Too sick to get off the couch - Chicken and Rice Soup

We have been sick several times this spring and I needed a recipe that was super simple, healthy, and delish for us to survive on! I threw this together and thankfully wrote it down because it turned out really good! I hope you keep away the germs but if you can’t I hope this brings some comfort! I have also been making this for friends who are sick. Enjoy!

4 Large or aprox 3.5lbs Cooked Chicken Breasts Cubed or shredded (I prefer shredded!)

1 Bag Baby Carrots diced

2 Small Celery Bunches diced

1 Box Swanson Tuscan Chicken Flavor Infused Broth

1 Box Swanson Chicken Broth

1 Box Swanson Vegetable Broth

4 Cups Rice Cooked (2 Cups uncooked)

2 tsp Onion Powder

2 tsp Montreal Chicken Seasoning

1 tsp Garlic Powder

1 tsp White Pepper

1 tsp Himalayan Pink Salt

3 Bay Leaves

Large Crockpot (I love using liners!) or Large Soup Pot

You can make this in the crockpot or in a pot on the stove depending on your preference! If you do make it in the crock pot make sure you add the rice last before serving or you will end up with a crockpot of mush… don’t ask how I know this!

-Start the rice cooking.

-Start cooking chicken (see tip below) and either cube or shred. Try my super simple shredded chicken recipe here.

- Add the three boxes of broth and seasonings to the crockpot or pot. Turn crockpot on high or turn stove on med high for a pot.

-Dice Carrots and Celery and add to broth (see tip below)

-The chicken should be done by this point. Chop or shred (see tip below) and add to soup.

-For the crockpot cook on high for 4 hours or for stove top cook at a low rolling boil with lid off for 30-45 minutes until veggies are done.

-Add cooked rice and serve. Do not add the rice until just before serving!

-I like to sprinkle a little bit of finely diced cilantro over my bowl!

Tips!

*I prefer Jasmine Rice over Brown Rice when I’m sick since it sits a bit better on my tummy.

*If I’m not using my shredded chicken recipe this is how I cook the chicken. Put some avocado oil (my favorite) in a pan and heat on medium. Cut the chicken in half to make it thinner and lay in the pan so there isn’t any overlap. Cover with ½ cup lemon juice and sprinkle with Montreal Chicken Seasoning. Flip halfway through. The lemon juice is going to help the chicken be tender and juicy.

*When I am in a hurry or super sick and don’t have the energy I use the food processor to dice the carrots and celery. You can also do this with the cooked chicken to save time cubing it.

Thanks for checking in! - KK

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Super Easy Crockpot Shredded Chicken

My friend gave me the basics for this recipe and it is one of my go tos! You can easily alter this to your liking by adding more spices or a marinade to it as well. It is a super simple, easy, and versatile recipe. Once the chicken is cooked and shredded you can use it in so many recipes, on salads, mixed with BBQ or made into Chicken Salad for sandwiches. The possibilities are endless and it is especially a great time saver if you meal prep! I like to make a big batch and freeze the extra for quick use later.

4-5lbs of Chicken (I use chicken breast for simplicity and lower fat content)

3 Cups Lemon Juice + a few splashes (Don’t freak out!! The chicken will not turn out super lemony!! The lemon juice just helps make it super tender and juicy!)

3 Tbls Montreal Chicken Seasoning

2 tsp Tony’s

2 tsp Garlic Powder

2 tsp Onion Powder

(My favorite add on: Add a packet of McCormick Island Woodfire Grill Seasoning. Once you try it this way you might never go back! It also adds a bit stronger flavor so keep that in mind if you are going to be using it in a recipe.)

-Mix dry seasonings together in small bowl

-Put the crockpot liner in (see tips below)

-Add two cups lemon juice

-Add a layer of chicken with minimal overlap

-Pour a half cup lemon juice over top of chicken and generously sprinkle with dry seasoning mix

-Layer the rest of the chicken on top

-Pour a half cup lemon juice over top of chicken and generously sprinkle with dry seasoning mix

-Cook on high for four hours

-Remove chicken (carefully as it should fall apart as you are pulling it out) and place in a mixing bowl

-Shred chicken - It should fall apart. I just use two forks to pull at it.

-Add 3-4 cups of the broth from the crockpot to the shredded chicken and mix together

Tips!

-I love to use a crock pot liner to make clean up extra easy. You can find my post here for my favorite liners and crock pot.

-I make big batches of these and freeze into meal or cooking portions to save time.

-You can use this chicken in just about any recipe that calls for chicken without the flavor coming through strongly. If you want to use different seasonings or stronger ones to have the flavor come through more you definitely can!

