Crockpot Curry

It's the youngest daughter here tonight, and I will freely admit that my idea for this freeze ahead crockpot meal is totally taken from my dear friend Steph over at Cupcakes and Curls. I did, of course, adapt it to be my own.

Here's Steph's original recipe:
Chicken Curry

4 Chicken Breasts - Cut up in strips or chunks
2 Bottles of Trader Joe's Yellow Curry
4-5 Red Potatoes sliced or cut into chunks

This one is easy - Cut up your chicken and potatoes, toss them in a Ziploc freezer bag and pour in your ready made sauce. Freeze. When ready to cook, defrost in fridge overnight and cook on low for 8 hours. Serve with Trader Joe's Microwave Jasmine Rice.

I tweaked this in a couple of ways, mostly to include a bigger variety of veggies, since Steph's husband is notoriously picky about vegetables, but I am a huge fan of veggies of all stripes.

Here are the ingredients I used to make two freeze ahead bags of curry tonight.

Ingredients
2 bottles of either red curry or yellow curry
1/2 curry bottle of water, shaken to get lose curry
1 gallon size freezer bag full of the following:

• 2 of those massive frozen chicken breasts
• 2 red potatoes, cubed
• 2 gold potatoes, cubed
• 1 1/2 bell pepper, variety of colors, sliced
• 1/2 large yellow onion, sliced
• FREE CHOICE - Add more or less of any of the above ingredients, as well as different vegetables. I fully intended to include eggplant and bamboo, but I fell short on two accounts. My eggplant had gone bad and I forgot to buy a can of bamboo. I upped how much potato and pepper went in, accordingly. If you don't like veggies or use smaller hunks of chicken, you'll need to put in more breasts to fill the bag.

Steps

1. Label bag before adding food, as it is much easier to label an empty freezer bag. I specify what the dish is, the date it is made, and any cooking instructions (low 8 hrs).
2. Chop and slice all meat/veggies according to preference. I did not slice the chicken, as it was already frozen. I will just fish the chicken out and either cube, slice, or shred it when it is time to serve.
3. Dump all chopped meat/veggies to the ziplock.
4. Pour two bottles of curry sauce (yellow or red to taste) over top.
5. If you're like me and your crock is often on for longer than 8 hours--work, am I right??--this step is crucial to maintain moisture. Fill one bottle about 1/2 way with water; cap and shake it. Dump the curry water into the other bottle; cap and shake it. Dump into bag. This gives you extra moisture and maximum flavor!
6. Seal the bag and squeeze it to be sure all veggies are coated in cooking liquid. Freeze flat.
7. The night before you use it, leave in refrigerator to thaw.
8. The morning of, dump contents into crockpot; set it; forget it.
9. Cook rice when you get home to serve with curry. You can use instant rice, stovetop rice, or a rice cooker (my preference). 
10. Chop, shred, or slice chicken if need be.
11. Enjoy! This is really easy, delicious, and satisfying.

The bag between bottles. Is your mouth watering yet?

Fajitas Two Ways: Diet Indulgence

Hi, it's Sarah here, younger daughter extraordinaire. 

Here's the original recipe for fajitas as taken from 7 Years Younger, the diet/anti-aging program that our clan has undertaken to help us all look and feel better, especially since Elissa and I are both shedding postpartum pounds and our husbands may have gained a few themselves during our pregnancies.

Here are some things that I did differently and why:

• I crushed the garlic with my mortar and pestle because, oddly, I have that setup, but no garlic press.
• I made more than 12 ounces of chicken. I used one of the freezer packs (approximately 1.25 pounds) from Costco because, frankly, I already owned it. Furthermore, what grocery store sells 12 ounces of chicken? I don't own a kitchen scale, so I didn't get too wound up about it. 
• I used chicken tenderloins. Again, this was because I already had it. Would I do it again? Yes, because you get greater surface area for seasoning and browning during the broil. I think it gives it more of a skillet texture and flavor.
• I used normal chili powder because, let's be honest, I do my grocery shopping at Walmart, and Walmart just ain't classy enough for Ancho Chili Powder. It tasted great with McCormick's Chili Powder, which is actually a blend of spices. Here's an article with more details on the difference.
• I used two anaheim peppers instead of a green bell. Again, I had anaheim instead of a green bell, and I didn't want to go to the store unnecessarily. I would do it again, since anaheim peppers have a less bitter flavor and more heat. Here's more on peppers.
• I used lime juice from a plastic lime because its easier to get 3 TBSP that way. I didn't cut up the limes, which I did have, since I didn't think we would want them after tasting the dressing on the cabbage.
• I used full fat sour cream because I had some before we started the diet, and I didn't think a 1/4 cup would make or break the recipe's health.
• I chopped up the cilantro, stems and all. I've never prepared fresh cilantro before, and when it said leafs only, I thought, "Wow! What a pain in the ass!" So, I went ahead and just cut up everything. It took the better part of a bunch, and tasted just fine.

All in all, this has been our favorite recipe from the diet so far. We'd definitely make it again, diet or not. I straight up loved the cabbage and cilantro salad. You could definitely eat it by itself as a side. 

As far as the prep goes, it was pretty easy and fast. I cut my fingers because my dull knife bounced off of my onion, which sucked, but can definitely be avoided by the more coordinated and sharp among us. The recipe only produced a few dirty dishes considering how many components there were: 1 large bowl, 1 jelly roll pan with foil, 1 cutting board, the mortar and pestle (could have been a garlic press) and a few knives and measuring cups. This makes my husband happy since he's in charge of doing the dishes when I cook.

Finally, if I were preparing this with my hubby during the summer, I might choose to have him prepare the meat and veggies on foil on the grill instead of under the broiler, to avoid heating the kitchen.