Ham Bone Soup

 I've never been a fan of split pea soup so what else do you do with a ham bone?  I searched and found this https://www.dinneratthezoo.com/ham-bone-soup/

Just a couple of tweaks.  One difference is that I cooked on low for like 10-12 hours but I'm sharing on my blog because my nephew and a couple of others have asked for the recipe and I can never remember what blog I found it on.

And, she does mention it but something I learned from another recipe where the beans would NOT soften is you REALLY need to make sure NOT to add tomatoes until the beans are cooked.

This soup freezes well and has a nice rich flavor.  Everyone who I've shared it with, loved it.

What you'll need:

1 onion peeled and chopped (I used a purple onion)

3 carrots washed, quartered and sliced (I leave the peel on for extra nutrients)

1 ham bone

20 oz bag of dried bean soup mix.  I honestly think it was called multibean soup or something like that.

8 cups low sodium chicken broth

1 t dried thyme

1 T minced garlic

3 cups of diced ham, my ham bone had meat on it too so I think I only added a cup?

15 oz can petite diced tomatoes

salt and pepper to taste

Rinse beans thoroughly and set aside seasoning packet for later.  I didn't get a seasoning pack the last time I made it and it was fine.

Place everything except diced ham, tomatoes and seasoning packet in crockpot.  Cook on low for 8-12 hours.  

Remove ham bone from the slow cooker.  Chop up any ham that is falling off the bone, stir in diced ham, tomatoes, seasoning packet, salt and pepper.  

Cover and cook for an additional 20 minutes to heat through.

Spicy Carnitas Soup

So you make a porketta roast for dinner.  Porketta reminds me of my childhood.  It's an EASY crockpot dinner, throw in a crockpot on low for 6-8 hours (3 lb roast) with 1/2 C of water, it's done when a fork inserted easily breaks the meat apart. 

Sliced up or shredded and eaten on a yummy hard roll.  Accept that your children eat about 2 bites and decide it's too spicy.  What do you do after being irritated?

I make soup and call it what it reminds me of...carnitas, since a lot of people haven't heard of porketta.  The chopping helps with the irritation too;)  The result...YUMMY. 

Here's what you'll need or rather what I had in the house and used to make this soup:

2 lbs shredded, cooked Porketta ~ If you have the juice from making the roast add that too
6 C Beef Broth
6 C Chicken Broth
2 Carrots diced
3 cloves Garlic minced
1 small Onion minced
1 can Diced Tomatoes with green Chilis
1 can Pinto Beans rinsed ~ or Black Beans rinsed
2 Potatoes diced ~ or 1 C Minute Rice (I chose potato this time around)
1 C frozen Corn
Handful of fresh Cilantro chopped

Heat pork, broth, carrots, garlic, onion and tomatoes until boiling.  Boil for 10 minutes or until carrots are soft.  Add beans, corn and pototoes or rice.  Cook until potato or rice is soft (about 6-10 minutes)  Turn off heat, add chopped cilantro.  Season with salt and pepper to taste and serve.

 

Crock Pot Mac and Cheese

I've made a crock pot mac and cheese before and it was decent but my friend at work brought this one and it's YUMMY.  Did I mention that I don't like Mac and Cheese?  Yep, not my favorite but always trying to find a good side for the kids.  And yes, I realize that it doesn't meet my 8 hour cooking time rule I try to live by but sometimes you just have to break the rules.  Cooking time actually worked really well with a family get together, I just started it first.

Here's what you'll need...

Ingredients

• 2 cups Pasta ~ I used Elbow
• 1 cup milk ~ I used skim
• 1/2 cup sour cream ~ I used light
• 2 1/2 cup shredded cheese (your choice) ~ I half mild cheddar/half Colby Jack
• 4 T butter
• 1 10 3/4 oz can cheddar cheese soup
• 1/2 t salt
• 1/2 t pepper
• 1/2 t dry mustard
• optional 1/4 t Cayenne pepper ~ I like the heat this brings but left it out since little kids were involved.