Thanks for checking in! - KK

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Baja Chicken Guacamole

Our whole family loves this recipe! My husband makes amazing guacamole and it is so fresh tasting. I came up with this recipe when I wanted something similar but a little more kick and protein. I just can’t get enough of recipes that are filling but still fresh and light tasting especially in the summer heat! There are so many different ways to use this recipe but our family favorites are with chips or in a pita pocket. If you would like to make this recipe for a more traditional lettuce salad you can find that variation in my post here.

4 Avocados

3 Roma Tomatoes

3 Large Chicken Breasts (Avocado Oil or Olive Oil to coat pan)

3 Tbls Lime Juice

1 Packet McCormick Grill Mates Baja Citrus Marinade

2 tsp Fresh Cracked Pepper

Finely diced cilantro to taste

Coat a skillet with avocado oil and place on stovetop at med-high heat. Once heated add chicken breasts and sprinkle with 1/3 of the Baja Citrus packet. After 3-4 minutes flip the chicken and sprinkle another 1/3 of the packet. Continue flipping chicken every 3-4 minutes until cooked through. Once the chicken has been cooked let it sit and cool for about 10 minutes before cutting into small cubes. This will help the meat retain the juices and keep it as moist as possible.

While the chicken is cooking slice the avocados and tomatoes into small pieces and place in a medium bowl. Stir the avocado and tomatoes together gently until blended.

In a small bowl mix the lime juice, pepper, the rest of the seasoning packet, and cilantro. I like to mix these separately to avoid getting lumps of seasoning and to keep from over mixing the avocado.

Now add the diced chicken and seasoning mixture into the avocado and tomato mix and lightly stir.

Serve with chips, crackers, pita, in a pita pocket, in cucumber cups, or on a sandwich. Leave a comment below and let me know what your favorite way is to serve this dish!

Note: If you do refrigerate before serving you will most likely notice a small liquid buildup in the container. This is just the juices from the chicken and tomatoes separating and you can stir them in or drain them. I prefer to drain before serving since I like this dish to be a little on the thicker side. Enjoy!

Thanks for checking in! - KK

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Lemon Steak Jerky

4 lbs Beef  (or other meat of your choice) - sliced into thin pieces - I usually use a roast or whatever is on sale for a good price at the store. You can slice the meat yourself but it is a time consuming tricky. Most places will slice it to whatever thickness you like for you at no additional charge if you just ask.

4 parts A-1 Steak Sauce

2 parts lemon Juice

1 part McCormick Montreal Chicken Seasoning

Mix all ingredients in a bowl and marinade meat in the fridge for 4-6 hours.

Dehydrate: Each dehydrator is different so please make sure and check your manual for specific instructions. I noticed the time is going to really depend on how thick the meat is sliced. Ours says that you can tell when the meat is done by bending a piece of jerky. When you bend the jerky it should crack but not break. To accomplish this with our model we set it to 160 degrees for 8-12 hours with thick cut and 4-6 hours with thinner cut meat. I would recommend to check yours every 1-2 hours until you get the hang of how long it takes. You can definitely overcook jerky!

I will be posting more jerky recipes soon!

Thanks for checking in! - KK

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Crock Pot & Rice Cooker Love

Daily Dinners

Dinner is by far the trickiest meal of the day for me and I’m sure I’m not alone in that! My daughter Jocalyn is a fairly light sleeper and trying to do much while she is napping can be quite the ordeal. Especially anything in the kitchen tends to wake her up pretty easy. This makes getting dinner ready while she naps a real trick a lot of the time. To top this off my hubby Jeff gets home at different times depending on the day so we don’t usually have a set dinner time. Sometimes we go to the gym once he gets home and that means we really don’t have much time when we get home to get dinner done and eaten before Jocalyn’s bedtime routine starts. I hate feeling rushed and that is especially true at the end of the day when I’m tired and just want to chill before bed. For all of these reasons and more I have been really loving my crock pot and rice cooker lately. It is just so easy to throw everything in and be done with it. I also really love that dinner is kept warm and ready so you can eat whenever you are ready without having to either heat something up or cook it right then. This is especially true on nights we go to the gym after Jeff gets home.

Holidays and Company

Over Thanksgiving I really wanted easy lunches that would be healthy, yummy, and quick that didn’t involve sandwiches every day. Everyone was staying pretty busy and not always on the same meal schedule and my crock pot and rice cooker came to the rescue yet again. I just made a big batch of brown rice and another of Jasmine and a huge batch of.. well I’m still trying to figure out what to call the recipe I came up with actually. I guess a cajun curry thick stew would be the best way to describe it. It was so great to have everyone just be able to dish up a hot lunch or snack whenever they wanted and go back about the day without taking a bunch or time or making a mess in the kitchen. It was extra awesome on Thanksgiving when I was taking up the kitchen and most of the dishes making the big dinner. Even though my parents kitchen is much larger I think it will be equally as nice when we head to their house for Christmas or anytime you have company.

