Eat at Home

Everyday Food for Busy People

Chicken

Chicken Broccoli Picnic Pita Pockets

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My kids love these and have even been known to ask for them for birthdays. I like that the filling can be made ahead of time and is ready to be stuffed into a pita whenever someone needs to eat. If you need to pack it up, it’s a welcome change from lunch meat sandwiches.

I pulled the recipe from a 1999 Taste of Home magazine.

Here’s what you’ll need:

I didn’t measure any of the ingredients, but I’ll give you the actual recipe.

10 oz package of frozen broccoli florets

2 cups cooked, shredded chicken

1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

1 medium tomato, chopped (I used grape tomatoes, because that’s what I had handy)

1/4 cup mayonnaise

2 Tbs. mustard

salt and pepper

pita bread

4 bacon strips, cooked and crumbled (I never put this in)

Cook the broccoli until tender. Drain and run cool water over it to stop the cooking process. In a large bowl combine the broccoli, chicken, cheese, and tomato. In a small bowl stir together the mayo, mustard, salt and pepper. I always end up having to make more of the sauce than what the recipe calls for. Stir the sauce into the chicken mixture and stuff into pitas.

We like to eat these with Sun Chips.

Crockpot Cantonese Sweet and Sour Chicken

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crockpot chicken sweet and sour done

Another quick and tasty crockpot meal! This one comes from here.

Here’s what you’ll need:

Print Recipe
5 from 1 vote

Crockpot Cantonese Sweet and Sour Chicken

Ingredients

  • 2 lbs. of chicken I used chicken tenders because they were on sale. I did not use the whole bag
  • small onion sliced
  • red pepper sliced
  • green pepper sliced
  • 20 oz can pineapple
  • 1/4 cup brown sugar
  • 1 clove garlic crushed
  • 1/4 tsp. ground ginger
  • 2 Tbs. cornstarch
  • 1/4 cup cider vinegar
  • 1/4 cup water
  • 1 Tbs. soy sauce
  • 1/2 tsp. salt

Instructions

  • Put the chicken, onion and peppers in the crockpot. I added my chicken frozen.
  • Drain the can of pineapple. Set the pineapple chunks aside for later.
  • Mix the juice with the rest of the ingredients and pour over the chicken.
  • Cook on low for 7-9 hours or high for about 4-5 hours.
  • A bit before serving add the pineapple chunks.
  • Serve over rice.

We all really liked this.  I will make this one again!

Calico Bean Soup with Smoked Sausage in the Crockpot

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I usually make this on the stove, cooking it all day, but this time I decided to adapt it to the crockpot. It was just as good in the crockpot, maybe better because it’s easier.

Gather up your ingredients:

Print Recipe
5 from 1 vote

Calico Bean Soup with Smoked Sausage in the Crockpot

Servings: 8 -10 servings

Ingredients

  • 1 lb. smoked sausage – I use turkey because I don’t like all the grease of the regular kind
  • 1 lb. mixed dry beans
  • 1 onion chopped
  • 1 clove garlic minced
  • 1 can diced tomatoes undrained (I thought it would have been good with a second can)
  • 1 qt. chicken broth
  • 2 cups water
  • salt

Instructions

  • Prepare the beans by rinsing them and picking through them to remove any little stones.
  • Soak them overnight or do a quick soak by covering them with boiling water for and hour or two. Drain them and put them in the crockpot.
  • Chop the onion, garlic and sausage and add to the crockpot along with the other ingredients.
  • Pop the lid on and cook on high, at least 5-6 hours. I don’t think you could overcook these.
  • I serve the soup over brown rice. It’s also good with cornbread.

If you have an Instant Pot, then you’ll want to check out my Instant Pot Mixed Bean Soup version of this favorite. And the entire collection of  The Best Easy Instant Pot Soup Recipes.

And if you want more quick and hearty recipes for the Instant Pot, then sign up for my free Instant Pot School. You’ll learn how to make some basics, soups and way beyond with free printable recipes, a meal plan with a color-coded grocery list and video lessons.

This recipe always reminds me of a cat we used to have named Harley Davidson (he had a very loud purr). He didn’t usually eat people food, but he loved the “gravy” part of this soup. RIP, Harley. You were a good cat.

Crockpot Chicken ala King

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Week night supper. I fixed this on one of those nights that we were all needing to eat at different times. It sure did beat grabbing sandwiches from a fast food place.

Gather up your ingredients: (You’ll see that I didn’t exactly follow the recipe. Substitute for what you have available in your pantry and fridge.)

boneless chicken breasts – I used 3
1 can cream of chicken soup – I doubled this
3 Tbs. flour – I forgot this ingredient, but I think it would make for a thicker sauce
black pepper
dash of cayenne pepper (this would be good, but I forgot it)
1 celery rib, chopped
1/2 cup green pepper, chopped (I didn’t have any of this)
1/4 cup onion chopped
10 oz package of frozen peas (just pop them in frozen)
1 small jar pimentos, drained (the picture has 2 jars, but I only used 1)

Put all the ingredients in the crockpot. I always hesitate to say how long to cook something in the crockpot because different pots cook differently. Also, I freely adjust the cooking time based on what time I put the food on to cook and what time we need to eat it. Often I start things on high and then turn them down. Since that wasn’t helpful at all, I’ll say cook this on low for 6-8 hours or high 4-5 hours. But promise you won’t hold me to those cooking times!

After cooking, pull the chicken apart with a fork. Serve over rice. I didn’t have time to deal with rice that day, so we just toasted bread and served it over that.

Virus Killing Soup

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Two of my four kids have the flu. Flu A, whatever that is. All I know is that it lasts 7-10 days and I don’t want it! Enter this recipe for Virus Killing Soup, which was shared on the Sonlight Forums by Chloe.

The soup tastes fantastic. It really should have a different name, because Virus Killing isn’t real appetizing. However, that is the point of the soup so we’ll go with it.

You’ll need:
one whole chicken
15-30 cloves garlic, minced or crushed (I used about 1 1/2 bulbs)
1 Tbs. salt
3-4 fresh thyme sprigs
fresh rosemary sprigs
cayenne pepper, about 1 tsp.
ground black pepper
Throw all of that in a big pot. See all that garlic? That’s going to kill those viruses. Don’t worry about the amount of garlic being too strong. It really isn’t when the soup is done and it smells fantastic while it cooks. Don’t worry about the cayenne pepper either. It provides warmth that will clear your sinuses, but it’s not spicy at all.
Pour a couple boxes or cans of chicken broth over the top, then top it off with water so that the chicken is completely covered. You can also use only water if you like. Cook it on the stove top until the chicken starts to fall apart. Then remove the chicken and strain the broth a bit, getting out the long stems from the spices and all the chicken bones. Set the chicken aside to cool a bit.
Now you’ll want to add some veggies. I used some carrots, onion, a stalk of celery and a fennel bulb. You can also add leeks and red pepper, but I didn’t have any of those. Chop the veggies and saute them in oil until tender. If you have it add 1/2 cup of good white wine and some salt and pepper. Add the veggies into the pot of broth and simmer for a while. I added about 6 cups of water to the broth at this point. It had really cooked down and was very rich.
Take the chicken off the bones and chop it up. Add it back into the soup. Add in a can or two of diced tomatoes. You can also add frozen green beans, peas, zucchini, flat leaf parsley.
I don’t know if this will heal my kids faster or prevent the rest of us from getting the flu, but it tasted great. I ate 3 bowls for dinner. Yum!