Instructions

1) Start with a pan of hot water over high heat. Once the water is boiling add 2 cups (about 8 oz) and cook for about 2/3 of the minimum time. Mine said 9 minutes so I cooked for 6 minutes.  You want the pasta to have a little "chew" to it because the crock pot will continue to cook the pasta.2) Combine in a medium crock pot: 1 cup milk, 1/2 cup sour cream, 2 1/2 cups cheese, 4 T butter cut into several pieces, 1/2 t salt, pepper and dry mustard and one can (10 3/4 oz) cheddar cheese soup. Option of 1/4 t Cayenne pepper.3) Drain the pasta well and combine in the slow cooker. Mix well. Turn on low.4) Stir the pot about 20 minutes into cooking when the butter is melted. Mix very well. Stir again several more times. Just a light stir is good.5) It's done when you are getting some browned cheese on the side of the pot and some light browning of some of the pasta on the edge. About 2 hours.
I doubled it for our family function and it was very well received.

Crockpot Turkey Breast

This spring weather has SUCKED.  Max has been rained out of a few games and snowed out of a handful more.  YES, I said SNOWED.  We even had snow last Saturday for a minute.  Rain, sleet and snow all in about 2 minutes.  The umpires were laughing, I was mentally moving my family to somewhere that will NEVER happen again!!

This week is all about make up games, add his summer league starting and we will not be home for dinner all week, we won't be home until probably 9 p.m. at the earliest.  We played 51 hockey games last season and basically had practice every day and we never went a week without sitting at the dinner table as a family.  Switch to baseball and Claire is going to forget who she lives with!

Sorry, got off on a tangent.  Today's recipe is one that I use quite often for dinner because the meat is done when I walk in the door.  I boil some water for mac and cheese, throw on some green beans and dinner is served in about 15 minutes AND it tastes like you really put some effort into it.  It's a meal both of my children eat!!  Plus this was a bonus meal because the turkey breast was on sale!! 

What you'll need:

Bone in Turkey Breast..this one was almost 6 pounds
4 T butter
6 t Season Salt
2 t Cayenne Pepper
2 t Black Pepper
4 t Garlic Powder
Any other seasoning you want to throw in there would be just fine.

Mix the seasoning together and sprinkle all over the turkey.  If you want to rub it in, that's fine, I just really don't like touching raw turkey or chicken.  Put 1/2 C water in bottom of crockpot.  Put turkey into crock.  Put pats of butter on top of turkey.  You can throw in the refrigerator at this point until morning or plug in the crockpot and cook on low for 9-11 hours.

Give the turkey a poke and see that the juices run clear and it's not tough.  If it's tough, it needs to cook a bit longer.

Slice the turkey, serve and put those leftovers to use the rest of the week.  Sandwiches, hot dishes, soup, salads, the possibilities are endless.

The beauty of the crockpot is that it won't heat up your house in the summer but you have the wonderful smell of dinner being done when you walk in the door.

Crockpot Chicken

I first made the sticky chicken recipe awhile back. I liked the flavor but let's be honest, I'm not a prep the night before kind of girl. I'm also not a huge fan of touching raw chicken so I now "sprinkle" the seasoning instead of rubbing the seasoning in. I also went crazy a few times and just grabbed some spices that go together and/or that I like, sprinkled them on top and turned on the crockpot. However, make sure you use at least 4 t Salt or equivalent because the chicken needs the salt. It's been wonderful every time. Other than the crunchy skin, it's very similar to Beer Can chicken that is done on the grill.

Here's what you'll need if you want to follow the recipe:

4 t Salt
2 t Paprika
1 t Cayenne
1 t Onion Powder
1 t Thyme
1 t White Pepper
1/2 t Garlic Powder
1/2 t Black Pepper
1 Whole Chicken
1 medium Onion chopped
2 cloves Garlic

In a small bowl, combine the spices. If you bought a chicken with giblets and/or neck..remove those. Wash the chicken well, taking extra care with the cavity. Sprinkle the spice mixture into the chicken, inside and out. Try to make sure it's evenly distributed.

