Cold Butter or Margarine (cut into 4 slabs) 
• 1+ tsp each of lemon pepper, paprika, cumin, & Italian Blend seasoning
• 1/2tsp +/- garlic powder, oregano, salt, (& Cajun seasoning opt) 

First, gather all the dry spices, and place the recommended or desired amount in a small mixing bowl, and measure out the ginger ale and set it aside. Then lightly grease a large roasting pan w/ non stick cooking spray.

Next, rinse the inside & outside of the chicken in your sink, remove giblets/neck, and pat it dry w/ a paper towel. Place the bird breast side up in the middle of the greased pan.

Now, take the dry spices and rub them all over the outside of the bird, sprinkle inside, carefully, pull up on the chicken breast skin and rub spices underneath the skin as well. (wash those dirty bird hands after touching the raw chicken and b4 touching anything else to prevent spreading the funkies all over the place lol)

Sorry about the awkward view, but this way you can more easily see how I put the spices/butter under the skin as well ;)

Next, cut half a stick of butter into 4~ TBS sized slabs and place them underneath the chicken skin a top the breast region.

Adding butter under the skin makes for a super moist chicken if it's not over cooked ;)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees (F)

Now clean, remove funky spots, and cut the potatoes into nice hearty sized chunks like (6-8 chunks per potato or so). Spread them around the chicken in the pan along with the diced onion. Sprinkle the potatoes w/ a dash of the seasonings used to coat the bird (like 1/4 tsp or so just for extra flavour)

Pour the ginger ale over and inside the bird's cavity and on top of the potato/onion mixture in the pan.

Cover the chicken with aluminum foil and bake for about 1.5 hours depending on the size of the bird.

My chicken was slightly over 7lbs so I baked it for 1 hour and 45 minutes with the foil on. (about 20 minutes per pound is usually a good rule of thumb when making any large chunk of meat in the oven)

I removed the chicken from the oven, uncovered it, and basted it with the yummy pan juices. Then, put in the frozen (or drained can) green beans and placed the chicken back in the oven with the foil off for another 35-45 minutes or so (again depending on the size of your bird).

Many chickens have pop up timers, but they can not always be a great indicator of actual doneness so always test w/ a meat thermometer (and by wiggling the leg on the chicken) The thigh is the thickest part of the chicken, so if the leg seems super jiggly like it could fall right off with a slight tug and the juices are clear then the bird is most likely done, but again, always check with a meat thermometer if unsure, by inserting it in the thigh region of the chicken (not breast).

    

When that beautiful bird is all done let it nap/rest for about 10 minutes before carving into it so the juices will redistribute and you don't end up with a super dry chicken situation (icks lol). Now prepare to rock your world and wow the fam with this easy but SUPER YUMMY, zesty chicken dinner winner!

I hope you dig this dish! Thanks for popping in, and big HUGS!

Crockpot Strawberry Cinnamon Shredded Chicken (N' Waffles)

 I hope everyone had a wonderful Super Bowl. If the Chicago Bears had played.... it'd have been a lot better, but I'm not bias or anything ;) No, it was a really good game and the commercials were pretty excellent too! I'm a huge animal lover so of course the Budweiser commercial with the adorable lost puppy and gorgeous horses tugged at my ticker, as well as, the silly Sprint commercial with the screaming goats and donkey gave me a good giggle among others. Something about screaming goats always makes smile!?! I heard a 30 second commercial during the big game averaged around 4.5 million dollars! THAT'S JUST PLAIN CRAY CRAY lol! How are there hungry children or homeless people in the world, but these companies can fork over 4.5 million bucks for a 30 second ad during the Super Bowl? It is beyond absurd and horribly sad (in my opinion), really, but I'm not trying to get super heavy today. Let's keep it light, I suppose, and talk about my game day version of chicken n' waffles! This is a fun and SUPER SIMPLE twist on the classic fried chicken & waffles combo. As far as I'm concerned... these have to be a bit healthier than the fried version, I'm not labeling it diet friendly by any means, but it had to cut a few caloric corners by making them in the crock pot minus all the grease and extra breading! So yeah, we'll just pretend these are diet chicken n' waffles or at least less guilt inducing chicken n' waffles lol!

