Grams Made Slow Cooked Moroccan Chicken

Grandad has been on the South Beach Diet for just over two weeks now. I'm not complaining. I've lost eight pounds. It's a great eating plan and, mostly, I don't mind it. But the first two weeks are very restrictive when it comes to carbohydrates. That means for the past couple of weeks I haven't been cooking any of my usual rice, orzo, ziti, capellini, sweet potatoes, or potatoes of any kind, etc. You get the idea.

Taking those items completely out of my cooking severely limits my meal planning. As of today, he is officially through the two-week induction period of the diet so now I can slowly begin adding a limited amount of healthy carbohydrates back to our meals.

One of the emails I subscribe to is a Healthy Recipes publication from Better Homes and Gardens. As luck would have it, yesterday's edition had a recipe for Slow-Cooked Moroccan Chicken. It looked really good to me and pretty healthy. I will admit that it was a little unconventional. Yes, it has carrots and chicken cooked with dried plums prunes. I was afraid that Grandad would balk, but he said he was game to try it. I put it in the crock pot about mid morning and it cooked for 10 hours on low. It smelled wonderful all day long. I served it over brown rice with a side of sauteed yellow squash and onions. It was as good as it smelled.

The original recipe called for eight bone-in chicken thighs. I substituted four boneless, skinless chicken breasts because Grandad doesn't eat dark meat.

Slow Cooked Moroccan Chicken

Adapted from Better Homes & Gardens

1 medium onion, coarsely chopped (½ cup)
8 oz. baby carrots with tops, trimmed, or baby carrots, halved lengthwise if large
½ cup pitted dried plums (prunes)
1 14-oz. can reduced-sodium chicken broth
4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1¼ teaspoons curry powder
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon

In a 4- to 5-quart slow cooker combine onion and carrots. Add plums and broth. Top with chicken. In a small bowl combine curry powder, salt, and cinnamon. Sprinkle over chicken.

Cover and cook on low-heat setting for 8 to 10 hours or on high-heat setting for 4 to 5 hours. Remove chicken, fruit, and vegetables from cooker with a slotted spoon. Spoon some of the cooking juices on each serving. Makes 4 servings.

Be brave ... try this recipe. You won't regret it. It's delicious!

Grams Made Crock Pot Creamy Chicken Soup

Grams is in the habit of making a one-pot meal to eat anytine Grandad spends a few days working in Houston. I don't really get bored eating the same thing several meals in a row and I love only having to cook and clean the kitchen one time. Today, I made chicken soup. I had everything on hand except a rotisserie chicken and the frozen peas. We made a quick trip to HEB after church this morning, but they were already sold out of rotisserie chickens. I'm thinking it might have been because of the Super Bowl. Since they were out, we had to make a second trip about an hour later. Fortunately, it's not a long trip.

The recipe is adapted from Sandra Lee's Semi-Homemade Creamy Chicken Noodle Soup. I made it without the noodles. Instead I cooked both rice and noodles separately so I can have either Chicken Noodle Soup or Chicken & Rice Soup. I also changed the herbs, because I wanted to use dried herbs that I had on hand.

Here's my recipe:

1 rotisserie chicken
1 cup onions, diced
1 cup celery, diced
1 cup carrots, diced
1 cup frozen peas
7 cups low sodium chicken broth (4 cans)
2 (10 ¾ ounce) cans condensed cream of mushroom soup with roasted garlic
1 teaspoon dried parsley
1 teaspoon dried tarragon
¼ teaspoon ground sage

Remove skin, debone chicken and chop the meat. Put the chicken into a slow cooker with the onions, celery, carrots and peas. Stir in broth, mushroom soup, and herbs.

Cover and cook on high for 3 to 4 hours or low for 8 to 9 hours.

Serve over cooked egg noodles or cooked rice.

Grams Made Pulled Pork

Grams has gotten several of her best recipes from the ladies of my book club, The Book Snobs.  This one comes from fellow Snob, Sandra Leeton.  It's easy, moist, tender and very tasty.

Since I had gastric bypass surgery 3 1/2 years ago my diet is "protein first."  This means I eat more meat than anything else.  There is only one catch, it is absolutely imperative that meat be moist and tender.  Anything dry or overcooked comes right back up or, worse yet, gets stuck.  Having a dry piece of meat stuck on its way into or out of my pouch (reduced stomach) is extremely unpleasant and sometimes painful.  Therefore, I'm always on the lookout for recipes similar to this one. 

2-3 pound Pork butt roast
1 can Coca-Cola
Salt, pepper, garlic to taste
1 onion, sliced very thin
Barbecue sauce to taste

Combine all ingredients except barbecue sauce in a crock-pot and cook for 8 hours on medium setting.

Shred pork, drain excess liquid, and stir in barbecue sauce.

Serve on foccacia rolls with Cole slaw and sweet pickles.

Note: I use a package of pork called "carnitas" that our local H-E-B sells.  It's scraps of meat left from over when the butcher trims butt roast and costs about half as much as a Pork butt roast.  It does require additional trimming at home, but I find it's worth the effort.

Grams Made Chicken and Pepperoni

This recipe comes close to satisfying my occasional craving for pizza. It has the flavors of pizza without the carbs. Even better, it's made in the crock pot.

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
salt
pepper
3 ounces sliced turkey pepperoni
1/2 cup sliced, pitted ripe olives
1 cup reduced sodium chicken broth
1 small can tomato paste
1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
1/2 cup shredded Mozzarella

Season chicken with salt and pepper to taste and place in crock pot. Add pepperoni and olives. In a small bowl whisk together chicken broth, tomato paste and Italian seasoning. Add to crock pot.

Cover and cook on low 6-7 hours or on high 3-4 hours. Top with shredded Mozzarella. May be served over pasta or rice.

Grams Made Crock-Pot Beef Burgundy

We recently saw the movie Julie and Julia. It inspired me to look for a recipe for Beef Bourguignon. I'm not really interested in Mastering the Art of French Cooking. It sounds too hard to me, but I ran across this recipe for the crock pot. It's perfect for a hearty dinner on a cold evening.

1 1/2 pounds beef, cubed
1/4 cup olive oil
1/2 cup flour
salt and pepper
2 cups red wine
1 large onion, sliced
4 cloves of garlic, diced
4 bay leaves
3 tablespoons dried parsley
1 can (14 ounces) beef broth

Mix flour with salt and pepper. Heat oil in skillet. Dredge beef in flour and brown in oil. Transfer beef to crock-pot. De-glaze skillet with wine. Pour wine over beef. Add remaining ingredients to crock-pot.

Cook on high 1 1/2 hours, then reduce heat to low and cook 2 more hours. Remove bay leaves before serving. Serve over noodles or rice.

(Use whatever cut of beef and whatever red wine you have on hand. I used eye of round roast and cabernet-sauvignon.)

Grams Made Crock-Pot Italian Roast Beef

This is on of my son Nick's favorite dishes. I serve it with mashed potatoes and a salad. It's so good!

3-5 lbs. rump roast
1 pkg. Italian Dressing mix
1 cup beef broth
2 teaspoon Italian seasoning
6 pepperoncini peppers
salt and pepper to taste

Mix together beef broth, dressing mix, and Italian seasoning. Pour over beef roast in the slow cooker. Season with salt and pepper. Add the pepperoncini peppers. Cook on low heat for 8 hours.