Favorite Crock Pot

Recently my crock pot died on me and so I was looking around for a new one. After researching quite a few I settled on the following one and I couldn’t be happier with my purchase! I got mine from Amazon and used the prime shipping. (I love Amazon and the prime shipping!) At $50 you can definitely find cheaper options but I really love the features on this one. We have get-togethers pretty often at my hubby’s work and the lid latches work wonders for transporting your creations spill free. Another big one for me is being able to set the cooking options any way you want.

Hamilton Beach 33969 Set and Forget 6-QuartSlow Cooker

(Picture from Amazon.com)

Crock Pot Liners

If you have never tried a crock pot liner you are missing out! I typically just get the Reynolds Slow Cooker Liners from the grocery store. I know you can get a variety of options online but I haven’t tried any of those out. All you do is put the liner in, fill the crock pot as usual, cook, and then throw away the liner and mess! So easy and with no cleanup required this makes crock pot dinners all the better for me. Sometimes I will wipe the crock pot down with a damp paper towel just to make sure it is extra clean but this usually isn’t necessary.

(Picture from Amazon.com)

Favorite Rice Cooker

This rice cooker is amazing. We received it as a Christmas present two years ago and I can’t say enough good things about it! It cooks the rice and any other grain perfectly and it has a stay warm feature that is amazing! When it comes time to clean up it is the easiest thing ever. It is a little pricey at $140 but I think it is totally worth the money and we use ours allll the time! They have a bigger option as well which my parents have but the smaller size works perfectly for us. There is actually a whole cookbook of recipes you can make using just the rice cooker as well.

Zojirushi 5-1/2-Cup (Uncooked) Neuro FuzzyRice Cooker and Warmer, Premium White

(Picture from Amazon.com)

 

Thanks for checking in! - KK

 

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Light Tuna Salad

I love this recipe for a snack times or an easy lunch. My daughter Jocalyn really loves it as well so that is an extra bonus!

1 Can Tuna drained and mashed

½ tsp Lemon Juice

1 tsp Dijon Mustard

2 tsp Fat Free Plain Greek Yogurt (I personally love the Great Value brand best)

¼ tsp Dill

Finely diced celery, tomato, and or cucumbers to taste

Mix all ingredients in a bowl and serve with veggies, crackers, pita, in cucumber cups, or on a sandwich.

 
Thanks for checking in! - KK

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Light Fish n’ Chips

You can make these with either Kettle Cooked Salt and Vinegar chips or Kettle Cooked Jalapeno chips or make a batch of both. If you would like to make this lighter for some servings or all servings then just sprinkle the desired portions with a lighter amount of the topping.

2-3 Tilapia Filets per person - You can also use catfish or other white fish

1 large bag of kettle cooked salt and vinegar or jalapeno chips depending on your taste

1 small bag Italian blend cheese

Salt free herb fish rub - mine is from Costco

Lime Juice

Preheat oven to 375. Lightly coat a large baking dish with nonstick spray and arrange fish filets in the dish. Lightly sprinkle with lime juice and then with your salt free herb fish rub.

Pop bag of chips and roll the top to prevent spills. Crush chips into small pieces, open chip bag and add cheese, close and shake to mix well. Top filets. with mixture or sprinkle lightly for a lower calorie option. Place baking dish in the oven and bake for 10-15 minutes or until fish flakes easily with a fork. The baking time will also vary depending on how many portions you’re cooking.

Serve with your favorite veggies as a side and enjoy!

Thanks for checking in! - KK

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Cajun Chicken and Shrimp (Crockpot)

3 lbs Chicken breasts diced into bite size cubes

2 red bell peppers, chopped

2 stalks celery, diced

1 can petite diced tomatoes, undrained

1 TBLS Lemon Juice

3 garlic cloves, minced or garlic powder

1 TBLS onion powder

1 teaspoon smoked paprika

½ tsp cumin

1 teaspoon cajun seasoning

2 tsp Montreal Chicken Seasoning

1 teaspoon fresh ground pepper

1 Seafood flavor boost packet

1 Cup of Water

1 ½ lbs shelled shrimp, deveined and cleaned

hot sauce, to taste

Cooked Brown Rice

In the slow cooker stir in all the ingredients together except shrimp, hot sauce, and rice, cover, and cook on high for 4-5 hours or low for 8-10 hours. Add the shrimp in the last hour of cooking.

Serve over brown rice with hot sauce as desired. 

 
Thanks for checking in! - KK

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