Whatcha' Need:

• 1.5-2 lbs Chicken Breasts
• 1/4-1/3 cup strawberry preserves (or jelly)
• 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 3 TBS brown sugar
• 2 TBS maple syrup
• 1/2 tsp of each red pepper flakes, lemon pepper, and minced garlic
• 1/4 tsp each Chili powder and Salt
• 2 TBS Lemon Juice
• 2 1/4 cups water 1 small yellow onion finely diced (opt)
• ~Maple Syrup, Crock pot, Waffle Iron, Butter~

Additional Materials: a boxed waffle/pancake mix and the ingredients listed to make the desired amount of waffles (IE eggs, oil, water~ I used Hungry Jack mix),  or make it even easier and use cooked frozen waffles or canned honey biscuits (I'll prob put it on some flaky biscuits next time cuz that sounds swell)! If you want to fancy it up even more make a homemade waffle recipe of your choice, I'll  find an easy one to include and place a link to it at the bottom for all my anti-boxed food folks out there. Either way, this chicken will taste great on just about any bread like vessel you choose ;) Such as... my jiffy corn and tater cakes, wink, wink here's a link to those beauts:  http://thriftytreehuggary.blogspot.com/2015/01/jiffy-corn-and-tater-cakes.html

Picture these lovelies topped some spicy sweet shredded chicken, OH YEAH ;)

I started by dicing my onion and layering it across the bottom of my crock pot. Then, I placed the chicken breasts on top of the onions and sprinkled it with all the dry spices.

In a small mixing bowl, I combined the preserves, water, brown sugar, lemon juice, and maple syrup to make a sauce or glaze of sorts. Then I poured it onto the chicken and onions in the crock pot, cover it with the lid, and cook it on high for 4 1/2 hours (you could also cook it on low for about 6 hours if you prefer, but I was hungry, so I cranked that baby up lol).

Not the prettiest pic ever but this was about 2. 5 hrs in and it smells devine!

When the chicken is fork tender, like so tender that when you attempt to poke it, it practically falls apart, remove it from the crock and place it in a large mixing bowl and shred it up with two forks. Mine was so tender by that time that I SERIOUSLY, barely had to apply any force to the ol' pulling process! The chicken didn't fight back at all, SCORE ~ Fall apart tender = WAY YUMMY :)

Once you have your chicken all nice and shredded, place it back into the crock pot with all those yummy juices and spices and cook for about 30 more minutes. While that is going down... start working on your waffles. I made a generous stack of waffles because this makes quite a bit of shredded chicken and I didn't want to bust out the waffle iron again later on (call it lazy ;) but I call it efficient, why work harder when we can work smarter right lol). I also cooked the waffles a bit darker and longer than usual because I didn't want a soggy situation on my hands.

When you have a nice stack of waffles ready and buttered, turn that crock off, and get ready to chow down. Place one large buttered waffle on a plate, and using a slotted spoon dish up a nice scoop of the chicken right on top of the waffle. Drizzle it with a little maple syrup and prepare for taste bud domination. This dish is crazy easy, fun, and super yummy &&& we can even claim it is a little healthier than it's fried friend! Winner, winner, Chicken n' Waffle Dinner.

Big Hugs and I hope you enjoy my funky twist on this classic dish!

My boyfriend topped his off with Shredded Mozz. Cheese and devoured it, despite him being a picky eater ;)

 


     Here's a link to an easy homemade waffle recipe for those feeling extra ambitious:
  http://www.melskitchencafe.com/classic-buttermilk-waffles-with-cheese/

