It’s a really weird combination… ones I would never think to put together.. but somehow, these simple ingredients work. This took me less than 5 minutes to assemble and click GO.
1 cup medium salsa
1/3 cup light Peanut Butter (i used full regular crunchy.. more on that below)
2 tbsp frozen orange juice concentrate
1 tbsp reduced sodium soy sauce
1 tbsp honey (i used our smoked honey for this one)
1 tbsp grated ginger
1 tsp curry.. (woops, i put in more like a tbsp by accident… but can there REALLY be too much curry??)
whisk all that together in the crock pot (no dirty dishes other than your measuring tools!)
top with 12 boneless skinless chicken thighs, and then evenly coat the chicken on all sides.
put on LOW 5-6 hours, or HIGH 2-3. I did LOW for 6 as my thighs were still partially frozen. (note: it was too long – I quit early, 4 hours on LOW was more than enough – may vary due to heat of each crock pot.. my LOW setting seems to still be quite high)
OPTION: Garnish chicken with chopped green onions and chopped peanuts.
We had Indian Style Basmati rice and stir fry veg as side dishes. This Basmati rice came from Bulk barn, and I LOVE it. It’s quick and so flavourful.. lots of fun stuff in it. I labelled the jar with the ingredients and instructions.
plated Nutcrocker chicken, stir fry mushrooms/peas/grape tomatoes & Indian Basmati rice
Guillermo was watching, listening, and smelling his bread baking all afternoon – this was his first time making it, the recipe has always been in my head – not written down, so I typed it out for him today, and taped it to the front of the breadmaker so he could continue to make it. He goes through a loaf in 2 days – so it’s nice if he can make it now too.
My recipe makes a fairly dense loaf, mainly because we add more grain, seeds and use a less processed whole grain flour I pick up from bulk barn instead of whole wheat. He loves it that way, if you’re into fluffy airy bread, this isn’t that. It’s more than just 12 grain – i couldn’t tell you how many grains/seeds are in it.. i change up the seeds I add in partway through. Sometimes hemp, flax, chia, sesame.. whatever jar my hand grabs that day. Here’s my recipe if you have the same type breadmaker:
WHOLE GRAIN BREAD
TOOLS:
Liquid measuring cup (1 ¼ cupper)
1 tsp ¼ tsp
1 cup, ½ cup, ¼ cup
small scraper
Warm up the bread pan (not too hot!)
Place ingredients in pan in this order:
1 ¼ cup luke warm water/milk mixture
1 ¼ tsp salt
2 tbsp butter
2ish tbsp honey
1.5 cups white flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
¾ cup 12 grain cereal (from Bulk Barn)
1 ¼ tsp yeast
press MENU button til GRAIN is lit up and hit START
bake time: 4 hrs 10 min
When machine beeps loudly about 1 hr in, you can add seeds – about 2-3 tbsps.
We finally (ok I did it) broke up the Vienna puzzle and started the next one. A lovely country church wedding scene. Emptying the box and sorting is kinda cathartic for me. I can’t quite describe it.. I don’t know if it’s the tactile nature of touching all the pieces when we are “hands off” everything right now, or if it’s organizing (I do love organizing) but this process of quietly sitting and taking this pile and sorting it by colours and parts of scenes did my heart good. Calming.
Today is “errands” day. We woke up early to head out to get mom’s groceries and make some deliveries. I admit to being a bit anxious. Perhaps I’m becoming agoraphobic. I feel safe, protected, clean and well in my home. I can breathe & relax here. Every time I have to go out to a store I feel exposed and feel as though i need to go home and bathe in sanitizer. However, I have to say, there is something about early morning shopping. We were in the (very clean) store with an empty parking lot just after 8 am, no line up, in and out the store fairly quickly with our 2 lists completed.
It was a gift to be that protected, (thanks God!) I think there were only 5 other shoppers in the whole store with us this morning, which is unheard of. I don’t need to be anxious for ANYTHING. God is Sovereign over all, and I am in His mighty hands.
