dinner

So, like I said in my cookie post - I made dinner in the crock pot today. I LOVE the crock pot! Did you know that can throw frozen meat in it? For real - just remember it will create more liquid as it cooks and you may need to adjust your other liquids. You can do so much more than pot roast and soup in a crock pot, and tonight's dinner was yummy, healthy proof. I made Balsamic Chicken with Spring Vegetables that I found on the year of crock potting blog. When I told Jim about it, I got "sounds weird" for a response. He ended up liking it more than me. Jim never complains about my meals, he eats it and after dinner, whenever I make something new this is how the conversation goes:

Me "How was it?"
Jim "Great" "Really good" "One of your bests", etc.
Me (provided the response is one of the above) - "Thanks - I totally rock, don't I". OK, I don't say that, but you get the point.
Sometimes Jim says "good" - When he says good, I follow up with this question
"Was it - I ate it because you made it and I shouldn't complain since you took the time to make good, or was it make it again good?"
You see, Jim knows better than to complain about a meal because, quite frankly - its just rude. Someone cooked for you, etc., etc. On the other hand, I don't want him to force down a meal every other week just to be polite. So the line of questioning above weeds out the icky meals.
For the record - I rate the new meals also - we each have a 50% stake in the verdict. I won't cook something one of us really doesn't like. Its part of the power of being adult - you can choose. When we have kids, I can throw out the, I don't care if you don't like it just eat it card (which btw...I am not sure that I agree with).
Wow - I really really rambled there. Sorry.
Sorry for the crock pot picture, but its the only one I took. I liked how colorful it all was.



Here it is - super easy:

• 4 boneless skinless chicken breasts (or thighs)
• 2 zucchini squash (on the smaller side)
• 2 yellow squash
• 1/2 large red onion, or 1 whole small red onion
• 2 bell peppers (I used one red and one yellow)
• 1 whole head of garlic, peeled with bulbs in tact (peel your garlic, separate the bulbs and leave whole)
• 1/4 C balsamic vinegar
• 2t Worcestershire sauce
• salt and pepper

1. Place chicken in crock pot. Sprinkle with salt and pepper
2. Wash and cut all your vegetables and put into a mixing bowl.
3. Peel the head of garlic, but keep the cloves intact.
4. Toss the vegetables with balsamic vinegar and Worcestershire sauce.
5. Pour the vegetables on top of the meat.
6. Cook on high heat for 3 hours, then switch to low for 4 hours***

***If you are planning to put this together and leave for the day, I would suggest cooking on low for 8-9 hours. I did mine on high for 3 hours, switched to low for 4, and then placed on the warm setting for about 2 hours. The chicken was cooked through when I switched to warm (7 total hours).

I served this with whole wheat couscous.

Enjoy!