Spinach Cheese Tortellini Soup

Ever lack the energy or creativity to come up with an amazing dinner?  Try this.  Seriously easiest dinner, ever.  I don't say that lightly.  I can make this while Simone hangs on my leg and it still comes out perfect. 

What you need...

2 fist fulls of fresh spinach.  I just use the regular box (or bag) spinach from the salad section of our Fry's.

2 cans of low sodium chicken broth

1 can of peeled & diced tomatoes 

1 package of cheese tortellini 

Dash of garlic salt & black pepper

1 lb of ground Italian sausage (you can omit this for a meatless meal and it's still amazing)
 

Get it done...

Toss the first five ingredients in your crock pot on LOW.  

If you are going to add the Italian sausage, brown it in a pan, drain it, and add that to the crock pot.

Allow it to cook on low for 1-4 hours.  You can't really mess it up!!

It's BEYOND EASY, and goes well with sandwiches or garlic bread!  It keeps nicely, too for up to a week in the fridge.  We use this as dinner on nights when we are busy, will be getting home late, or days when I'm completely overwhelmed and want dinner to make itself.

ENJOY!

A`ole Pilikia Pineapple Chicken

A'ole pilikia means "no problem, you're welcome" in Hawaiian, so I named this dish after that phrase... because, it's no problem!

I was at a loss as to what to make for dinner the other night.  Another night, another chicken dinner.  We try to eat chicken or fish for 80-90% of our meals.  It's basically because that's what we prefer to eat, but also to try to stay healthy (ish).

I've been getting a little more swagger in the kitchen lately, and I saw the pineapples, potatoes, sweet peppers and thought, let's do Hawaiian.  Or, you know, the 'Merica version of Hawaiian.  I always like a little spicy with my sweetness (kind of like me in general), so here's what I did.

I used chicken tenders (originally imagined doing fajitas with these), but I'm sure you can use breasts, or whatever you have on hand.  I used most of the juice (save a little) from the sliced pineapple can instead of chicken broth. On top I sprinkled chili powder, garlic salt, and chili flakes to add some kick.  I put it in the oven at 375 for about 20 mins.

Once the chicken was cooked almost all the way through I added the pineapple slices to the top.  Cooked pineapple is underused in my book.  At this point I bumped up the temp to 400 so the pineapples would cook quick.  It was in maybe another 10 mins.

While that finished cooking I sliced up two russet potatoes, dropped them into some boiling water, and let them cook until they were almost soft.  While those were cooking I cut up some sweet peppers.  Once the potatoes are soft enough to poke through with a fork drain the water, add a pat of butter, some of the pineapple juice, the sweet peppers, and a little chili powder.  Simmer that all together for a few mins.

While that simmered I checked the chicken, and it was almost done.  I threw together a quick and easy salad (just spring mix with cucumbers and salad toppings because it's what we had), and tossed that on a plate.

I cooked the potatoes until all of the pineapple juice was gone and they came out perfect.  Sorry my "plating" isn't pretty.  I was hungry and bedtime was fast approaching for Simone.  I threw each thing on the plate and snapped a quick pic before scarfing it down.

It was quick and easy, and Todd asked, "how the heck did you do this?!"  Which is always a great sign for me.  Sorry the directions aren't exact.  Need to start writing things down as I go, but this kind of came together out of "what do I have in the house".

Enjoy!  Aloha! 

Pulled Chicken with Cole Slaw

This meal is ALWAYS a hit.  Got a bunch of people with varying tastes?  Serve this!  I'm telling you, everyone acts amazed at how great this is and asks me how to do it...and it's simple!  I tagged this as a three ingredient dinner...and that's pushing it, but it basically is.

When I make this I always buy the big package of boneless chicken breasts.  If there's no "big" package then get a few 2 packs of them.  I usually try to do one breast per person (hardy, har, har), but usually I have big time leftovers.  Which, is a good thing around here.  The chicken reheats beautifully and I use it for Todd's lunch or my lunch during the work weak.

Throw the chicken in the crock pot with a cup or two (I'm not an exact-o cooker all of the time) of chicken broth.  If you don't like using chicken broth you can add plain water and fancy it up with some garlic salt and a little pepper.  I do that when we're out of stock.  Cook the chicken on low for 4-6 hours or on high for 2-3 hours.  At that point the chicken will be cooked through and you can break it into chunks.  No need to "shred" it quite yet.  Add in a bottle of your favorite wing sauce.  Any will do... but I usually use Frank's Red Hot in mild.  It's still got some kick, but if you have someone who can't hang with the heat it's not too bad.  If you want NO heat you can use honey BBQ sauce, it's still delicious.  

**Note...there are also recipes online to make your own BBQ sauce.  I've done this before and it's super yummy, but takes more time...and that was before I had a baby girl to keep up with.**

Let the chicken cook a bit longer.  You really can't mess up chicken in a crock pot, I promise.  Once the wing sauce has time to cook in, get to shredding.  I always get Todd to do this part for me... it's a bit of a pain to get it exactly right.  He's the master of it.

While Todd's shredding I make the coleslaw.  By I make the coleslaw I mean I add the mayo and vinegar to the bag of coleslaw mix.  You can make your own, too.  I have an amazing recipe for coleslaw from my Mother in law that I'll post someday...

For the buns the best are the King's Hawaiian rolls.  They are a bit pricey, but taste soooo dang good.  If you opt for regular hamburger buns it's good to get the harder rolls in the bakery.

Sooo good... what is it about these!?

I serve these with the slaw right on the roll with the shredded chicken.  I think it's the only way, but I love coleslaw (something my Grandmother did to me), so I'll eat it on the side, too.  Other good sides are a big salad, chips, veggie chips, fries, & onion rings.  No pics of the actual sammys because when they came out, we scarfed them... whoops.

Our Favorite Picks for Chips!

What you need...

4-6 boneless skinless chicken breasts

1 bottle of wing (or BBQ sauce)

1 package of rolls 

1 bag of coleslaw

1 bag of chips (or fries, onion rings, potato salad, etc.)

Get it done...

Cook the chicken on low for 4-6 hours or on high for 2-3 hours.  Break into large chunks once cooked through.  Add wing sauce.  Cook another 20-30, or 45 mins.  Shred chicken.

Prepare coleslaw.  Put shredded chicken on buns topped with coleslaw, throw chips on plate & serve!

These are my go-to when we host a party or big gathering of friends.  They are easy and "buffet style" friendly!  

Enjoy!

Simple Dinner - Lemon Pepper Chicken, Carrots, & Rice

I'm pretty obsessed with easy dinners. Especially easy chicken dinners because we eat chicken 80% of the time.  So, it takes some work to keep making that chicken exciting!  

I figured I'd share a few SUPER SIMPLE dinners that I make when Simone is not in the mood to watch me chop & prepare a big elaborate dinner. 

I'll have several of these dinners posted soon, since it's just about all I normally make. 

Lemon Pepper Chicken, Carotts, & Rice (I obviously love rice & carrots)

What you need...

Bag of baby carrots

2-4 Chicken brests

Rice (or Quinoa, or other starch)

Get it done...

Throw chicken, some chicken stock, and bag of baby carrots into the crock pot around 3pm and pray it's done before we are starving for dinner.  

I usually put it on high and power cook it for a few hours.  If you're gone all day you could set it to low.  I use a lemon pepper spice I bought at our grocery store and cut up a fresh lemon and toss it in.  It smells amazing while it's cooking.  

Then I cook up some rice (boil in a bag because I'm horrible at rice) and toss it all together.  Todd's always super impressed with the flavor, and chicken in the crock pot is EASY and juicy.

ENJOY!