Super Amazing Slow Cooker Chicken & Pumpkin Pie!

To be honest I haven't posted any new recipes in the last couple weeks because I keep forgetting to take pictures of the food I make! I always think as I take the last bite of something, "Oh man, this would have been a good recipe to blog about..." Oh well, I'll try to get better this week because I have lots of great recipes I want to share!

Although these two recipes I'm posting today would have gone great together for dinner, I made them at different times but I wanted to share both! Like I said, I've been bad at remembering to take pictures so I only have one of the chicken recipe... This is right before I put the cover on and let 'er slow cook away.

The recipe is a little vague because I really didn't do any measuring, sorry for those that prefer precise measurements, you just gotta wing this one!

Slow Cooker Chicken

Whole chicken

Dairy free butter (I used Earth Balance)

Salt 

Pepper

Onion powder

Garlic powder

Thyme

Rosemary

Oregano

Basil

After removing the "guts bag" (which is super gross to me by the way), place the chicken in the slower cooker. Rub the entire chicken with butter, I didn't do any measuring, just slathered it on all sides. Sprinkle each seasoning over the chicken, again, just wing it! Place cover on slow cooker and cook on high for 4 hours or low for 8 hours.

This chicken turned out so tender and was so super simple to make as you can see! After I picked off all the chicken I used the bones and drippings to make chicken broth. I just tossed in some carrots and onion and filled the crock pot to the top with water then let it cook overnight. In the morning, I poured the broth through a strainer into a large bowl and placed it in the refrigerator. Later that day the grease had floated to the top, which I scooped off, then I poured the broth into containers and froze them for later use. I'm never buying store bought broth again, that was so easy!

Now, onto dessert...

Pumpkin Pie (Allergy Free)

Crust:

1 1/2 c. GF all purpose baking flour (I used Bob's Red Mill)

1 tsp. salt

1/2 c. canola oil

2 tbsp. coconut milk

Filling:

2 c. canned pumpkin

1 c. coconut milk

1 tsp. vanilla

3/4 c. brown sugar

1/4 c. cornstarch

1 tsp. dark corn syrup

1 tsp. ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp. ground ginger

1/2 tsp. nutmeg

1/2 tsp. salt

1/8 tsp. ground cloves

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Combine flour and salt. In a separate bowl, wisk together oil and milk. Pour wet ingredients into flour mixture. Use a fork to combine into a crumbly mixture. Press crust into a greased 9 inch pie pan. Bake for 15 minutes then remove from oven and set aside.

Reduce oven temperature to 350 degrees. Beat together all filling ingredients and pour into baked crust. Bake for 1 hour. Cool at room temperature and refrigerate before serving.

I love love loved this pie! The crust did come out a little thick but I really didn't mind. With Thanksgiving only a couple months away I'm sure I'll be making this one again!

 
As you can tell I couldn't even get a picture of a whole slice because I was too excited to dig in!

What to do with all the zucchini!?

I'm super excited that we're starting to get some produce from our little garden! So far we been able to enjoy green peppers, jalapeno peppers, and lots of yellow squash and zucchini! I found a recipe for zucchini brownies and made a few changes for my diet. Next I want to try these Zucchini Fritters!

Zucchini Brownies 

2 c. GF flour (I use Bob's Red Mill)

1 1/2 c. sugar

1/2 c. cocoa powder

1 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. salt

1/4 c. canola oil

1/4 c. applesauce

2 tsp. vanilla

2 c. shredded zucchini

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease 9x13 inch baking pan. Combine flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda and salt.

Stir in oil, applesauce and vanilla. The batter will still be pretty dry but once you add the zucchini it will moisten up.

Stir in the shredded zucchini.

Smile at a cute chubby kid.

Pour into greased pan and bake for 25-30 minutes. Dig in! You are eating a vegetable after all!

I'd love to hear if you have any other great zucchini recipes!

No new updates really since I last posted. We're just working on being wheat free for another 4-6 weeks then I'll try adding egg back into my diet. Sawyer has been doing great now that we've been back off wheat for a couple weeks. It took a good week for the blood in his stool to completely clear up but we seem to be back on track now!

 

So long wheat....

Yesterday we had a great four month check-up! Sawyer is now 15 lbs. 9 oz.! He's getting to be such a cute chunk, he's got some major thunder thighs going on :) He had to have two shots and one oral immunization which made him gassy and fussy so it was a bit of an off day. On top of that, I think we may have a teether on our hands... he has drool pouring out like a waterfall and he loves to chew on everything! He's just growing up so fast! 

Well, after three wonderful days of bread, it's back out of my diet... On Tuesday, I saw a tiny speck of blood in his stool, then more on Wednesday. Thursday when he had his next poop, it had even more. Poor little guy! I called the gastroenterologist and told him what happened and he said to eliminate wheat for 6-8 weeks then move onto the next food group which is egg. It's kind of like starting over but this time I can have fish and nuts! I figure I've done this diet for two months, so whats a few more :) Thankfully there are so many gluten-free options available now. I hope this is just an allergy that he outgrows quickly! 

So I've had this recipe typed up for a while but just haven't posted it yet. It's a super yummy beans and rice recipe that I made when I was low on groceries and looking for a quick dinner fix!

Black Beans and Rice

4 tsp. olive oil

1 red bell pepper, seeded and chopped
1 onion, finely chopped
5-6 cloves garlic, minced
2 cans black beans, rinsed and drained
1 can diced tomatoes

1 1/2 c. chicken broth

3/4 tsp. thyme

1 bay leaf

1/2 tsp. oregano

Salt and pepper to taste

Saute the pepper, onion and garlic in olive oil until vegetables are tender, about 15 minutes.

Stir in the beans, tomatoes, broth and seasonings.

Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer, stirring occasionally, until sauce thickens. The recipe says it should take about 45 mins. but I simmered mine for close to 2 hours and it really didn't thicken much.

While the beans cooked up I got to use my new rice cooker that my super awesome hubs bought me!

Season with salt and pepper and enjoy!