Slow Cooker Balsamic Chicken and Vegetables

So, let’s discuss slow cookers. Everyone knows slow cookers are wonderful. You can use them to make extremely simple or gourmet dishes. My first solo experience with a slow cooker was my freshman year in college. I would make sweet potatoes in the slow cooker all of the time. Pretty much that’s all I ate ever. I realize this sounds peculiar, but have you ever made a sweet potato in a slow cooker. It is really delicious.

Oftentimes, I think people associate slow cookers with casseroles and soups. It’s true, those are great ways to use them, but you can use them for a whole lot more. And that’s what I wanted to showcase in this recipe. But first, let me share some slow cooker tips.

The flavor is in the brown

Do yourself a flavor (I hate that joke but I couldn’t resist) and spend 4 minutes of your day browning your meat before putting it in the slow cooker. You’ll be rewarded with an incredible depth of flavor in the finished dish.

Don’t peek!

Keep that lid closed! I know it’s tempting to get a sneak peek and a quick whiff, but the heat will escape from the inside and it will take a while for the temperature inside the slow cooker to return to what it was.

Don’t overfill it

Slow cooking works when the heat can properly circulate inside the slow cooker. If it’s too crowded, your ingredients will cook unevenly.

Put your vegetables on the bottom

Vegetables require more time to cook than meat, so placing them at the bottom will ensure they cook quicker.

Slow Cooker Balsamic Chicken and Vegetables

Ingredients

• 6 to 8 boneless, skinless chicken thighs
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 16 ounces baby carrots
• 1 sweet onion, quartered
• 16 ounces red potatoes, quartered
• Rosemary
• Thyme
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 cup balsamic vinegar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons red pepper flakes
• 1 head broccoli

Directions

1. Brown chicken thighs on stove 2 to 3 minutes per side, set aside
2. Drizzle a little olive oil in your 5-6 quart slow cooker and spread garlic on bottom
3. Add layers of the onion, carrots, red potatoes, and chicken thighs
4. Sprinkle rosemary and thyme on top
5. In small bowl, combine brown sugar, balsamic vinegar, and red pepper flakes and pour on top of chicken thighs
6. Cover slow cooker and cook on low for 5 hours or high for 3 hours
7. Add broccoli on top of chicken thighs, and cook for another hour
8. Garnish with more fresh herbs and slivers of almonds if desired

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Double-Duty Dinners, Featuring Buffalo Chicken Macaroni & Cheese and Pizza

This is a sponsored post by Challenge butter, but the text and opinions are all mine. Thank you for supporting brands that make Kylee's Kitchen possible!

As much as I love to cook, I don’t necessarily like to spend every night in the kitchen preparing dinner. When I’m hungry, I want to eat now. If you feel the same way, one of the best ways to make sure you have food available is by meal prepping. There are different forms of meal-prepping, but one of my favorite ways is making “double-duty dinners.”

The idea behind double-duty dinners is to prepare one big meal with plenty of food so you can transform the leftovers into an entirely new meal the following night. This is great for picky eaters who don’t like to eat the same thing for dinner every single night.

The Buffalo Chicken Macaroni and Cheese featured on this blog post is a great recipe to transform into a double-duty meal. Normally, if I was preparing this meal for just one night, I would only use about one pound of chicken. But since I plan to use the leftovers for another day, I should double the protein and add about two pounds of chicken (or more) to the slow cooker. When the chicken is done, I remove all of it, shred it, and return just half of it to the slow cooker.

I store the other half in the refrigerator for my dinner the following day, which I can use to make salad, pasta, or pizza (as you’ll see below)!



I chose to make pizza as the other half of this double-duty meal because it used a lot of the same ingredients as the Buffalo Chicken Macaroni and Cheese. The only new additions were pizza dough, tomato sauce, and butter. So not only did I save time, but I also saved money. Now I don't need to go out and buy ingredients for an entirely new meal!

Some other ideas for double-duty dinners that I featured in the segment on FOX59 are:
Pulled pork used to make sandwiches the first night and pork quesadillas on the second night.
Fish, specifically tilapia, use to make a rice dinner on night one and fish tacos on night two.

One thing I need to point out — it’s important to always use the best ingredients available. That’s why I used Challenge cream cheese in the macaroni and cheese and Challenge butter in the pizza. I choose Challenge over every other brand because I know there are no hormones, additives, or fillers in their products.The taste is also superior to other brands because they use real cream.

NOTE: In the recipes below, I’m posting the regular version, not the double-duty version, in case some people saw the picture of the pasta and scrolled straight to the recipe. But if you want to make the double-duty version, just double the amount of chicken as discussed earlier.



