Slow Cooker = Fast Dinner

Happy Hump Day!
You have made it more than halfway through the week - way to go.  Everyone's life is pretty fast and furious, but I am sure that you have those days when even a meal in 20 or 30 minutes is not fast enough.  While a slow cooker is a great option any time, it is especially fantastic when you need dinner ready when you walk in the door.  I love the fact that you can put almost any combination of meat, vegetables, sauce and rice in the pot, set the timer and 3 to 10 hours later your house smells amazing and dinner is ready.  Wednesday night is one of those nights for us.  Yes, there are days when we pick up a pizza on the way home, but I promise you that the slow cooker can actually be just as fast.  The key to all of this goodness is a slow cooker with a timer or at the very least getting one of those inexpensive timers for your outlet from Target or Walmart.  I am as low maintenence as it comes with slow cookers, so I generally go for the recipes where you toss it all in the pot and turn it on.  In fact, I use frozen chicken breasts as well because that is the easiest way for me to buy and keep chicken on hand and I don't want to spend time defrosting.  I will share slow cooker recipes with you periodically, but as a general rule you use 4 to 6 servings of meat, often times onions and mushrooms because they hold up to long cooking, something for sauce like canned soup, tomato sauce or broth and seasonings such as garlic, oregano, basil, bay leaf ginger, soy sauce, etc.  Soups and chilis are also great in the slow cooker and it is very difficult to overcook them, so even better on those days when you are going to be away for 10 or 12 hours.  I hope you will try some different variations of the ingredients above and let me know how it goes.

WHAT'S FOR DINNER TONIGHT?
We don't walk in the door on Wednesdays until about 7:30pm and everyone is STARVING and very tired, so I tried a new slow cooker variation tonight and it was a great success.  I hope you will give it a whirl.

Applesauce Chicken
Servings:  4
4 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves (I prefer to use frozen chicken but fresh works great too)
Salt, to taste
Pepper, to taste
2 cups applesauce, unsweetened
1/4 cup barbecue sauce
1/2 t poultry seasoning
2 t honey

Season chicken with salt and pepper and place in the bottom of the slow cooker.  Combine remaining ingredients.  Pour over chicken.  Cover.  Cook on high about 3 to 4 hours, or until chicken is tender.  Place chicken on plate and spoon some sauce over the top.  You could also dice chicken combine with sauce and serve over rice or noodles.
To make a complete meal, I served the chicken with Uncle Ben's Ready Whole Grain Medley Brown and Wild rice pouch (ready in 90 seconds) and green beans that I roasted on the oven setting in the toaster oven with a little olive oil and salt and pepper for about 12 minutes.  I used the toaster oven because it gets hot almost immediately and I did not have time for the oven to pre-heat for 15 minutes.  If you don't have fresh green beans, pull enough beans out of the freezer in the morning and let them thaw in the fridge during the day.  And there you have it, a low-fat and flavorful protein, whole grains and delicious veggies on the plate in less than 15 minutes after you walked in the door.  Have I mentioned how much I love the slow cooker???

It is down hill to Friday - CHEERS!