Crockpot Whole Chicken

Normally, when we want a whole chicken we pick up a rotisserie one from the store, however, we had some time on our hands and decided to crockpot one; and it was probably one of our best ideas all week! The meat is super tender and falls off the bone, we very highly recommend crockpotting all your chickens (when you want fall off the bone meat) if you have the time. The blog that we based our recipe off of, 100 days of Real Food, calls this "The Best Whole Chicken in a Crockpot"... and we definitely agree!

Ingredients
2 tsp. paprika
1-2 tsp. salt (depending on preference)
1 tsp. onion powder
1 tsp. thyme
½ tsp. garlic powder
¼ tsp. cayenne pepper
¼ tsp. black pepper
1 onion, chopped
1 large chicken (3-5 lbs.), thawed

Directions
Mix together all spices - paprika, salt, onion powder, thyme, garlic powder, cayenne pepper, and black pepper - in a small bowl and set aside.

Place chopped onions in the bottom of the crockpot.
 
Make sure you've removed all the guts any straggler feathers from the chicken, and place on top of onions in the crockpot.

Rub the outside of the chicken with seasoning mix (top and bottom), and sprinkle any remaining mixture inside the bird. Set the bird with breast up in the crockpot when finished seasoning.

Cook on high for 4-5 hours on high. The bird temperature should be at least 180°F.

Pull off meat (careful, it will be very hot!), tongs and/or a fork are useful.

ENJOY!

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NOTE: This chicken is wonderful in Rotisserie Chicken Noodle Soup, and you could also replace the turkey in Turkey Tortilla Soup. If you are especially crafty, this also makes wonderful homemade chicken broth.

Peanut Noodle Stir Fry

This is probably one of my favorite Asian/Thai inspired dishes that we make. It's creamy, loaded with veggies and chicken, and super delicious. Even though it's best served warm, it can very easily be eaten cold right out of the fridge. This recipe is adapted to be allergy friendly from Epicurious.

Ingredients
Sauce
1/2 cup smooth peanut butter
1/4 cup gluten free soy sauce
1/3 cup warm water
1/4 tsp. ground ginger
1/2 tsp minced garlic (1 clove)
2 Tbps. rice wine vinegar
1 1/2 Tbps. sesame oil
2 tsp. honey
1 tsp. dried hot red pepper flakes

Stir Fry
1 lb medium width rice noodles
2 Tbps. sesame oil
3-4 (aprox. 1 lb) chicken breasts, thawed and cubed
4 scallions/green onions, thinly sliced
1 red bell pepper, chopped
1 green bell pepper, chopped

Directions
Place all sauce ingredients in a blender and liquify until well blended.

In a medium-large pot, cook noodles according to package. Drain, rinse, and return to pot.

In a wok or large skillet, add sesame oil and brown chicken until cooked through. Add red and green bell peppers, and scallions/green onions. Cook until veggies are soft.

Once veggies are cooked, add peanut sauce mixture to wok. Cook until heated through.

Add to stir fry mixture to noodles and fold together until well combined.

Best served hot.

ENJOY!

Rotisserie Chicken Noodle Soup

As most of the US sees the coldest temperatures it has seen in a century, this soup is an easy soup to warm up with. We have used a number of different types of noodles, but this batch was by far my favorite; we use Barilla gluten free noodles, which are available in our store.

Ingredients
1 rotisserie chicken*
6-8 oz. corn elbow noodles
2 32 oz. boxes/cans of chicken broth
3-4 stalks celery, chopped
4 large carrots, chopped
1 medium onion, diced
1/2 tsp. dried basil
1/2 tsp. dried oregano
salt and pepper to taste

Directions

In a large pot, add broth, celery, carrots, and onion. Cook until celery and carrots are mostly tender.

While veggies are cooking, remove skin and pull meat off chicken. After chicken is all in, add basil, oregano, salt, and pepper.

When veggies are tender, add noodles.

Cook until noodles are soft. Our noodles soaked up more broth than we expected (as shown in the picture below), so we had to add some extra broth.

ENJOY!

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*NOTE: If you have some extra time, try making your own rotisserie-like chicken in the crockpot. Check out our recipe here: Crockpot Whole Chicken.

Baked Sweet & Sour Chicken

We made this recipe a few times awhile back, but it is definitely very tasty. I found this dish on Pinterest, and it's hard to go wrong with gluten free orange chicken. It was originally posted on Life in the Lofthouse, and we have adapted it to make it "friendly". We served this with Vegetable fried rice and steamed broccoli. (I apologize for the poor quality pictures, updated ones hopefully soon to come.)

Ingredients

Chicken: 3-4 boneless chicken breasts salt and pepper 1 cup cornstarch 1/2 cup egg substitute (2 eggs) 1/4 cup canola oil

Sauce: 3/4 cup sugar 4 Tbps ketchup 1/2 cup distilled white vinegar 1 Tbps gf soy sauce 1 tsp garlic salt

Directions
Preheat oven to 325°F.

Mix all the sauce ingredients together in a bowl, and set aside.

Trim the chicken breasts of any fat, rinse them, and cut into bite sizes pieces. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Dip chicken into the cornstarch to coat then dip into the eggs.

Heat the oil in a large skillet and cook your chicken until browned but not cooked through. Then place the chicken in a 9×13 greased glass or ceramic baking dish.

Make sure sauce is still well mixed, and pour evenly over chicken.

Bake for one hour, turning the chicken every 15 minutes.

ENJOY!

Honey Chicken Kabobs

We love to grill. There's just something about it that makes it extra tasty, and these kabobs are no exception. These are well worth the wait to marinate the chicken and veggies over night. The recipe comes from AllRecipes.

Ingredients
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1/3 cup honey
1/3 cup gf soy sauce
1/4 tsp. ground black pepper
8 medium skinless boneless chicken breasts, cut into 1 inch cubes
1/2 tsp. minced garlic (2 cloves)
5 small onions, cut into 2 inch pieces
2 red bell peppers, cut into 2 inch pieces
skewers

Directions
In a gallon ziplock bag, mix together oil, honey, soy sauce, and pepper. Place the chicken, garlic, onions and peppers in the bag, and marinate in the refrigerator at least 2 hours (the longer the better - we let it sit in the fridge overnight).

Drain marinade from the chicken and vegetables, into a separate bowl. Thread chicken and vegetables onto separate skewers for more even cooking, as the veggies will cook faster.

Heat the grill to high heat.

Lightly oil the grill grate with cooking spray. Place the skewers on the grill. Cook for 12 to 15 minutes, until chicken juices run clear. Turn and brush with marinade frequently.

ENJOY!