Slow Cooker Orange Chicken - Recipe Review

Tonight's dinner was Slow Cooker Orange Chicken. It was simple to make, and it didn't take long to cook (3 hours on high). It shouldn't be called Orange Chicken though, because the barbecue sauce in the recipe cancelled out the orange flavor. I even added only half of the bbq sauce I was supposed to! I was pleased with the sticky-ness of the sauce however.

Next time I make this recipe (and there will be a next time) I will use hoisin sauce in place of the barbecue sauce. If anyone tries this out before I do, send me an email or post a comment and let us all know what you thought! Feeling brave, Christa? Maybe you can be our tester-chef on this one.

Shirley the Divine

I have a new best friend. Her name is Shirley and she owns a bakery here in Provo, Utah. Ok, well actually we haven't met yet, but if we ever do I KNOW we'll be best friends! (Because I'll pay her a lot of money to be my friend and bake for me every day.)

Here's the true story about Shirley and her bakery. Last Saturday I was at an event and had a very delicious cinnamon roll and I was instantly hooked. It had the perfect ratio of cinnamon, bread, and frosting. I demanded (in my nicest voice possible) where this cinnamon roll may be purchased and was told about Shirley's Bakery on Freedom Blvd. Within an hour my little family and I were in the car and on our way.

The bakery is unassuming, modest in size, lacking any superfluous decoration, and packed to the gills with customers! We looked over the large selection of dinner rolls and chose a dozen white rolls and two eclairs. The wait was minimal (considering the number of customers) and the prices were reasonable. I must also add that a very charming feature of the bakery is the trail of flour-footprints that leads from the back out to the front display case. I can just picture the baker proudly carrying out the goodies herself.


Now for my review of the food: The rolls are little clouds of melt-in-your-mouth goodness. Really, these rolls are as close to cotton candy as they can get and yet still be considered a bread product. The eclairs are the best we've ever had. I usually don't enjoy eclairs at ALL. Today I went in and bought six more. It's the cream inside that gets me. I have no idea how they make it so creamy, yet light, but it works.


Next time you're driving by, stop at Shirley's and pick yourself up something yummy. My apologies to those of you who don't live close enough to become best friends with Shirley too.

Shirley's Homemades Bakery: 684 N. Freedom Blvd Provo, UT 84601

Ugly but Tasty

Don't avert your eyes, it's just ginger. You might have noticed it in the produce section of your grocery store and wondered who in the world would buy (and use!) something so abhorrently ugly. Well ladies, the answer is me. I'm a big fan of ginger. Occasionally you can get away with using the powdered form, but there is just nothing like fresh ginger. Last week's Indonesian Ginger Chicken used fresh grated ginger. This week's Slow Cooker Orange Chicken calls for it too.

Next time you have a recipe that calls for ginger, give it a shot! It's inexpensive, easy to store, easy to peel and easy to dice or grate. The little bit you see on the right in the photo above made exactly 1/4 cup after it was grated. So one clump of ginger can be used for several recipes. The ginger root itself doesn't have an odor until you cut into it and then after you handle it the wonderful aroma doesn't stick to your hands like onion and garlic. Grab some ginger next time you shop, and try out one of these recipes. I double-dog-dare you.

Week 28 Menu

Monday - Indonesian Ginger Chicken w/ rice
Tuesday - Fresh Pasta Primavera
Wednesday - Mom's Potato Soup
Thursday -Slow Cooker Orange Chicken
Friday - Training Table
Saturday - yo-yo dinner
Sunday - Pancakes & Scrambled Eggs

Week 28 Recipes

Slow Cooker Orange Chicken
from Kraft Foods Food & Family Magazine, Fall 2007

8 small boneless, skinless chicken thighs (1 lb)
3 Tbsp flour
1/3 cup orange marmalade
1/3 cup Kraft original bbq sauce
2 Tbsp soy sauce
1 Tbsp grated fresh gingerroot

Toss chicken with flour in slow cooker. Stir in all remaining ingredients, cover with lid. Cook on low for 6-8 hours, or high for 3-4 hours.

Makes 4 servings



Nilla Apple Crisp
from Kraft Foods Food & Family Magazine, Winter 2007

8 cups thinly sliced peeled Granny Smith apples (about 4 lg)
1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar, divided
2 tsp ground cinnamon, divided
1/3 cup oats (old fashioned, or quick)
1/4 cup cold margarine
25 Nilla wafers, crushed (about 1 cup crumbs)
1 1/2 cups Cool Whip (or vanilla ice cream)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Toss apples with 1/4 cup of the brown sugar and 1 tsp of the cinnamon. Spoon into 8 or 9 inch square dish.

Combine oats, the remaining 1/4 cup brown sugar and 1 tsp cinnamon in medium bowl. Cut in margarine with pastry blender, or two knives, until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Add wafer crumbs; mix well. Spread crumb mixture evenly over apples.

Bake 30 to 35 minutes or until apples are tender. Serve warm or cooled. Top with whipped topping (or vanilla ice cream).

Makes 12 servings

Chocolate Dipped Frozen Bananas

I created a box of chocolate dipped frozen bananas for my brother-in-law's birthday tonight. They're in honor of his favorite (cancelled) tv show, Arrested Development. I don't really have a recipe for these, just a bunch of pretty pictures and some brief instructions. Here goes:

First, you want to begin with bananas that are still a bit green, and some popsicle sticks. Peel the bananas, cut them in half and insert popsicle sticks. Lay them on a tray lined with parchment paper (or a Silpat) and freeze them for an hour or so.

Next you need chocolate chips (or chocolate shavings), and some chopped nuts. For John's gift I used a variety of chocolates and nuts. Melt the chocolate in a small bowl in the microwave. (A 1/2 bag of choc chips covers about 3 or 4 banana halves.) Then chop the nuts and place on a plate, large enough to roll the banana on.

Dip the frozen bananas in the chocolate. You might have to use a spoon to fully coat each banana. Then quickly (before the frozen banana hardens the chocolate) roll the banana in the nuts, then place it back on the parchment lined baking sheet. Once all bananas have been dipped/rolled, place them back into the freezer until you're ready to enjoy them!

This one is dark chocolate with pecans.

White chocolate with almonds.

The whole box! Milk chocolate with walnuts was the other combination I used.

Crock Pot Taco Chicken

Every time I walk in my friend Amanda's home, it smells divine. Either there is some tasty dish simmering away in her crock pot, or she has just baked something mouthwateringly fragrant. This past week it was her Taco Chicken recipe that was in the crock pot, and she graciously volunteered the recipe for me to share with you!

Suzie, I know that you have a similar recipe for Taco Chicken, but I believe yours is done on the stove top, is that right? If you don't mind, I'd love to post it here too so that people could have options on how to prepare their Taco Chicken!


Amanda's Taco Chicken (crock pot)
from Amanda Otis

2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1/2 packet of Pace Taco Seasonings
1/2 cup water

Place chicken in crock pot. Combine taco seasonings with water, and pour over chicken. Cook on high for 3-4 hours. Shred chicken & enjoy! This is great in taco salads, soft tacos, and quesadillas.