Asian Sesame Chicken

Place 6-7 boneless skinless chicken breasts into the crock pot

Mix together 1 recipe of Asian Sesame Salad Dressing and pour over the chicken:

1/2 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup sesame oil
1/4 cup rice vinegar
1/4 cup water
2 tsp garlic or 1-2 minced cloves
1 TBSP sugar or 1/2 TBSP of honey
1/2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes (optional)

Cook on HIGH for 4-5 hours or LOW for 6-7 hours.

We scoop out the chicken to cool and serve on top of green salad along with:

toasted slivered almonds
toasted sesame seeds
mandarin oranges or pineapple
Asian Sesame Salad Dressing (recipe is above for this)

My boys ate the chicken with rice and used the sauce in the crock pot to pour over the chicken and rice.

*OK, wow...this was GOOD. And the Asian Sesame Dressing we will be using for salads often. Yum. (It was a tiny bit salty, so I'll just use low sodium soy sauce next time.) I must have really loved this one because I dreamed about it last night. Ha! I loved how this meal pleased those of us that wanted salad AND the younger ones that wanted chicken and rice without salad.

Pineapple Chicken

Add to the crock pot:

5-6 boneless, skinless, frozen chicken breasts
2 20oz cans of pineapple chunks and juice
1/2 tsp ginger
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 tsp minced garlic
1/3 cup soy sauce
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes if you like some kick (YES!)

Cook on HIGH for 4 hours or LOW for 5-6 hours. 1 hour before it's done cooking, remove the chicken to dice into pieces and then return the pieces to the sauce.

Combine in shaker bottle:

1/4 cup water
5 Tbsp cornstarch

Add to the sauce in the crock pot to thicken the sauce during the last hour of cooking, be sure to stir it in.

Serve over rice, sprinkle with toasted sesame seeds if you like.

Oh yum...we loved this one. A definite repeat recipe. It made a large batch of sauce, you'll want to cook at least 3 cups of raw rice. Enjoy!

Sweet and Sour Chicken - Cantonese Style

Put into the crockpot:

2 lbs chicken breasts, boneless/skinless - I used frozen of course (about 6)
1 green pepper, seeded and diced
1 red pepper, seeded and diced (I didn't have this, so just did the 1 green pepper)
1/2 med onion, thinly sliced - oh hahahaha, not in my family - I left this out
1 20oz can pineapple chunks or tidbits - save the juice in mixing bowl

In mixing bowl, combine:

the saved pineapple juice
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup cider vinegar
1 Tbsp soy sauce
2 Tbsp cornstarch
1/2 tsp salt - 1tsp if you use low sodium soy sauce

Pour sauce over the chicken, veggies and pineapple

Cook on LOW 7-8 hours or HIGH 5-6 hours

Before serving, remove chicken breasts and cut into bite size pieces, return them to the sauce and veggies in the crockpot. Serve over cooked rice. (we made 8 cups, 4 cups raw)

*For a thicker sauce, mix 1/4 cup water and 3 TBSP cornstarch and add to the sauce about 30 minutes before serving.*

Optional garnishes: slivered almonds, green onion, chowmein noodles

*I know that this recipe calls for 2 bell peppers, but one was plenty for my picky eaters. I did sprinkle some onion powder over the chicken since I didn't add the onion. Also, the recipe called for 1/4 cup water, but it was too watered down, so I left it out of the recipe. I might add a bit of lemon juice next time. Overall...this was yummy, and we gobbled it up. I didn't have any garnishes, maybe next time.

Easy Yams

Peel and dice several yams or sweet potatoes (both work) to fill the crockpot to about 3/4 full.

Add 1-2 cans of pineapple chunks WITH the juice (I suppose peaches might work too)
Top with brown sugar and butter (whatever amount you're comfortable with)

Cook on LOW 7-8 hours or HIGH 5-6 hours. The yams will be soft when it's done.

*I love that this gives me a way to get the yams done for Thanksgiving without occupying the oven. We DO enjoy yams and sweet potatoes all year now, this is a great way to complete any meal. We've had this with just about every kind of meat for dinner.