Place garlic and chopped onion into cavity of chicken and put in the crockpot. You don't need any liquid because the chicken will make it's own juice. Cook on low for 8 to 10 hours, I cooked 10 because that's how my day worked out, it was falling off the bone. Slice it up and you can spoon some of the juices on top if you desire. I threw the onions/garlic out.

Here's your spice mix.

Just a whole chicken, wash it
Sprinkle with seasoning, throw the onion in the middle and a couple cloves of garlic

Doesn't this look yummy!
I cut it up, poured a bit of pan juices on top and put in the oven on warm while I made the sides. Forgot to take a "pretty" photo, sorry.

Spicy Potato Soup

A friend at work brought this really yummy spicy chowder and I wanted to make it at home. Problem was, I didn't get to the store to to get all the ingredients so I improvised. I'll give you the "real" recipe another time but this one is a tasty substitute.

And, did I mention that it's EASY and it meets my crockpot rule of at least 8 hours!!

What you'll need:

10-12 Potatoes peeled
1 Leek chopped
1 Medium Onion diced
2 stalks Celery diced
Handful of carrots diced
1 Can Fiesta Cheese Soup
4 C Vegetable Broth ~ or chicken Broth
1 t Salt
1/2 t Pepper
1 t Dillweed
1 t Curry ~ you could maybe leave this out, I was going for curry flavor and when that didn't work for me, I went another direction. I only mention this because I used it.

Put all this in the crockpot and cook on low for 8-10 hours

1 heaping t Chipolte Pepper
1 C Frozen Corn
12 oz can Evaporated Milk

Mash your potatoes and add these things in the last 1/2 hour of cooking just to heat it through.

Here's the potatoes.

This is the carrots and celery. I said to "chop" them. Here is a simple rule I use when cooking, ask yourself "what size feels comfortable in my mouth". If you like bigger carrots, cut them bigger, just know that they might be a little crunchier when the soup is finished.

A leek looks like a BIG green onion. This is what it looks like when you cut most of the green off.

I cut it in half and proceeded to chop it. If I'm feeling lazy, I'll just use my kitchen shears to cut it into pieces directly into the crockpot.

Here's the onion, peeled and cut in half for easy chopping. If you run it under cold water, it keeps the tears to a minimum. The onion will break down as it cooks but if you want it minced really fine, I recommend the food processor.

If you are saying that you don't like onions, well onion really gives this soup the flavor, I promise you won't notice the onion when it's cooked. A friend of mine who "hates" onion is none the wiser;)

Peel your potatoes and chop in various sizes. You can be exact if you want to but I find that if you use different size cuts, you get a better texture. I don't like completely "creamy" potato soup but if you do, make sure your potatoes are more uniformly cut.

The old fashioned masher comes into play after the potatoes are soft. Use this directly in the crockpot to mash the large chunks. If you like a creamier soup, you could use one of those hand held beaters. As I said, I'm not a fan of creamy potato soup and I also don't play with too many gadgets in the kitchen;)

Crockpot Chili

This is basically a repeat since I have posted before. But this time, I threw everything in the crockpot just because we had to run errands and get to a game and I wanted something hot when I got home. I also figured out the Weight Watcher points. I divided this into 7 bowls and it was 6.5 per serving. Pretty nice!!

1 lb 93% lean hamburger~I usually use ground turkey but the points are the same for either.
1/2 green pepper minced
1/3 medium onion diced
1 t chopped garlic~I use the jar stuff most of the time
1 Can Tomato Soup
1 Can diced Tomatoes~I use Petite diced
1 sm Can Tomato Sauce
2 Cans Spicy Chili Beans
1 soup can water
3 T Chili Powder
Optional~Cayenne pepper to taste, I think I used about a teaspoon.