Buffalo Chicken Macaroni and Cheese
Yield: Makes about 8, 1-cup servings
Ingredients

• 1 pound chicken
• 1 cup chicken broth
• 3/4 cup buffalo sauce
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/2 teaspoon paprika
• 1/2 teaspoon pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 pound macaroni pasta, uncooked
• 4 cups shredded cheddar cheese
• 1 (12-ounce) can evaporated milk
• 1 cup milk
• 4 ounces Challenge cream cheese
• Green onions and blue cheese for garnish, if desired

Directions

1. Add chicken, chicken broth, buffalo sauce, garlic powder, paprika, pepper, and salt to slow cooker. Stir until combined and cook on high for 2 to 3 hours. (Could be more or less time depending on your slow cooker. My chicken was done right at 2 hours)
2. Remove cooked chicken from slow cooker, shred, and return to slow cooker.
3. Add pasta, cheddar cheese, evaporated milk, milk, and cream cheese to slow cooker.
4. Mix and cook on high for about 45 minutes to 1 hour, or until pasta is cooked
5. Garnish with blue cheese crumbles and green onions if desired and serve 

Buffalo Chicken Pizza
Yield: Makes 1 pizza
Ingredients

• Pizza dough
• 1/4 to 1/2 cup tomato sauce (depending on whether you like a lot of sauce or not)
• 3 Tablespoons buffalo sauce
• 1 tablespoons Challenge butter, melted
• 2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese
• 1 pound chicken, chopped
• 1/4 cup blue cheese crumbles
• Green onions for garnish, if desired

Directions

1. Preheat oven to the specified temperature for your pizza dough (I set my oven to 425)
2. Combine tomato sauce, buffalo sauce, butter, Worcestershire sauce, and garlic powder and spread on uncooked pizza dough
3. Add half the cheddar cheese on top of the sauce and layer it with the chicken, the rest of the cheddar cheese, and the blue cheese crumbles.
4. Bake pizza for about 14 to 18 minutes — keep an eye on it so it doesn't burn!
5. Remove from oven, garnish with green onions, and serve

Recipe adapted from the Food Network

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Buffalo Chicken Campfire Fries

Anyone else go on a lot of camping trips as a kid? Every summer, my family would go camping in Mackinaw City, Michigan for a week. It was awesome! We would cook on a campfire and brush our teeth in the woods. But unfortunately, one night we got hit by some pretty bad storms, and our tent flooded and everything was ruined. So we went to a hotel, and I’ve actually never been camping since.

One of my favorite things about camping was cooking over a fire. We cooked a lot of hot dogs and s’mores. Then we discovered these cooking irons, and we made a lot of grilled cheese sandwiches. But one of the biggest problems is there just wasn’t a whole lot of variety. So I came up with a new creation that is sure to register Oooos and Ahhhs among your fellow campers.

Introducing… campfire fries! But not just any fries. Buffalo Chicken Campfire Fries!

I love french fries, and I love buffalo chicken dip. So I thought to myself, “Why the heck aren’t these co-existing already?”

The goal of this recipe was to make it as easy as possible because there’s not a whole lot to work with when you’re camping.

Before you start pigging out on the ultimate camping indulgence food, I just want to address a few things. The chicken I used in this recipe came from a can because like I said, the goal here is easy. But if you’re choosing to make this at home or if meat in a can is weird to you, use whatever chicken your heart desires.

Also, just to be clear, don’t cook this directly over the fire. Cook it on a flat surface of hot coals. Cooking times may vary but the good thing is nothing is raw here so you don’t have to worry about getting sick. You just want everything to be heated through so it tastes delicious.

P.S. If sleeping outdoors makes you want to run far away in the other direction, you can cook this on the grill or in the oven.

Buffalo Chicken Campfire Fries

Yield: Comfortably serves 4 people

Ingredients

• 1 pound frozen french fires
• 1 cup chicken, diced
• 1/2 cup buffalo sauce
• 1 cup cheddar cheese, divided
• 1/2 cup blue cheese
• 2 green onions, chopped

Directions

1. Lay out two large sheets of aluminum foil and spray top layer with nonstick spray.
2. Dump frozen french fries onto aluminum foil and fold into a packet. The top can be open.
3. Cook over hot coals for about 15 minutes.
4. While fries are heating, combine chicken and buffalo sauce.
5. Carefully remove fries from coals and add 1/2 cup cheddar cheese, buffalo chicken mixture, the remaining cheddar cheese, and the blue cheese.
6. Return packet of french fries to hot coals and heat until cheese is melted, about 5 minutes.

