Zesty Shredded BBQ Chicken

Ingredients:
3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (frozen or thawed)
1 c. barbecue sauce
1/4 c. Italian salad dressing
2 tbsp. packed brown sugar
1 tbsp. worcestershire sauce
1/4 tsp. black pepper


Directions:
Place chicken in the crock pot. Whisk together the remaining ingredients until brown sugar is dissolved. Pour evenly over the chicken breasts. Cover and cook on high for 3 hours or on low for 5-6 hours. Once chicken is fully cooked, remove from the crock pot and shred. Place shredded chicken back in the crock pot and stir until well coated with the sauce. Serve on buns or hoagies with additional barbecue sauce if desired. Makes about 6 servings.

Recipe adapted from here

Notes: What an easy and delicious recipe! I loved the extra kick the italian dressing gave to the sauce. We ate this along with sweet potato fries and a lettuce salad...yum!

Balsamic Vinaigrette

Notes: This is a simple and delicious recipe from Emeril Lagasse. His recipe calls for 1 whole tablespoon of minced garlic and I made it this way at first and it was barely edible in my opinion because the garlic was SO overpowering, which is why I changed it to 1/2 a tablespoon. You could even do less if you want. We love garlic in our house so the 1/2 tablespoon was just right. We loved this dressing and I will definitely make it again!



Balsamic Vinaigrette

Ingredients:
1/4 c. balsamic vinegar
2 tsp. packed brown sugar
1/2 tbsp. minced garlic
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. black pepper
3/4 c. olive oil

Directions:
Whisk together the first 5 ingredients (everything besides the olive oil) until sugar and salt are dissolved. Add the olive oil slowly, mixing constantly or place everything in a sealed container and shake until well combined. Makes about 1 cup of dressing. Store in the refrigerator and shake well before each use.

Skillet Sausage and Potatoes

Ingredients: 
4 medium red potatoes
1 medium sweet onion
2 tbsp. butter or olive oil
14 oz. turkey polska kielbasa
Salt and pepper to taste


Directions:
Wash potatoes and microwave for 6-8 minutes (all at the same time) until tender. Heat butter or oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Cut potatoes lengthwise and then slice into half moon shapes. Cut onion in half and then into thin slices. Place potatoes and onion into the heated skillet and saute for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Season generously with salt and pepper. Thinly slice the sausage and add the the pan. Saute an additional 15 minutes, until everything has a nice golden brown color, stirring occasionally. Makes 4 generous servings.

Notes: This is such a comfort food to me and I've been craving it like crazy! I haven't made it in a long time because it has meat, obviously. This is a great, easy dish to throw together and we eat it with garlicky green beans...delicious!

I'm still here!!

I really hope I haven't lost the few readers I had due to my lack of posting! I still haven't had it in me to get creative in the kitchen. This baby is sucking the love of food out of me! So sad. This next week I'm determined to cook dinner as many nights as I can. Last week I think I only cooked 2 or 3 times and I can do better!

My body has really craved meat (mostly chicken and turkey) during this pregnancy and I have been giving it what it wants so if you see me posting recipes with meat, that's why :)

This pregnancy is going really well so far! I had a horrible time with my daughter so I was afraid of the same things this time around. I'm almost 15 weeks now and the morning sickness is finally starting to go away and I'm starting to feel like I can do more. I can't believe we find out in only 5 weeks if we're having a boy or girl! We have been talking a lot about names lately so we're getting anxious to find out.

Anyways, just wanted to let you know I am still here! Thanks for sticking with me...I promise to start posting more!


-Chloé


*200th post*