Brown Meat, green pepper, onion and garlic. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Throw in the crockpot and dump in soup, tomatoes, sauce, beans, water, chili powder and cayenne. Crock on low for 4-6 hours and serve.

Here's your ingredients.

Slice the green pepper really thin and then mince. You can also use a little food processor if you feel like extra dishes.

It's hard to see the onions because I used a white cutting board but this is how much of each after they are chopped.

Here is your meat that is browned with the green peppers, onion and garlic. Don't forget to season your meat. Throw in your crockpot, dump in the rest, stir and crock for at least 4 hours.

Dinner is served. You can top with sour cream, cheese, jalapenos. Whatever tickles your fancy.

Since my kids don't like Chili, I typically scoop into individual serving bowls and freeze. It's great to grab and bring for lunch.

Curried Lentil Soup

Dylan is still doing the vegetarian thing and he asked me to make him something "curry". I found this recipe on line and it turned out pretty good.

I adjusted the recipe a little. Hope you like it.

2 T Olive Oil
1 large Onion diced
2 garlic cloves, coarsely chopped
2 medium carrots, peeled and diced
1 1/2" Fresh Ginger, minced
1 C portabella mushrooms, diced
2 T tomato paste
1 heaping T Garlic Chili Paste
1 C dried lentils
6 C vegetable stock
14 1/2 oz can diced tomatoes with juice
3 T curry powder
1 t dried thyme
2 t fresh cracked pepper
1/4 cup fresh cilantro, to garnish

Directions
Preheat a cast iron pan or heavy frying pan over medium heat. Heat the olive oil.
Add the onions and garlic and saute for 3-5 minutes until they begin to brown.
Add the carrots, ginger and portobellos and saute for another 3-5 minutes until the mushrooms begin to absorb the oil. Season this step with 1/2 tsp pepper and salt to taste. Honestly, I think you could skip this step and just throw everything in the crockpot.

Add the tomato paste and chili paste and stir just to combine the vegetables.

In the bottom of your crock pot, add the curry powder, oregano, thyme and remaining pepper. Add the sauteed vegetables and lentils and mix well.
Pour in the can of diced tomatoes and stock. Stir to combine.

Cook in a crock pot on high heat for 6 hours or low for 10 hours.

I like ginger so this is how much I added

Crockpot Salsa Chicken

I'll let you in on a little secret...this is one of Max's FAVORITE dinners. He likes to make a sandwich right out of the crockpot on crusty french bread.

Crockpot Salsa Chicken is the easiest thing EVER and it's super versatile. It was a huge staple for me when I was doing Weight Watchers because it's only 3 points per chicken breast. Even though I don't "follow" WW as closely as I should, I still make it often because my kids like it. You can eat it right out of the crockpot with any type of side.

Or, you can chop up and serve with your favorite salad fixings.

Or, you can add a can of 98% fat free Cream of Chicken soup and make a gravy type topping to put on pasta or rice, although the color isn't all that appetizing.

Or, you can shred the chicken and put it on hoagie buns, melt some cheese on top in the broiler for a yummy sandwich.

Or, you can shred it and make Chicken Barley Chili.

Or, you can shred it and use it to make quesadillas.

Or, you can shred it and use for a base for the Tex Mex Burritos that I made in January.

Or, you can shred and add 1 C frozen corn, a can of black beans, heat for another hour and use it for easy tacos.

That's just a few of the ways I use it and all the recipes are here on the blog. Just type the recipe of your choice into the search bar and you'll get what you need.

Package of Boneless Chicken Breast
1 C Salsa ~ I use thick and chunky
1/2 C Water
1 Chicken Bouillon Cube

Put water and bouillon cube in crock pot. Put your chicken in, season with pepper, garlic and a light sprinkle of salt. Top with Salsa. Cover and crock for 4-6 hours on low~I typically use frozen chicken breast to get the most time out of it.

