Crock Pot Sweet Garlic Chicken

This is one of my recent favorites.  The kids love it too.  Unfortunately the hubby isn't in love with it, but hey, he's gone a lot anyway soo....

We serve this with wild rice and asparagus.  The sauce that this makes goes great poured over the rice.  Yummmmm....  My ninja 3-in-1 crock pot/stove/oven makes this super simple because I don't have to use a seperate pan to boil the sauce.  :)

• 4-6 chicken breasts
• 2 TBS garlic
• 1/4 cup lemon-lime soda
• 2 TBS soy sauce (or gluten free tamari sauce)
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 2 TBS corn starch
• 1 tsp ground black pepper
• Red pepper flakes, to taste
• 2/3 cup apple cider vinegar
• 2 TBS water

1. Place thawed or frozen chicken in crock pot.  
2. In small bowl, mix together sugar, soda, vinegar, garlic, soy sauce (tamari sauce), and pepper.  Pour over chicken.
3. Cook on low 6-8 hours or on high 4 hours.  
4. Remove chicken from crock pot, and pour remaining sauce in sauce pan. Turn stove on to med-hi and allow sauce to come to a boil.  
5. In a small bowl, mix corn starch and water together.  Pour into sauce on stove.  Allow to boil 2-3 minutes, or until thickened.  
6. Allow sauce to sit for a few minutes, it will continue to thicken.  Sprinkle with red pepper flakes if desired.  

Garlic seasoned pork chops

We don't do pork a whole lot, but I was in a meal-rut, and had to do SOMETHING.  So, we went with pork for the night.  I loved this recipe.  It was ready soooo fast and had lots of flavor.  Win!

• 2 TBS butter
• 1 egg, beaten
• 2 TBS milk
• 4-6 butterflied pork chops, trimmed
• 1 pinch garlic powder, or to taste
• 1 pinch seasoned salt, to taste (we used Tony's creole seasoning)

1. Preheat oven to 425
2. Pour butter into a 9x13 baking dish to cover entire bottom of dish.
3. Whisk egg and milk together in a shallow bowl.  Dip pork chops into the egg mixture.  Transfer pork chops to the baking dish, and sprinkle them with garlic powder and seasoned salt.
4. Bake pork chops for 10 minutes.  Flip chops over, season the other side, and cook until pork is no longer pink, or about 10 more minutes.

Italian Chicken Bake

My sister found this little gem on pintrest and passed it along to me.  Love how it only takes a couple minutes of prep work, and is a complete meal when we are done.  Yay.

• 3 generous cups red potatoes, quartered
• 2 cans cut green beans
• 4-6 chicken breasts
• 3/4 stick butter, cut into pieces
• 2 Italian dressing seasoning mix packets (be careful, some have wheat!  I was glutened with this the first time I made it!!  :/)

1. Preheat oven to 350.
2. Lightly spray 9x13in pan.  Line one side with green beans.  Line other side with cut up potatoes.  Line chicken breasts down the middle.  
3. Cut up butter and place over chicken, potatoes, and green beans.
4. Sprinkle everything with seasoning packets.
5. Cover with foil and bake for 1 hour, or until chicken is cooked through.

Ranch Chicken Bites

I threw together this chicken recipe last night and didn't want to forget about it because it was so easy and yummy.  :)  I made extra so the kids could put it in their school lunch today.  We were super unhealthy and served this on top of french fries, topped everything with cheese, and dipped it in buffalo ranch.  Not my most nutritious meal, but hey, what can I say?  It was a hit.

• 2 lbs chicken breasts
• 1/3 cup (gluten free) all-purpose flour
• 3 TBS ranch seasoning (approx)
• 1 tsp garlic salt (approx)
• 3 TBS olive oil

1. Cut chicken into bite-sized pieces.
2. Place flour, ranch seasoning, and garlic salt in large zip-lock bag (or in a bowl).  Mix flour around until blended.  Place chicken in bag and toss to coat.  
3. Heat oil in skillet until hot.  
4. Fry chicken in skillet until cooked through and golden brown.