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Chicken and Waffles Casserole

This is a sponsored post by Challenge butter, but the text and opinions are all mine. Thank you for supporting brands that make Kylee's Kitchen possible!

Does anyone else ever think about how scary it is that we're all so dependent on technology? I've been thinking about it a lot this week as I deal with a broken laptop. Actually "broken" is a generous adjective for the condition my laptop is in -- it's dead.

I wasted hours of time on vacation time trying to fix it. Did you catch that? I wasted VACATION TIME because of a broken laptop. And I'm sure many of you would do the same thing. The unknown of whether it would work or not gave me extreme anxiety. 

I use my laptop to sort through emails, to study and read my textbook, to blog, to edit photos... It's my link to the outside world. Except, somewhere along the way I must have forgotten that I'm actually living in the "outside world," and I don't need a "link" to it because I'm in it!

I realize a lot of our dependence to technology is just a result of the direction the world is moving. And most people have obligations that require the use of technology. So my suggestion to you is that the next time you experience a laptop or computer problem, try to embrace it instead of becoming upset or anxious. Use it as an opportunity to disconnect and channel your energy toward more simple things in life. Learn from my mistakes!

Okay, now someone lend me a hand so I can get down from my soapbox.

I first learned about the "chicken and waffles" combination just a few years ago. Savory, sweet, and an incredible combination of textures. This is definitely a recipe I'd be interested in sharing with friends. But then I think about how I would be stuck in the kitchen serving up waffles while everyone else eats. No thank you. I am already the world's slowest eater. so you don't want me eating last.

That's why I like breakfast casseroles. Make them the night before, pop the whole thing in the oven, and everyone gets to eat at the same time! But wait, chicken and waffles can be turned into a casserole too! And that's exactly what I did.

Let's first talk about the waffles. I made cornbread maple waffles -- great texture and the perfect amount of sweetness. You could absolutely use freezer waffles if you prefer, but I feel like nothing compares to a homemade waffle.

For the fried chicken, I bought popcorn chicken from the freezer section of the grocery store. I chose the popcorn variety because it's already in bite-size pieces. But you can make you own fried chicken, oven fry your chicken, or buy it from your favorite restaurant.

I layered the waffles and the chicken in an 8 x 8 pan with cheese because why not cheese. And then I added a mixture of eggs, milk, maple syrup and spices to hold it together.

It was actually better than I imagined, and the pieces came out of the pan really well!

Chicken and Waffles Casserole

Yield: Serves about 8 people

Ingredients

For the waffles

• 2 (8.5 ounce) boxes Jiffy corn muffin mix
• 2 eggs
• 4 Tablespoons Challenge butter, melted
• 3/4 cup milk
• 1/4 cup maple syrup
• 1/4 cup brown sugar

For the egg mixture

• 3 eggs
• 1/3 cup milk
• 1/4 cup maple syrup
• 1/2 teaspoon chili powder
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/2 teaspoon dry mustard

Also...

• 2 pounds fried popcorn chicken
• 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

Directions

For the waffles

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
2. Mix Jiffy mix, eggs, butter, milk, maple syrup, and brown sugar until there are no lumps.
3. Use batter to make waffles; cube waffles and set aside.

For the egg mixture

1. Combine eggs, milk, maple syrup, chili powder, garlic powder, and dry mustard; set aside

Assembly

1. Spray 8 x 8-inch pan with nonstick cooking spray
2. Add 1/2 of cubed waffles to bottom of pan; layer with 1 pound of popcorn chicken and 1/2 of cup cheese.
3. Repeat adding the rest of the waffles, chicken, and cheese
4. Pour egg mixture on top.
5. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes. Serve with more maple syrup if desired.

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Using food pantry staples to make filling meals

Food is a big part of my life. For me, it’s almost like art. I love looking at it, learning about it, and of course consuming it. I follow a lot of food blogs and restaurants because I love looking at everyone’s creations.

That being said, it can be so easy for me to forget that food is a painful topic for some people because it’s not always available and they have to worry about when they’ll get their next meal.

The amount of people that suffer from food insecurity in Indiana alone is heartbreaking. According to Midwest and Gleaners Food Banks, more than 1 million people in Indiana suffer from food insecurity, and one out of every six Hoosiers don’t know where their next meal will come from.

When I was in elementary school, my mom would pack me big lunches everyday. I remember in the fifth grade, one of my classmates would ask me for my leftovers. I never thought anything of it, and I gave them to her. One day when we were at computer class, she left to “go to the bathroom.” But in actuality she went back to the classroom to get in my lunchbox, and my teacher caught her eating my food.

We had a private meeting with the teacher about it. Our teacher asked her why she stole my food. She said she stole it because she was hungry. It made me so so sad for her. 

