Slow Cooker Sweet 'N' Sour Chicken

Today my in-laws are coming down to go to the Apple 'N' Pork fest and help us in the yard. I decided to make dinner for them since they are helping us out today, but the question "What am I going to fix?" was the one that I heard all week in my head. I decided to make a recipe that Chad and I fell in love with last winter when we were going slow-cooker crazy!It is also in the Healthy Living/Budget Wise section of KraftFoods.com. Another bonus! Since we both are huge Chinese food fans I decided to make Slow Cooker Sweet 'N' Sour chicken today served over rice. I just put all of the initial ingredients in the crock pot and it's ready to go. *Note to self: Remember to take the chicken thighs out of the freezer before you cut - defrosting 1.8 pounds of chicken takes longer than expected in the microwave. LOL

Slow-Cooker Sweet & Sour Chicken

total time 8 hr 15 min

prep 15 min

servings 6 servings

 What You Need:

1 onion, sliced

1   carrot, sliced

1 stalk celery, sliced

1-1/2 lb.  boneless skinless chicken thighs, cut into bite-size pieces

1/3 cup packed brown sugar

1/3 cup  KRAFT CATALINA Dressing

1/4 cup soy sauce

1 tsp.  grated ginger root

1 can (8 oz.) pineapple chunks, drained, liquid reserved

1 Tbsp.  cornstarch

1 each green and red pepper, cut into strips

3 cups  hot cooked long-grain white rice

Make It

1. PLACE onions, carrots and celery in slow cooker; top with chicken.
2. MIX sugar, dressing, soy sauce and ginger; pour over chicken. Cover with lid.
3. COOK on LOW 7 to 8 hours (or on HIGH 3-1/2 to 4 hours), increasing the heat to HIGH for the last 30 min. Stir cornstarch into reserved pineapple liquid; add to slow cooker with pineapple and peppers. Cook 30 min. or until peppers are crisp-tender and sauce is thickened. Serve over rice.

Kraft Kitchens Tips

* Make Ahead:

To make your slow-cooker preparation even faster, get ingredients ready the night before and place in the slow cooker. Remove inner container and refrigerate until ready to cook the next day.

* Substitute:

Serve with hot cooked brown rice.

Fall Baking has begun...with pumpkin!

I have been ready for fall for several weeks now - but fall is officially here because it finally feels that way! Pumpkins and mums are showing up in the store, the weather is cooling down, and my alleriges are going full blown. LOL. I decided that Sunday's will be my baking day, therefore last Sunday I decided to bake with pumpkin. So I made two new recipes: Pumpkin muffins and pumpkin cookies. Enjoy!

#1 Low-Fat Pumpkin Muffins

Hands-On Time:	10 minutes
Total Time:	29 minutes
Servings:	24

 

 

 

 

 

 

• 1 box dry Ducan Hines Spice Cake Mix
• 1 whole egg
• 1 8 oz. can solid packed pumpkin
• 1/2 cup water
• 1 cup Craisins (optional) - I added these and they made the muffins delicious!

1. Mix everything together well (mixture will be thick).
2. Divide evenly into 24 cupcake tins lined with cupcake papers. Bake at 350 degrees F for 17-22 minutes.

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#2 Pumpkin-Chocolate Chunk Cookies

total time 28 min

prep 15 min

servings 42 servings, 1 cookie each

 

What You Need

2-1/2 cups flour

1-1/2 tsp.  baking soda

1/4 tsp. salt

3/4 cup  butter or margarine, softened

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1/2 cup  packed brown sugar

1 tsp. pumpkin pie spice

1   egg

1 cup canned pumpkin

1 tsp.  vanilla

1 cup BAKER'S Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chunks

1 cup  chopped PLANTERS Walnuts

 

Make It

HEAT oven to 375°F.
MIX flour, baking soda and salt. Beat butter, sugars and pumpkin spice in large bowl with mixer until light and fluffy. Add egg, pumpkin and vanilla; mix well. Gradually beat in flour mixture until well blended. Stir in chocolate and nuts.
DROP by heaping tablespoonfuls, 2 inches apart, onto baking sheets.
BAKE 12 to 13 min. or until lightly browned. Cool on baking sheets 1 min.; remove to wire racks. Cool completely.

TIP:

Pumpkin Pie Spice Substitute

No pumpkin pie spice on hand? No problem! Here's an easy way to make your own. For each 1 tsp. of pumpkin pie spice needed, just combine 1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon, 1/4 tsp. ground ginger, 1/8 tsp. ground allspice and 1/8 tsp. ground nutmeg.