Chicken Crockpot Recipes

I LOVE to cook, BUT there are days that I don't want to spend all my time in the kitchen and so if I can just throw my meat in the crockpot and pop it open when it's dinner time- then YES sign me up.

Here are some of my favorite ways that you can use chicken.

Ingredients - 

-Boneless skinless chicken- This is by far the FASTEST and less MESSIEST way to cook chicken, you shred it and you are DONE. I have cooked the ones with bones, but it does take more time.
-We are a family of 5 and surprisingly we used 2 big breasts for our meal the other day and that was plenty to go around!
-So if you cook more and have leftovers know that you can surely use it for other meals or please FREEZE it

Add-ins

This is where it can vary tremendously here- everything from
-italian dressing
- salsa
- water with some salsa
-Salt and pepper  to your taste
- Garlic- you can't go wrong with this- either powder or minced
- onion- again you can try using powder or throw in whole cubes

Directions 

-Toss your chicken in the pot and set on HIGH for 5-6 hours or LOW for 6-8 hours
- Add water to keep it moist

Once your chicken is done then you can shred it up and eat up to your content

Meal Ideas

- Shredded Enchiladas
- Pulled pork with barbecue w or with out buns
- Serve it over brown rice or quinoa
-Tacos
-Serve with Pasta
- Make Chicken Soup

Are you really HUNGRY ?

Have you ever gone to your pantry to look for something to eat. You weren't sure exactly what you wanted to eat, but you figured hey why not.

This is how I get around the afternoon, when my son is napping and I am looking to be productive- therefore I look for a snack because, ya that's productive.

But, what I have learned is that either I am thirsty or I need to stay busy and need to find something else to do.

How to determine if you are really hungry 

One new thing that I am trying to do is make sure that I drink water. Take a big glass of water and drink it up. Then leave the kitchen and go throw a load of laundry in the washer. Distract yourself with something else to see if you are still hungry.

Drink some Herbal Tea

I love tea with a little bit of honey, sometimes that is all I need to curb that craving. Enjoying a nice cup of tea can be the ticket to kicking that HABIT of thinking that we are hungry. It fills us up because with liquid, plus the herbs provide a therapeutic way to help our senses.

Brush your teeth 

Do you like to eat after you brushed your teeth? I don't. So by brushing your teeth it can become a trigger for many of us to say wait I just brushed my teeth I am not going to ruin that fresh taste in  my mouth. You should give it try.

Next time you find yourself going for the kitchen for a snack, ask yourself if you are really wanting to eat or if it's just out of boredom.

Motivation

Today I had the chance to go volunteer at my kids school. I sit down with one student at a time and listen as they read to me. As I listened to their different stories about the dog playing with cat or the hen losing her ring.

 I enjoyed how they persistently sounded out certain words. There were some words that were much harder for them to sound out, but I didn't once think to tell them - STOP, you can't do that. You WON'T get it. Instead,  I aided them along thru those challenging words

And as I left I thought to myself: Why is it that when I want to muster up and try something new and difficult that I just tell myself nope stop you can't do it? Why is it as adults we don't allow ourselves to struggle and prove that we can achieve difficult things? Is it because we know we can take the easy route? Is it because we are afraid of failure ?

I look at my 2.5 year old who is always trying do things on his own. He loves to hop in the car and climb into his carseat and buckle himself up- do I tell him NO, do't try doing that because it's too hard.

As a mom of 3 I know that in order for my children to become independent and to have that feeling of self fullfillment I have to allow them to try to put their shoes on, or learn to sound out those tough words, or struggle a bit on their math homework.

So we should allow ourselves to do the same thing- push and try and even though it may be hard, just don't give up because it's saying that I tried my best that will taste so good then to say I give up.