Taste of Thai Crock Pot Chicken

This recipe uses salsa verde as the main ingredient. This is the type of salsa I used which I found at my local grocery store. For more info about this salsa and where to get it, visit their website http://salsaxochitl.com/. I took a photo and posted it below.

Now for a little lesson on what Salsa Verde is made from. It is a tangy and much more milder sauce than the red version. The difference between red and green salsas is that tomatillos are used instead of red tomatoes. Tomatillos give it that tangy, zesty flavor with the underlying flavor of roasted chilies and onions. The one I have is made with jalapenos, green tomatillos, onions, cilantro and garlic. With the combination of soy sauce, ginger and PB2, the flavor changes from Mexican to Asian.  It did have a lot of flavor from the salsa and the soy sauce because it was sitting in the sauce for 6 hours. Because I had four servings, I ate one today and saved one for tomorrow. The other two servings I put in Ziploc containers and placed them in the freezer for another time. Enjoy!

All combined in the crock pot right before it is cooked.

Taste of Thai Crock Pot Chicken

Ingredients:

32 oz chicken breasts, raw - yields 24 oz cooked (4 Leaner Leans)

1 cup (8 oz) Xochitl Asada Verde Salsa with 1 carb per 2 tbsp (8 Condiments)

1/4 cup PB2 (2 Snacks)

2 tbsp lite soy sauce (2 Condiments)

1/4 tsp ginger (1/2 Condiment)

6 cups cauliflower cooked and grated (12 Greens)

Directions:

Place all ingredients in the crock pot, except cauliflower rice. Stir to roughly mix the ingredients and make sure that the chicken is completely coated with the marinade. Cook on low for 6 hours, no stirring.

To serve, divide chicken into 4 equal portions of 6 oz each over 1 1/2 cups of cauliflower rice per serving. Stir sauce in crock pot and then spoon the sauce evenly over each portion.

4 Leans, 3 Greens, 2.5 Condiments and 1/2 Optional Snack per Serving

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Sandy's Kitchen

Buffalo Chicken in the Slow Cooker

I added exercise for the first time yesterday since starting Medifast back in October. I was always skeptical about exercising because I have heard that the weight loss may be slower or that some have gained! Well for some reason, I was in the mood to walk on my treadmill while listening to my favorite tunes. The walking became a slow paced jog and eventually I completed 30 minutes of walking and jogging in increments. I felt fantastic! I made sure to drink extra water afterwards. Well, I weighed myself today and I am the same weight as yesterday. I guess I was secretly hoping that the scale would acknowledge my bit of exercise I had did but no... the scale did not give me the time of day. So, I will just have to see how my weigh-in is affected on Monday. I decided I am going to exercise 3 times a week for 30 min at first and see how that  goes. If all goes well, I will add more gradually. Let's see how it goes!

It's recipe time! I liked the Creamy Buffalo Chicken Bake so much, I wanted to try another recipe using Frank's Hot Wing Sauce. I found this recipe at Slow and Simple. It got rave recipes for being such a simple tasty recipe so I thought I would give this one a try. Besides, it is a slow cooker recipe. We all love those recipe where you can put it together and then leave it alone. Those recipes usually make the house smell soooo good while they are cooking. The only change I made was I left out the 2 tbsp of vinegar that the recipe called for. The reason I did this was because the original recipe used plain hot sauce and I am using an already prepared hot wing sauce. This allowed me to use salad dressing in my salad without going over my condiments for the day. By the way, the salad dressing I used for this recipe was Walden Farms Chipotle Ranch. You can never have too many Walden Farms products LOL.  I would even eat this dish without dressing but add an additional tbsp of hot wing sauce to the top of the chicken if I was serving it with roasted veggies. I just decided to shred the chicken and put it over a salad. I used chicken tenderloins and it seemed to already be cooked at 5 hours, but being nervous about eating chicken that isn't cooked all the way, I kept it in the slow cooker for the lowest time stated in the recipe which was 6 hours.  Most of the sauce evaporated making it a little dry which is why I decided to top the chicken with a dressing or additional hot wing sauce. Also, I would do this with Barbecue sauce too! Walden Farms make a pretty good sugar free one. You can use 1/4 cup of it to replace the hot wing sauce. This would make a wonderful sandwich if you use pancake mix to make toast as well. You can go here to get the recipe. I will have to give that a try that next time. Enjoy!

Buffalo Chicken in the Slow Cooker

Ingredients:

16 oz raw boneless, skinless chicken breasts (2 Leaner Leans)

1/4 cup Frank's Hot Wing Sauce (2 Condiments)

2 tbsp light margarine, melted - I used Land O' Lakes Light Butter with 5g fat and 50 calories per tbsp (2 Healthy Fats)

1/4 tsp salt (1 Condiment)

1/2 tsp garlic powder (1 Condiment)

Directions:

Combine hot wing sauce and margarine in a slow cooker. Add chicken breasts and toss to coat in sauce. Cook on low for 6 to 8 hours. Shred chicken in the pot (optional).

2 Servings with 1 Leaner Lean, 2 Condiments and 1 Healthy Fat per Serving

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Sandy's Kitchen

Crock Pot Chicken Taco Soup

I thought this soup would be a good base for taco soup with an addition of taco seasoning, cumin, chili powder and garlic powder. I also wanted to incorporate another type of veggie besides just tomatoes so I added cabbage. I have always liked cabbage mixed in my soups. Yummy. I think chopped zucchini would work well in this soup as well. If you would just like to stick with tomatoes that is fine too. 

And... what's taco soup without cheese?! So I had to add the Mexican Cheese. You do not have to add the cheese but if you don't, remember to increase your lean to the correct amount. It tastes just as good without the cheese! This soup has just the right amount of kick and it is perfect for a cold winter day. I usually make 4 servings at a time and put them in freezeable containers and freeze them. When I know I want one for dinner, I just place the container in the fridge the night before so it is almost defrosted by dinner time. Then heat it up in the microwave. For another variation: use lean ground beef with beef broth instead of chicken and chicken broth. I hope you enjoy it as much as my family and I!

Crock Pot Chicken Taco Soup

Inspired by New Beautiful Me "Spicy Chicken Soup"

Ingredients:

2 cups reduced sodium chicken broth (2 Condiments)
2 cups water

1 can (10 ounces) rotel diced tomatoes with green chilies (2 1/2 Greens)

1 tsp taco seasoning (2 Condiments)
½ tsp cumin (½ Condiment)
¼ tsp chili powder (½ Condiment)
½ tsp garlic powder (1 Condiment)

12 oz raw chicken breasts ~ yields 9 oz cooked (1 ½ lean)

1 ¾ cups cabbage, chopped (3 ½ greens)

Toppings:
2 oz Kraft 2% Mexican Cheese ~ ¼ cup per bowl (½ lean)
4 tbsp sour cream ~ 2 tbsp per bowl (2 Healthy Fats)
Fresh cilantro ~ optional

Directions:

Combine chicken broth, water, diced tomatoes, taco seasoning, cumin, chili powder, garlic powder, cabbage and chicken in a crock pot. Cook on low for 6 to 8 hours or on high 3 to 4 hours. Shred chicken breasts in crock pot before serving. Divide soup into bowls and top each bowl with ¼ cup cheese and 2 tbsp sour cream. Garnish with cilantro if desired.

Makes 2 Servings
Each serving provides
1 Lean, 3 Greens, 3 Condiments, and 1 Healthy Fat

* If you do not want cheese, use 16 oz raw chicken breasts which should yield 12 oz cooked.

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Sandy's Kitchen