Pulled BBQ Chicken and Baked Bean Chili

 Nothing shouts warm, happy, anti-polar vortex thoughts quite like BBQ Chicken. It's messy, carefree, soul food with a laid back summer living beachy kinda vibe. Am I right or am I right?! If summer had a flavor it'd have to be BBQ. Grill food, Juicy Melons, Pasta Salads, Icy drinks (sometimes spiked and w/ a lil' umbrella), and OF COURSE BBQ. But... when fall and winter come rolling around, we seem to forget all about our dearest pal BBQ until next summer, and embrace these so dubbed "winter/fall flavors." Why not keep summer alive in our icy hearts and BELLY, by combining the flavors of fall and summer into a warm and hardy, happy dish? BBQ, Chicken, Baked Beans and Corn sounds like summer goodness, right?! Only it's - 100 degrees out and freeze your face cold. But that's no reason to go all ANTI-BBQ CHICKEN! Whoever outlawed winter BBQ chicken and baked beans? Seriously tho, shame on them?!!! That's just ludicrous and this lil' foodie rebel is not gonna stand for it! NOPE ;) That's flavor discrimination and I'm not down with all that silly jazz. So today, I bring you a much needed splash of summer heat in a bowl, YUP, BBQ Chicken, Corn and Baked Bean Chili. These flavors taste just as good during freeze your face weather as they do during the I'm melting heat! So0... Let's do this dang thang my fellow foodie rebels :)

 Whatcha' Need:

• 1.5-2 pounds chicken breasts
• 1 cup BBQ Sauce w/ Brown Sugar (I'm a Sweet Baby Ray's Gal, but use what ever you want or what's on sale, switch it up)
• 1/2 cup ketchup
• 1 lg can Baked Beans (28 oz) not Drained (I used maple/brown sugar flavored with bacon) 
• 1 can Black Beans (drained)
• 1.5 cups frozen corn kernels
• 1 large onion, diced
• 1 can diced tomatoes (w/ peppers) not drained
• 1 jalapeno seeds and all or 1/4 cup diced jar pepper slices (OPT)
• 2 TBS Brown Sugar
• 1 TBS Vinegar (white or apple cider)
• 2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 28oz can of water ^ (+ 4 cups) 
• 2 tsp chili powder, 2 tsp paprika
• 1 tsp each lemon pepper and red pepper flakes
• 2 tsp garlic minced or dry and 2 tsp Salt  ~ Season to your tastes always~

Start off by placing the chicken breasts and 1/2 the various spices in a large pot. Cover the chicken with about 3-4 cups water and cover pot with a tight fitting lid. Over low/medium heat, bring the chicken to a boil, checking it and flipping it occasionally. 

 Boil for about 30-40 minutes with lid on (checking regularly/flipping the breasts a few times throughout) or cook until chicken is no longer pink and it becomes fork tender.

Turn off the heat and remove the chicken breasts from the pot and place them in a large mixing bowl, but DO NOT throw out the juices. It should be reduced down by about half by the time the bird is done and it is about equal to 2 cups broth without all the filler and unnecessary spent $.

This is now your broth/chili base. (For soups, chili and stews you really want to build layers of flavor from the bottom up, and low slow is always preferred, not that you couldn't rush the dish along if needed, but if you have the time, take it and you'll taste it)

Allow the chicken to rest or cool a few minutes in the large mixing bowl. Then, begin shredding the chicken with two forks by pulling the meat from opposite directions or allow it to cool enough to shred with your fingers. (Share any less appealing pieces with your pets who are probably eyeballing you right now lol!)

Once the chicken is shredded, place it back into the pot with the juices and spices aka you just made a homemade broth (THRIFTY AWESOME SAUCE).

Next, pour in all the remaining ingredients and stir well to combine.  

All the canned buddies ^

All the other veggies, additional spices, BBQ sauce, Brown Sugar , Ketchup, Vinegar and 28 oz of water

Heat on low/medium heat for about 1.5 hours (or longer) to really let the flavors develop. Stir occasionally throughout and reduce heat slightly if need be. (Also taste a bit of the juice and see if the seasonings need adjusting to your personal taste preferences. If so add a dash more of what you think might be lacking or needs balancing.)

Turn that winter-friendly BBQ beauty off and allow it to chill a few moments before topping it with a little shredded cheddar, sour cream, or garnish of choice. Buckle up and prepare to be transported to summer time where BBQ is all the rage and your belly button isn't cold anymore :) I hope you enjoy this fun twisted combo on 2 classic seasonal dishes!

