I have been trying to avoid too much meat in our menu for various reasons.  Chicken is healthy, but isn’t always affordable when you are trying to feed a large family on a fixed budget.  Lots of the recipes I have been using are bean-based with some meat mixed in.  I decided that this week, we would bring in a little chicken.  I really do love having chicken for dinner, so this was a good thing.  I found a great price for boneless, skinless chicken breasts at HEB, so I stocked up a little for future recipes as well.

Day 16: Brunswick Stew
This is a very interesting dish.  I was looking for something different, because it’s easy to get into a rut with cooking.  The challenge, of course, is finding something most of the children will like as well.  I don’t even say all of the children, of course.  Very rarely does a recipe really appeal to ALL of the children.  This meal is really good!  It has a warm, smokey flavor, and it was wonderful served over brown rice.  Everyone did enjoy it, and it makes a LOT, so I froze enough for a future meal!  I didn’t double this recipe, and I still had to use my large crock pot and put the overflow into my 4-qt. pot as well.  I really need at least an 8-qt. crock pot.  This recipe would fit perfectly into a true 8-qt. crock pot.

Ingredients:
3 lbs. boneless, skinless chicken breasts
Reserved chicken broth (from cooking chicken)
2 lbs. lean ground beef (I used lean ground turkey, and it was great)
2 cans creamed corn
1 can whole kernel corn, drained
2 cups ketchup
1 cup mild barbecue sauce
2 Tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
2 large sweet onions, chopped
15-oz. can sweet peas
1 qt. stewed tomatoes (I used 4 cans sliced stewed tomatoes, undrained)
salt and pepper to taste

Instructions:
1. In a good-sized stock pot, cook chicken in 2″ of water.  Cover and cook slowly, just until meat is tender, but not at all dry.
2.  Remove chicken to a platter and allow to cool, reserving broth.  When cool enough to handle, cut chicken into small chunks.
3.  Meanwhile, brown ground beef (or ground turkey) in a large skillet.  Stir occasionally to break up clumps.  Brown until meat is no longer pink.
4.  Place 1 cup chicken broth in slow cooker, reserving the rest of the broth for later use if necessary).
5.  Drain drippings off browned ground beef (or turkey).  Add to slow cooker.
6.  Stir all other ingredients into slow cooker, mixing with meats.
7.  Cover.  Cook on low 4 hours.

Notes:
1.  Add more broth if the stew gets thicker than you like.  Use canned broth, if needed.
2.  Serve over rice or noodles, if desired.  We served with brown rice, and it was perfect.

Day 17: Simple Chicken and Rice
Todd’s mother used to make a meal like this in the oven.  When we were first dating, Todd wanted me to get the recipe from her to make this.  It was the first time I ever talked on the phone with my future mother-in-law!  This slow cooker meal reminds me a lot of that recipe.  This quantity perfectly fed my family, and everyone got as much as they wanted.  There was even a little left over for Todd to take to work today for lunch!

Ingredients:
2 cups dry instant rice (they do have an instant brown rice, which we used–probably not as healthy as the real thing, but it was good)
10 1/4-oz. can cream of chicken soup
10 1/4-oz. can cream of mushroom soup
10 1/4-oz. can cream of celery soup
1 stick (8 Tbsp.) butter, melted
1 soup can water
10 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves, or 1 large chicken, cut into 10-12 pieces.  ( I prefer boneless, but some people really like the flavor using bone-in chicken gives the meal.)
1 envelope dry onion soup mix

Instructions:
1.  Place rice in large slow cooker.  I used my 7-qt. cooker, and there was only a little room to spare)
2.  Combine soups, butter, and water in a large bowl.  Pour half over rice, spreading with a spoon to cover the rice.
3.  Lay chicken over rice.  Pour remaining soup mixture over chicken.
4.  Sprinkle with dry onion soup mix.
5.  Cover.  Cook on Low 4-5 hours, or until chicken is done but not dry, and rice is tender but not mushy.

Serve with steamed broccoli or other steamed vegetable and a salad for a nice meal.