If you know me...like REALLY know me, you know that I strive to be an organized person...I would absolutely LOVE to be an organized person. I am definitely someone who is bothered by not having a plan and following through, but staying organized?? Not quite my strong suit. I think that may be why I am so steadfast in the fact that I have to have a plan--I'm making up for the lack of organization, lol! Sigh, I am a work in progress.
At any rate, with four kids, I have a large family by today's standards, and they are ALL very healthy eaters--large appetites. Thus, I have been feeling as of late that I am constantly cooking, and I don't like feeling that way. I put out some feelers to my friends, and got some very good ideas about pre-prepping meals, and decided that I would make Monday a prep day, because 1. Everyone is at school, and once Dave goes back to work I will have a quiet house to myself. 2. If I could at least get the foundations of meals started, then cooking for the rest of the week should be super easy and effortless. That remains to be seen. I do believe that I am off to a good start because the second meal of this week is currently in the oven, and I have time to blog about the recipe I made in the crockpot yesterday!
By the way, crockpot meals were the number one recommendation from my friends! On a side note, I have been seriously coveting an Al Clad crockpot due to the fact that the insert is cast aluminum so that you brown the meat and slow cook the meal all in one dish! Yesterday's meal, and the idea of making a lot of slow cooked meals is giving that purchase more and more justification.
Anyhow, I started the day by making a list of things I wanted to accomplish. There were three recipes that I wanted to create, and then I needed to bake banana bread for the kiddos, make paleo cereal, prep and pre-bag the veggies for my green lemonade, and make salsa and mayo (another helpful hint from my friend Liz who also has a bunch of kids like me...make condiments on Mondays!) I also wanted to make some grain-free, gluten-free bread for the kiddos too. Unfortunately, my list may have been a little lofty. I forgot to mention that I am a huge overachiever. So, I will think something is feasible when it probably isn't to the average person. I did make good headway though. The only things I did not get to was making the bread, cereal, mayo, and veggie prep. I did however (and this is where my ADD comes in) make roasted tomato soup!
Truly, once I got the chicken going in the crock pot, it was very easy to do everything else. The Chicken began as an idea for Chicken Cacciatore. What it turned into was Italian Chicken Stew, and it was an explosion of flavors in my mouth. And as the universal indicator of a good recipe, Lil 'T cleaned his plate, so I will take that as this recipe rocked, because 1. He is picky, and 2. He hates chicken!
Italian Chicken Stew
1 large pack of skinless, bone-in chicken thighs
sea salt & pepper
2 TBS extra virgin olive oil
1 large red onion, large chop
3 bell peppers, large chop (I used red, yellow, and orange...I have an aversion to cooked green bell peppers)
1 8oz package of mushrooms, sliced
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1/2 cup of Kalamata olives
1 cup of large, stuffed, Spanish Queen olives, sliced into halves
1 28oz can of crushed tomatoes. (I use San Marzano tomatoes.)
1 tsp sea salt
2 tsp italian seasoning
1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
1. place the onions in the bottom of the crock pot, then layer the bell peppers, and mushrooms on top.
2. Heat olive oil in large skillet over med-high heat. Season both sides of chicken with s & p, and sear in the oil until slightly golden on each side. As chicken finishes browning, remove from pan and place in crockpot on top of the onions, peppers, and mushrooms.
3. Next, add in order, the olives, garlic, crushed tomatoes, sea salt, italian seasoning, and red pepper flakes. Cover, and cook on low for 6-8 hours depending on your crock pot. Mine was finished in 7 hours.
4. Give a good stir to the ingredients about halfway through the cooking to incorporate the sauce into everything.
While dinner was cooking in the crockpot, I had time to work on other meals. This was a great time saver for me, and my fridge is now stocked with meals that I can throw together, reheat or finish within a short amount of time, as well as leftovers for lunches which is also a real money saver! It also gave me a ton of blogging material as I ended up with about 5 recipes to share! So, while I did not finish everything that I set out to make, I must say that week one of food prep was a win!
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