P.S. Shout out to my lovely, kind Mama <3 for hooking it up with the fresh Chicken, Much love and Thanks for sharing your meat with me lady ;)

Creamy Kickin' Chicken Goulash

It's chilly here in the Midwest. I'm not complaining at all tho, because at the moment, NOT A BIT OF SNOW is covering the ground! For December.... that's pretty freakin' rare 'round here. Nonetheless, it's def not sandals weather (though occasionally, with weather in the 40's range, you will spot Midwest peeps attempting to rock them lol). Back to the subject, when it's cold out I reach for warm, hardy comfort foods. Soups, stews, casseroles, CHILLY, cookies, pastas, and GOULASH are just a few of my CHILLY time favorites! I especially, love spicy food in the winter. I'm a firm believer that spicy foods are healing foods (for serious). Next time you feel a cold coming on and have a stuffy nose, eat something spicy (not your Grandma's version of spicy tho) and BAM, no more nasal congestion, I promise! Just stating the facts here peoples.  :)

You know you want some :)

 Growing up, to me, goulash was like the fancy, legit version of the boxed family favorite Hamburger Helper. Not that I haven't eaten my fair share of ALL the varieties of Hamburger Helper, but nothing really compares to a homemade goulash, not even Hamburger Helper. Even better, goulash is quick, super easy and might be considered a kitchen sink type of dish (at least in my mind, hardcore Hungarians might disagree). A decent goulash really just depends on what you have in your cooking arsenal or cupboards, pantry, and fridge! Meat, noodles, veggies, spices, and a sauce of some sort all cooked in one big pot and you have what I call the fixin's of a nice goulash. For this concoction, I decided to combine 2 of my all time favorite foodie things into one delicious and harmonious dish, hence spicy, Creamy Kickin' Chicken Goulash was born!

Whatcha Need :

~1.5-2 pounds boneless skinless chicken breasts or tenders cut into bite sized chunks
~ 2 decent sized jalapeno peppers diced (seeds and all if you want it Kickin') or 15-20 jarred jalapeno slices, diced (if your not into super spicy you could use a green bell pepper as well)
~ 14 oz can of beans, not drained (I used white kidney or Cannellini beans, but red kidney beans would be yummy too)
~ 15 oz can of diced tomatoes, not drained
~ 1 can of water
~ 2 TBSP Butter or Margarine
~ 1 Medium Sized Yellow or White Onion, chopped
~ 1-1.5 cup small or med. pasta noodles uncooked (like rotini, elbow macaroni (which I used), or bowtie noodles)
~ Additional Spices~ 2-3 tsp Chili Powder, 1 tsp Lemon Pepper, 2 tsp Red Pepper Flakes, And 1 tsp Garlic Powder (for less spicy use more garlic and less peppers and chili powder)

In a large sauce pan combine diced peppers, chopped onion, bite sized chicken chunks, butter, and spices. Cook on medium-low heat for about 20 minutes or until chicken is no longer pink. Stirring occasionally to prevent possible burnt bird.

Once the chicken is done, pour directly into the same pot the UNDRAINED canned tomatoes, beans, and one can of water and stir to combine. Allow the mixture to come to a low slow boil on medium heat, which takes about 15-20 minutes. (If you wanted to speed up the process you could turn up the heat, but then you will need to stir the mixture more frequently and keep a much closer eye on it.) I like to do it a little slower to let the flavors really develop and mingle together, but if your crunched for time or your starving by all means crank it up.

Once the mixture starts to bubble and boil dump in the uncooked noodles and stir. Continue boiling and frequently stirring for about 10-15 minutes depending on the pasta you use or until noodles are tender and most of the liquid is absorbed.

Turn off the heat and fold in the sour cream. The sour cream helps mute some of the heat and adds a nice creamy layer of goodness to this goulash. If you don't do sour cream, you could use a plain yogurt or some low fat cream cheese too. 

 

Garnish with green onions, chopped cilantro, and or crushed tortilla chips and ENJOY! Either way it is delicious, easy, ingredient flexible, warm and hardy, and it all happens in one large pot so you won't have a sink full of dishes to worry about afterwards! Winner, Winner, Chicken Dinner. Hope you enjoy!