Coconut Ginger Chicken and Vegetables

Well friends, I'm back in the saddle again.  All of my frozen meals have been eaten and I find myself cooking us dinner again on a regular basis.  To make things easier on myself, I have become a naptime chef and made my crockpot my best friend.  Thanks to pinterest I have found some great new crockpot recipes and I wanted to share one of my favorites.

Coconut Ginger Chicken (recipe copied from www.simplebites.net)
Serve this creamy and fragrant stew over Jasmine or brown rice. I like to top mine with a few chopped scallions.

Ingredients

• 4 cloves garlic, peeled
• 2 inch cube of ginger (about 30 grams), roughly chopped
• 1 small sweet onion, peeled, quartered
• 1 Tablespoon olive oil
• 2 Tablespoons butter
• 2.5 lbs boneless, skinless chicken thighs, cut into four
• 2 cans coconut milk, not shaken
• 2 Tablespoons cornstarch
• 1 can of baby corn cobs
• 1 cup peas or frozen vegetables of your choice
• For the spice blend
• 1/2 teaspoon ground pepper
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon ground coriander
• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground tumeric
• 1 teaspoon salt

Instructions

1. Combine ingredients from the spice blend together and set aside.
2. In a mini food processor, combine garlic, ginger and onion and pulse until it forms a paste.
3. In the bottom of a slow-cooker placed on a burner, heat olive oil and melt butter. Add pureed aromatics and stir well. Cook for a few minutes, then add spice blend. Cook for 2-3 minutes, stirring constantly.
4. Move aromatics to one side of the pot and add chicken pieces to the pot. Cook chicken slightly on all sides, using a sturdy wooden spoon to move it around the pot. It should get thoroughly coated with the spice mixture.
5. Open the cans of coconut milk and remove the cream from the top using a soup spoon. You should have about 1 cup. Set aside.  Pour the remaining coconut milk over the chicken and with both cans, it should just barely cover the chicken.
6. Drain the corn cobs and chop in half. Add to the slow-cooker.
7. Place the slow cooker in the base and cook on low for 4 hours.
8. Whisk cornstarch with coconut cream until smooth and add to the chicken. Stir well. Add frozen peas or other vegetables of your choice. Cook for another half an hour or until you deem the chicken cooked and the vegetables hot.

Notes

You can certainly use boneless, skinless chicken breasts in place of the thighs, but I prefer the dark meat and find it to have more flavor than the breast. It’s more affordable, too!

In the recipe I call for peas, but you can use any cooked or frozen vegetables you have on hand.

My slow cooker bowl can be used on a burner which can then be transferred to its electric base to cook further, but if you have a different type, then simply prepare the first few steps of this recipe in a heavy bottomed pot or skillet and transfer the ingredients to the slow cooker when the liquids are added.

Banana Oat Bars

I've been on the hunt for some healthy snacks for the kids, instead of the pre-made pre-packaged variety. Turns out healthy is often not yummy, and we've had a lot of flops on the way. Solution found in these babies! Full of peanut butter, whole wheat, oats and yogurt, rich in fiber and protein. The perfect solution for keeping little (and big) tummies full.

Banana Oatmeal Bars

Makes 20 bars (about 2 1/2 x 3 inches)

3/4 cup whole wheat flour
2 cups rolled oats
1 1/2 cups puffed rice cereal
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1 teaspoon cinnamon
3 very ripe bananas, peeled and mashed
1/4 cup honey
1/4 cup plain yogurt
1/4 cup peanut or almond butter
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup bittersweet or semisweet chocolate chips

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line a 9×13 baking pan with parchment, leaving enough hanging over on the edges so you can pull out the finished product.

2. In a large mixing bowl, combine the flour, oats, rice cereal, salt, nutmeg, and cinnamon, stirring well to combine. In a second large bowl, combine the banana, honey, yogurt, nut butter, and vanilla. Stir until the mixture is fairly uniform.

3. Pour the dry ingredients into the wet ones and stir until they come together into one uniform mixture. Gently stir in the chocolate chips. Transfer to the prepared pan and flatten down with a spatula. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes, or until just starting to brown on top. Remove from the oven and let cool for at least 1 hour before removing from the pan and cutting into squares.

From http://www.eatingfromthegroundup.com