Crockpot Honey Chicken

Army Wives returns tonight! Are you stoked? Because I am! Only a little over an hour to go. I am a little hesitant though because the previews are making it seem like they are going way over the top with their hurricane situation. Not that Army Wives hasn't pushed reality before but I think they may be trying a little too hard this time. Either way, I can't wait!
Knocking another one off my Pinterest to-do list, I made crockpot honey chicken today. I liked it... but I had a few friends make it and they were all pretty ecstatic about it, saying it was phenomenal but I just thought it was good. I'm going to give it another shot in the future because the sauce on mine didn't look as thick as in other people's photos and I didn't get a heavy honey flavor. It was good though and my husband enjoyed it. I had seconds! This chicken reminds me of one I've tried before, brown sugar chicken by A Year of Slowcooking. One really great thing about this meal is that not only is it one you throw together in the crockpot and leave, but you can cook it fairly quickly. I did mine on high for about 2 hours and it was done, which was perfect because I originally planned to cook it on low but things got ahead of me, I spent more time running errands then expected, and next thing I know it's damn near dinner time. I served mine with white rice, however it would be good with any type of rice and probably with most noodles.

Crockpot Honey Chicken
Ingredients
3/4 lbs chicken (I used chicken breasts but you can use any)
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1/2 cup honey
1/4 cup soy sauce
1/8 cup ketchup
1/8 cup chopped onion
1 tbs vegetable oil
1 clove minced garlic
Season both sides of the chicken with salt and pepper, then place into the crockpot. In a small bowl, combine honey, soy sauce, ketchup, onion, oil, and garlic and then pour over the chicken. Cook on low for 3 hours or on high for about 1 1/2 hours. Cut or shred chicken into bite size pieces and return to pot and coat with sauce. Serve over rice.
I also spooned some extra sauce over the chicken and rice, and it was pretty good!
Adapted from Mmm...Cafe

Creamy Chicken Taquitos

Boston is feeling a little better today but last night I had the (not so) brilliant idea of letting him sleep in bed with us all night. He's been napping really well as long as I'm holding him or next to him so I thought maybe he'd do better if we co-slept. Wrong. He woke up every 2 hours or so and it wasn't just to eat but he was upset and fussy and blah. Poor pumpkin. So husband and I didn't get very much sleep at all and just as I was about to make Steven go to Dunkin Donuts and get me 2 chocolate frosted doughnuts (comfort food), our grammy called and invited us out for breakfast. So we went to Friendly's and I got strawberry topped french toast, which did the trick also. Grammy was also gracious enough to watch the kiddo while I took a 2 hour nap, bless her heart.

Tonight I tried a recipe I've seen on multiple sites for creamy chicken taquitos. I chose to base mine mostly off of Annie's Eats, who has a wonderful site with amazing looking food. I've made a few things from her site and really enjoyed them. They turned out great! Steven enjoyed it too so I think we'll add them to our menu. The recipe made 8 for me, and we each had 2 and found them to be very filling. These were really easy to put together and I had some shredded chicken ready to go so it was super simple today. I've been trying to make a habit of reserving a couple chicken breasts from the big packs we buy and cooking them in the slow cooker for a few hours, shredding it, and either refrigerating for a day or two or freezing til I need it and it's made a lot of meals much easier on a busy day. I served these taquitos with a side of salsa and refried beans. Also, one change I made was that I used wheat tortillas. I really like Chi-Chis Low Carb tortillas and since we're technically supposed to be starting our "diet" today, I thought that would be a good idea. Speaking of said diet, I'm going to put it off til Monday because I was pretty shocked that my husband wanted to join in on the diet with me, and I have to do some brainstorming on Steven-friendly meals and snacks to prepare.

Creamy Chicken Taquitos
Ingredients
3 oz cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup salsa
2 tbl lime juice
1 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp cumin
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 green onions, chopped
2 cups shredded, cooked chicken
1 cup Mexican blend cheese
8 tortillas
Cooking Spray
Kosher Salt
-Preheat oven to 425 degrees. In a large bowl, mix cream cheese, salsa, spices, lime juice, cheese, chicken and onion until blended well. Heat tortillas in microwave til easy to handle, about 15 seconds. Spoon 2-3 spoonfuls of chicken mixture into center of the tortilla and roll up tightly. Place seam side down on a baking sheet. Lightly spray the top of the taquitos with cooking spray and sprinkle with kosher salt. Bake for about 15 minutes until golden.
Adapted from Annie's Eats
You may notice my lack of photos when it comes to food. That is because I fail miserably at photography, especially food photography. It always ends up looking not so appetizing and I don't want to deter anyone from trying these recipes because of poor presentation. But if you follow the link to the original recipe, you will see some wonderful photos!