SLOW COOKING IS THE LIFE FOR ME !!!

In an effort to eat healthier this year, I've been attempting to make more meals at home. One of the things that is super handy is a slow cooker. Oh, my friend Sarah found one for me at her local Goodwill store for just $5.99. It works like a dream.  I'll be sharing about that soon, because there were some other seriously good yard sale finds that I'm just dying to tell you all about ;) :) Oh, I've posted a few photos at the very end of my post today...of the sandwiches I made from the leftovers!!! I forgot to take photos of the actual slow cooker process.

Also, I've been having problems with the font size on blogger today. I hope you can still read what I wrote. For some reason, I couldn't enlarge the font today...Boo :( :( :(

Heres the recipe for "Lemonade Chicken". I found on page 66 of Taste of Home magazine's winter edition of "Busy Family Recipes". Recipe submitted by Jenny cook, Eau Claire, Wisconsin (NOTE: make sure to read my notes at the end, because I did make a couple of changes to the recipe)

YIELD: 6 servings

*6 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves (4 oz each)
* 3/4 cup thawed lemonade concentrate
* 3 Tablespoons ketchup
* 2 Tablespoons brown sugar
* 1 Tablespoon cider vinegar
* 2 Tablespoons cornstarch
* 2 Tablespoons cold water


1) Place chicken in a 5-quart slow cooker. In a small bowl, combine the lemonade concentrate, ketchup, brown sugar and vinegar; pour over chicken. cover and cook on low for 2 1/2 hours or until c hicken is tender.


2) Remove chicken and keep warm. For gravy, combine cornstarch and water until smooth; gradually stir into cooking juices. cover and cook on high for 30 m inutes or until thickened. Return chicken to the slow cooker: heat through.


So in place of cornstarch, you can actually use pumpkin puree...Yes, I said pumpkin puree. I'd read somewhere that it was a good substitute if you didn't want to use cornstarch. I used it in a chili recipe and it did a good job of thickening the chili. No, it does not taste like pumpkin. It seemed to work just fine ;) :)


I also used raw boneless, skinless chicken tenderloins....instead of chicken breast halves. It worked GREAT!!! Since I'm relatively "new" to cooking stuff from scratch, I thought chicken breast halves would be too large. As it turns out, it would have been just fine :)

I used apple cider vinegar. Not sure if there's any other kind of cider vinegar.


Even after letting the "gravy" thicken, it's still a little bit runny. Mine turned out just the like the picture of the recipe in  the magazine. Having said that...it tastes GREAT!!!! It was very moist and tender...and tasted like sweet tangy lemon. You could easily substitute a different citrus fruit concentrate like orange or pineapple, whatever you think will taste good.


Okay....try it out. Enjoy...!! Since I had leftovers, I made what I call seriously delicious "lemonade chicken blues bun" sandwiches. My daddy asked for seconds. Here's a few photos :) :) :)

This is a little toaster oven I bought at a yard sale for $5. The lady had purchased it from QVC. It's great for a single person or two people. However, since her family was growing, it was no longer practical. Plus the last time I toasted these buns in my toaster oven, they burned on the outsides..so I used this. It worked  GREAT!!!!
I began by reheating the lemonade chicken in a small saucepan on medium-low on the stovetop. Make sure to stir occasionally. I'm convinced that help spreads the heat around, so the chicken will warm up a little faster. While that was happening, I took some "Blues Buns" (aka seriously delicious hamburger buns) from Dave's Killer Bread and toasted them here. Take a look at their website. The story behind this company is truly inspirational. There is a real "Dave" behind the face of this company and when you read his story...well, it's just wonderful :) :) Plus, it's the best store-bought organic bread EVER!!!

While the buns were in the toaster, I did take out some butter to soften. Here is my chicken sandwich about half-way to being eaten :) :)
So  once the buns have been toasted, add some butter. It's whatever you prefer. I like butter today, because that is what I had in my refrigerator. Attempt to pull apart the chicken and pile it on the bun. Take a spoon and gently drape some of the "lemonade" gravy over the top. Place top half of bun on top of the chicken.

Here is my simple, but very tasty sandwich.
So here it is. It's simple and that's okay. You could easily load it up with other goodies, too. It tasted GREAT. My father even asked for seconds. He was a little "sad" when I told him there wasn't anymore. So next time, I'll have to make more, so there's be extra sandwiches ;) :)

That's about it for the moment.  If you try this recipe, let me know how it turns out. That's the news from Oregon today. Love and hugs, Heather :)