This is what it looks like shredded and ready for whatever you choose. You can freeze in ziplocs at this point and defrost as needed

Hot Chicken Salad

My Aunt Judy gave me this recipe years ago and I love it. I know you're thinking I'm crazy for posting a "hot" recipe but truth be told, cold salads don't always fill me up and you could do this in your crock pot if you want. Or, if you've been having a summer like ours, it might be nice to turn the oven on for a spell.

Again, don't have a photo and I apologize but again, so easy you don't need a photo play by play. It's also an excellent way to use up that Rotisserie Chicken.

What you'll need:

3 C Chicken, cooked and cubed
3 C Celery diced
1/2 C Onion diced
1 T Butter
3/4 C Almonds, slivered or chopped
1 1/2 C Mayo
3 T Lemon Juice
1/3 C Cheddar Cheese
3/4 C Potato Chips crushed

Cut your chicken up into cubes and saute with the celery and onion with a tablespoon of butter. Season the chicken with salt and pepper to taste. OR you can use that Rotisserie Chicken and just saute the celery and onion in the butter for a couple of minutes.

Combine Chicken, celery, onion, almonds, mayo, lemon juice and cheese and put into a sprayed 13x9 pan. Sprinkle with potato chips and bake at 375 for 20-30 minutes. OR spray your crock pot and pour mixture in, cook on low for an hour until heated through. Top with chips and serve with hard crusty rolls to 6-8 friends:)

You can also make this ahead, just top with chips after you take out of the fridge.

Mexican Beef

I pulled two packages of stew meat out of the freezer intending on making something different. Lack of time and inspiration caused me to throw it in a crock pot and the result was tasty. We had chopped beef on tortillas and I made a Mexican lasagna (I'll be posting that recipe soon) with the rest.

Here's what you'll need:

2 packages of Stew Meat ~ I think I had a little over 2 lbs
1 pkg Onion soup mix
1 Beer or 12 oz water
1 t Cumin
1 t Chili Powder
1 t Chipotle Powder
3 cloves Garlic
2 Chipotle Peppers chopped

Put it all in the crock pot and crock on low for 10 hours. It might have been done sooner but that's when I got around to it and it was perfect. I don't think you can really over cook beef in the crock pot unless you run out of liquid anyway.

Pull it out, give it a rough chop and wrap up in tortillas. My kids actually ate these and asked for seconds..SCORE!

Turkey Breast

Summer is around the corner and it's time to break out the crock pot and keep the house cool!! Here is one of my favorite crock pot recipes and also the easiest.

Buy a turkey breast, I think mine was 5 lbs. Defrost in your refrigerator a couple of days. Put 1/2 C water in bottom of crock. Wash turkey breast and put meaty side down.

Sprinkle with 1 t of salt, pepper and garlic powder. Put a few pats of butter on the breast and crock on low for 8 hours.

It's falling apart tender. Yummy!!

Crockpot Mac and Cheese

Always looking an easy thing to make for the kids at family get togethers and this worked completely. Paula Dean's crockpot Mac and Cheese.

I simply copied and pasted the recipe and put my changes in BOLD.

2 cups uncooked elbow macaroni (an 8-ounce box isn't quite 2 cups)
4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) butter, cut into pieces
2 1/2 cups (about 10 ounces) grated sharp Cheddar cheese
3 eggs, beaten
1/2 cup sour cream I used Reduced Fat
1 (10 3/4-ounce) can condensed Cheddar cheese soup
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup whole milk I used skim
1/2 teaspoon dry mustard
1/2 teaspoon black pepper

Directions
Boil the macaroni in a 2 quart saucepan in plenty of water until tender (I went al dente on this because there is nothing worse than over cooked noodles. I think my choice was a good one), about 7 minutes. Drain.

