Crock pot Honey Sesame Chicken

My crock pot and I are good friends. I rely on dump meals for dinners several times a month. Tim throws everything in the crock pot, I come home, we eat. It's pretty awesome, really.

I'm always on the lookout for new recipes, so when I saw this one on my Facebook feed, I knew I wanted to try it. It was delicious and super easy to make. The only "trick" of this recipe was I made it on a weekend since it really only needed to cook for a few hours.

I'll definitely be making it again - adding rice and some steamed veggies made a quick, complete meal.

Ingredients:

4 boneless skinless chicken breasts

1/2 cup honey

2 tbsp soy sauce

1/2 onion, minced

2 1/2 tbsp ketchup

1 tbsp olive oil

3 cloves garlic, minced

1/2 tsp red pepper flakes

2 tbsp cornstarch

1 tbsp sesame seeds

Directions:

In a small bowl combine the honey, soy sauce, onion, ketchup, oil, garlic, and red pepper flakes. Stir well.

Place chicken in the crockpot. Pour the sauce over top. Cook on low for 3-4 hours.

Remove chicken, but leave the sauce, either shred or cut into pieces.

Stir the cornstarch into the sauce and cook on high for 10 minutes. 

Add the chicken back into the sauce. Toss well. Top with sesame seeds.

Source: Stephanie Cooks

Peanut Butter Rice Krispy Treats

I wanted to make something different for our monthly craft gathering in September. I didn't have a lot of time to bake, I wanted something fairly healthy and I was intrigued by a set of recipes, centered around peanut butter, featured in Health magazine.

I decided the dessert-y peanut butter recipe was the one I'd go with, and I substituted the rice cereal I had in my pantry for the brown rice cereal called for in the recipe.

I really liked these bars - they were packed full of protein and were a great snack that was super quick and easy to make. I think they'd be delicious with dried cranberries, too. My only complaint? They got really crumbly when they were out of the refrigerator for an extended period of time. They were yummy and crunchy when they were chilled.

Ingredients:
3/4 cup chunky peanut butter
3/4 cup honey
6 cups crispy brown rice cereal
2/3 cup chopped dried cherries

Directions:

Combine peanut butter and honey in a large pot; cook over medium-low heat until they are melted together (about 2-3 minutes).

Add cereal and cherries to the mixture; stir until sticky.

Press into 9- x 13-inch pan coated with cooking spray. Chill in refrigerator 40 minutes.

Cut in to squares, serve.

Source: Health magazine

Banana/blueberry cupcakes and honey frosting

I recently had a surplus of blueberries. And a surplus of ripening bananas. And a desire to bake. So I headed to the internet, and my trusty friend (the Web) helped with my issues.

I made these banana cupcakes for craft party last weekend. I added blueberries and fell in love with the frosting.

Banana (Blueberry) Cupcakes

Ingredients:
1 1/2 c. all-purpose flour
3/4 c. sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 c. (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted
1 1/2 c. mashed bananas (about 4 ripe bananas)
3/4 cup blueberries (my addition)
2 large eggs
1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract

Directions:
-Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
-Line a standard 12-cup muffin pan with paper liners. (I managed to get 16 muffins from this recipe.)
-In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
-Make a well in center of flour mixture.


-In well, mix together butter, mashed bananas, eggs, and vanilla.
-Stir to incorporate flour mixture (do not over mix). Add blueberries.


-Dividing evenly, spoon batter into muffin cups.
-Bake until a toothpick inserted in center of a cupcake comes out clean, 25 to 30 minutes.
-Remove cupcakes from pan; cool completely on a wire rack.
-Spread tops with Honey-Cinnamon Frosting.


Honey Cinnamon Frosting

Ingredients
1 1/4 c. confectioners' sugar
1/2 c. (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 Tbsp honey
1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Directions
-In a medium bowl, using an electric mixer, beat confectioners' sugar, unsalted butter, honey, and ground cinnamon until smooth, 4 to 5 minutes

Source: Good Things Catered, who used recipes from Everyday Food