Slowcooker Tomato Sauce (amongst other things)

Happy Tuesday!

I don't know about you guys but I'm wiped out already!  I had a LOT of cancellations at work today, which would make you think that my day was easy right??  Nope, when I have cancellations, I feel like I need to use every single second at the office to catch up on my never ending "To Do" list.  After soccer, I was sooo happy to get home to an almost-ready dinner.  I say almost-ready because the star of the show worked hard all day (just like me!) in the slowcooker (ok, maybe not JUST like me.  All I needed to do when I got home was throw some egg noodles in a pot and some broccoli in the microwave to steam, and VOILA!  Garlicky-Lemon Chicken over egg noodles and broccoli!  

Here's the recipe (adapted a little so it wasn't sooo lemony)

Combine in a crockpot:  4 Chicken breasts, 2 T butter, 1/4 C water, 2 cloves minced garlic, 1 t oregano, t Mrs. Dash (to taste), 1 Chicken Bullion packet, and a couple of T of lemon juice.  Cover and cook until done.  Shred.  Serve over egg noodles and steamed broccoli.

FOOD CHALLENGE:  We are starting a food challenge at my house this week.  The boys are pretty picky eaters and we tend to fall into a rut in terms of what I make for them (how many combinations of cheese and starch can you come up with?  I've got a million).  More specifically, I'd like to expand their repertoire of protein and veggies and get OUT of the habit of making 2 meals (one adult and one kid) every night.  I know, I know, I know...I read those chapters in the parenting book too but STILL fell into it despite the best of intentions!!  Anyway, this recipe was a HIT!!!  My kids ate the chicken (EVEN with the NEW sauce) AND the broccoli (ok, they weren't stoked about it but they powered through it...I may have bribed them with the promise of dessert...or more accurately, the absence of dessert should they NOT choke down, consume the portions on their plate....sue me).  I got an "mmmm, this chicken is delicious!!" and an "I love eating trees" from the Nugget (he's the easy one for sure) and an "I'm not thrilled with the lemon on this chicken, Mom. but its ok" and a dramatic holding of the nose while the Diddle literally forced the broccoli down...whatever...THEY ATE IT, no one made gagging noises and I was met with VERY minimal resistance so I'm chalking it up as a WIN!

One more thing before I sign off for today, here is the slowcooker tomato sauce recipe...which, as I look back, was the name of this post...which is an accurate picture of my ability to stay on track in my every day life...HA!  Woops!  I'm leaving it....just keeping it real, folks.  

Yummy Yummy You Will Thank Yourself For Making a Big Batch of This Nearly Effortless and Keeping It In Your Freezer Slow Cooker Tomato Sauce:

Combine the following in a big slow cooker: 

1 Medium, finely chopped onion (which you hopefully pulled out of your freezer since this would be the only step that requires effort!!)

6 cloves minced garlic

7 Cups of diced fresh tomatoes (ok, this takes effort too) OR a 56 oz can of crushed tomatoes (yes, I buy the low sodium one and use this)

3 t Italian Herbs

1 t salt

1/2-1 t ground black pepper

1 T sugar

Cook overnight on low! I use this as a base for spaghetti, pizzas, soup...the possibilities are ENDLESS!

Woot Woot!

I just realized that I don't have any pictures for you!  Hmmmm, the Teacher and I celebrated our 11th Anniversary this last weekend so here is a picture of my honey and I before our date!

The Diddle took it.  Not too bad for an 8 year old!!

G'Night All!

~Bean