In a medium saucepan, mix butter and cheese. Stir until the cheese melts. (I did this but it was a bit messy. I think I would just stir the melted butter and shredded cheese with the pasta next time)

In a slow cooker, combine cheese/butter mixture and add the eggs, sour cream, soup, salt, milk, mustard and pepper and stir well. Then add drained macaroni and stir again. Set the slow cooker on low setting and cook for 3 hours (I think 2 would work), stirring occasionally.

Thai Chicken

I thought I grabbed a package of chicken breast but I grabbed thighs instead. I can honestly say I didn't know what to do with them because I have never cooked thighs. The good news, the entire package was only $4.99.

I went looking around the internet and found this recipe. I will admit that the ingredients didn't sound good together, Salsa and peanut butter??...I tried not to think about it. The reviews were positive so I threw caution to the wind and gave it a try.

The result...really good. I will make this again but I would use chicken breast next time just because it's lower in fat.

What you'll need:

6 boneless, skinless Chicken Thighs, I just pulled the skin off
16 oz jar of Cilantro Salsa ~ I only had one choice so I used Garlic Cilantro~the recipe said you could use any of your favorite salsa
1/2 C Peanut Butter ~ I used creamy
1 T Chili Garlic Hot Sauce~Optional but it gave the dish some heat that I liked. You get this by the Asian food at the grocery store
2 t Ginger
2 T Soy Sauce
2 t fresh Lime Juice ~ that was half a lime for me

Put the chicken in the crockpot. Mix the rest of the ingredients together and pour over the top of chicken. Cook on low for 6-8 hours. I cooked on high for 4. If you used chicken with bones, pull the chicken out of crock and pull away from bones. Break chicken into pieces, toss back into sauce and serve over brown rice. Serves 4
This is what the Chili Garlic Sauce looks like. You'll find it in the grocery aisle by the Asian food.

Dinner is served

Sticky Chicken

I have read about sticky chicken all over crockpot sites for years. I printed the recipe and didn't think about it again until I recently was cleaning up those piles of recipes.

I had everything I needed so I gave it a go and it was YUMMY. Moist, flavorful and my favorite...took 10 hours to cook so it was an easy weeknight dinner plan.

Here's what you'll need:

4 t Salt
2 t Paprika
1 t Cayenne
1 t Onion Powder
1 t Thyme
1 t White Pepper
1/2 t Garlic Powder
1/2 t Black Pepper
1 Whole Chicken
1 medium Onion chopped

In a small bowl, combine the spices. If you bought a chicken with giblets and/or neck..remove those. Wash the chicken well, taking extra care with the cavity. Pat the chicken dry with paper towels. Rub the spice mixture into the chicken, inside and out. Try to make sure it's evenly distributed and that you rubbed it in well.

Place in a ziploc and refrigerate overnight. When ready to cook, dump onion into cavity of chicken and put in the crockpot. You don't need any liquid because the chicken will make it's own juice. Cook on low for 8 to 10 hours, I cooked 10 because that's how my day worked out, it was falling off the bone. Slice it up and you can spoon some of the pan juices on top if you desire. I threw the onions out.

Here's your spice mix.

Just a whole chicken, wash it, pat it dry and rub the seasoning in
Give that chicken a good rub and put in a ziploc bag and into the fridge
Doesn't this look yummy!
I cut it up, poured a bit of pan juices on top and put in the oven on warm while I made the sides. Forgot to take a "pretty" photo, sorry.

Chicken Taquitos

Back to the real world after a fabulous vacation and my "real" world needed a bit of vacation. I decided to recreate my favorite dinner..chicken taquitos. The fact that it took all of 20 minutes to have dinner on the table...BONUS! The kids both loving them...double BONUS!!

What you'll need:

Salsa Chicken
Cheese ~ I used a Mexican Blend
Small Flour Tortillas ~ my bag came with 20 of them
Cooking Spray ~ I use Butter Flavored

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Wet and ring out two paper towels. Wrap 6 tortillas inside and microwave for 30 seconds. You want to soften up the tortillas for easier rolling.

