Crock Pot Chicken Creations

Ed sent me a text earlier today saying that he had to work late, and was not happy about it, and didn’t know what time he would be home. He actually had to wait for a workplace to close before he could go in and work there. Grrrr. So I wanted to make sure dinner was ready for him when he got home, and I instantly thought of my Crock Pot! I love using my Crock Pot on nights like this when you just have no idea when you are going to eat, but you want dinner to be ready when you are. My mom was kind enough to give me some squash and zucchini the other day, and I wanted to make sure I used them before they went bad. I don’t really know what to do with said ingredients, especially when it comes to the Crock Pot, so I headed to my trusty friend – Google. I put in Crock Pot Chicken, Squash, Zucchini, and I think tomato too, because I was in the mood for something of the sort… and I came up with lots and lots of recipes! This is the one I based my dish on tonight, but I didn’t follow it exactly, I never do.

http://caloriecount.about.com/athenes-tomato-squash-zucchini-crockpot-recipe-r29531

I used a can of diced tomatoes, and a can of tomato paste, and then all of the other ingredients, but I didn’t use as much of them as it called for.I used 1 squash, 1 zucchini, ½ a chopped onion, 2 tsp of already minced garlic, and 2 chicken breasts. As for the seasonings, I just kindda decided on my own how much of each thing I wanted. I wasn’t sure how late Ed would actually be, so I cooked the chicken in a pan until the outsides were white before I put it in, that way it would cook a little faster. (and I always feel weird about putting raw chicken in with other ingredients, I know it gets really hot and stuff, but still) Plus, my chicken was completely frozen.

I put all the stuff in the pot at 5:30 ish, and cooked it on high until around 8:30. This is all the yummies after I added the tomato paste and chopped 'maters and bay leaves and stuff.

At 8:30, things were starting to cook down and it looked REALLY yummy!

I decided to do a little taste test because I had a feeling I might have over peppered it a bit, and what do ya know, I did. Oops. So I went back to my trusty friend Google and looked up how to fix my little mistake. It wasn’t too bad, but I do like to taste other ingredients, lol…. I found a whole bunch of different theories on how to simmer down the pepper heat a bit. I decided to try a few and see how it worked out. I added some lime juice, a little more water, some chicken bouillon, and a packet of splenda (we don’t really use sugar in our house). It seemed to thin it out a bit, and I was content. The chicken at this point is cooked all the way through, and just falls apart when you put into it with a spoon (yum!) so I put the pot down on low, and awaited Ed’s arrival. He finally came home around 9, and I cooked up some whole wheat pasta. I layered the pasta on the plate, put a chicken breast and some veggies over it, and slathered it with parmesean cheese (YUM!). I was so hungry, I completely forgot to take a picture of it plated. It looked pretty yummy. It probably cooked a little too long because the veggies were a tad soggy, and oddly enough the chicken was a little dry. The dry chicken was easily cured by breaking it up in the sauce, it soaked it up in no time. I probably should have poked some holes in it with a fork while it was cooking to soak up some of the stuff. All in all, I would say it was a success! It wasn't even too peppery. (Next time I will probably use less though!!!!!)