Put about 1/4 C of chicken in the middle of the tortilla, top with about a tablespoon of cheese. You could leave the cheese out but I was trying to sell the kids and let's face it, cheese sells it.

Roll the tortilla up and put on a sprayed cookie sheet, seam side down and leave a little room in between each one. Continue until you have a cookie sheet full.

Spray the tortillas with a bit of cooking spray and put in the oven for 10 minutes. Take out and flip to seam side up and cook for another 5 minutes. Serve with your favorite taco toppings.
Put your chicken and cheese on tortilla and roll up
Spray with cooking spray
Dinner is served
Claire brought left overs for lunch and asked when I'd be making them again!

Mock Chowmein

I'm breaking my rule of 8 hours or more for a crock pot recipe but I have a good reason. My son has confirmation on Wednesdays. We leave and are gone for about an hour and a half. We come home ready for dinner.

I typically make this in the oven but it works great with 2 hours in the crock pot.

What you'll need:

1 lb Hamburger or ground Turkey
1/2 small Onion minced
1 can Cream of Mushroom soup ~ I use 98% fat free
1 can Skim Milk
1 can Water
1/3 C Soy Sauce
2 stalks of celery chopped
1 C Brown Rice

Cook meat with onion and season to taste with salt and pepper. Mix soup, milk, water and soy sauce in the crock pot. Throw in the rice, hamburger and celery and stir. Cover and cook on low for 2 hours. OR you can put in 350 oven covered for 1 hour. Top with chow mein noodles.

Chicken Curry

I made my quick chicken curry a few months back but after eating at an Indian restaurant, I wanted something that tasted slow cooked with ALL the true flavors a good curry has.

I found the recipe here and had to change it up a little bit because I couldn't find one of the things and couple others..well I wasn't spending $10 per spice when I thought the improvising would work. I shopped at Cub and everything I used could be found there.

This is not for the weak of taste buds. It's a slow heat that rises as you eat. I love spicy dishes so this was two thumbs up from me. It will feed a crowd and I have no doubt should freeze well~I didn't have any leftovers to freeze because I shared with friends.

3 lbs boneless, skinless Chicken breast cut into half or thirds
1 large Yellow Onion cut into chunks
2 Tomatoes, cut into 4 pieces each
10 cloves Garlic
3 inches of fresh Ginger, peeled
1/2 T Salt
1 T Turmeric
1 1/2 T Garam Masala
1/4 C Vegetable Oil
1 C plain Yogurt ~ I used low fat
1 T Chili Powder
1 t Cinnamon
4 Cloves
4 Serrano chilies, cut lengthwise
1/2 C fresh Cilantro

Put Chicken into crockpot.

In food processor put Onion, Tomatoes, Garlic, Salt and Turmeric. Blend for a minute or two. Pour into a bowl and add, Garam Masala, Oil, Yogurt, Chili Powder and cinnamon. Mix together and pour over chicken. Throw chilis and cloves on top. Cover and cook on low for 8 hours.

Remove chilis and cloves if you can find them. I took the chicken out with a slotted spoon and chopped into bite size pieces and put back into the crockpot but that was just a personal preference because I like my chicken saturated with sauce. The chicken was fall apart tender so you could skip that step if you wish. I served with Basmati rice and the left overs were served with brown rice...both were tasty.

Serve over Basamati or Brown Rice and top with cilantro. YUMMY!!

I cut the chicken in thirds
Chop the onion and throw in food processor
How to break the garlic free...use your large chef knife (that's your biggest knife), press down on the garlic, the shell of the garlic pops off
This is how much ginger I used, make sure you peel and chop
Everything ready in the food processor. Give it a whirl for a couple minutes
Out of the food processor
Mix the Garam Masala, Oil, Yogurt, Chili Powder and cinnamon in with a whisk
I split the peppers but left the seeds for the heat
Throw the peppers and cloves on top, cover and crock
Dinner is served