That’s why the recipes in this blog post are a little different. This week FOX59 teamed up with Midwest and Gleaners Food Banks to raise money to fight hunger. They asked me to create a few recipes using items at the food pantry to give patrons an idea of what they can make. So I visited Old Bethel & Partners Food Pantry, and these are the recipes I came up with! I really wanted to focus on filling recipes that can be stretched out to feed a lot of people.

When I visited the food pantry, I learned that yogurt and frozen fruit are most always available for patrons. There's also usually a fresh fruit option and granola. That's what inspired me to makes these yogurt parfaits. Use any frozen or fresh fruit you want, and if granola isn't available, use dry cereal!

Fruit & Yogurt Parfaits

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup granola, plus 1 Tablespoon for sprinkling on top*
• 1/4 cup frozen blueberries, plus 1 Tablespoon for sprinkling on top*
• 1 cup yogurt, any flavor
• 1 strawberry*

Directions

1. Add 1/4 cup granola to bowl or mason jar. Layer 1/4 cup frozen blueberries and yogurt on top.
2. Finish off by adding another Tablespoon of granola and frozen blueberries. Finish with a strawberry on top.
3. Can be made up to three days in advance.

*You can substitute dry cereal for granola, and you can use any frozen or fresh fruit.

Eggs are obviously a good breakfast choice and a good source of protein, and they're available at the food pantry. However, patrons are generally limited to only taking one dozen. On the other hand, they had an abundance of English muffins, in fact, you could take as many as you needed. That's why I decided to make Egg "McMuffin" Style Sandwiches. It's more filling than just one egg, and you can make your egg supply last longer.

Egg Breakfast Sandwich
Ingredients

• 1 English muffin
• 1 large egg
• 1 Tablespoon cheese, if available

Directions

1. Split your English muffin with a fork and toast it by laying both sides face down on a skillet for about 1.5 minutes. Add cheese to 1 muffin half and set aside.
2. Lay the ring of a mason jar lid onto the skillet crack an egg, and pour it into the ring. Use a fork to break the yolk so it flows into the white but it's not completely scrambled. Cook the egg for about 2.5 minutes or until the white firms up.
3. Remove the mason jar ring and carefully flip the egg. Cook for an additional minute and remove from skillet. Place egg on the muffin half with the cheese.
4. Eat immediately or make ahead up to 3 days in advance.

The pantry always has a meat option available. Sometimes it's canned chicken, sometimes it's beef. But lately the pantry has been getting in whole frozen chickens. Some patrons may be overwhelmed by a whole chicken, but they're very easy to cook. 

Also, canned vegetables and rice are generally available, and this is a good way to use them up! I even added eggs for added protein to make it more filling. 

And they most always have lettuce which can be used with the chicken fried rice to make chicken lettuce wraps. This is great for leftovers. It's also a good idea because anytime you add a leafy vegetable it's going to be more filling.

Chicken Fried Rice

Ingredients

• 2 Tablespoons oil
• 3 green onions, chopped
• 2 garlic cloves
• 3 eggs
• 4 cups rice
• 1 pound chicken, cooked
• 1 can mixed vegetables
• 5 Tablespoons soy sauce

Directions

1. Prepare rice according to package instructions and cook chicken ahead of time.*
2. Heat oil in large skillet on low and add green onions and garlic and cook for about 2 minutes, stirring intermittently.
3. Push onion and garlic to one side of pan with spatula, and add eggs to empty side. Scramble eggs and cook until no longer runny. Stir everything back together so it's evenly distributed throughout pan.
4. Add rice, chicken, and mixed vegetables, and drizzle soy sauce evenly on top. Stir until everything is combined and heated through, about 2 minutes.
5. Serve immediately or keep in airtight container in refrigerator for up to 5 days.
6. *If using a whole, frozen chicken let thaw before cooking and bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for about 1.5 to 2 hours. Remove chicken meat from bones and dice into bite-size pieces.

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3-Ingredient Slow Cooker Chicken

Between my cooking segments and my recipe videos, I do a lot of baking for other people! And by now you probably think I just eat cupcakes and brownies for breakfast, lunch, and dinner! But fortunately for my waistline, that is not the case.

When it comes to making dinner for myself, I try to make it as quick and easy as possible. Lately, many of my meals have consisted of this recipe for three-ingredient slow cooker chicken.

Three ingredients. Slow Cooker. No Fuss. ‘Nuff said.

What I love about this recipe is how versatile it is. You can use the chicken in tacos, on top of rice, as nachos, or even just plain. I love making a big batch for myself and then eating it multiple ways throughout the week.

I promise, it does not get easier than this!

3-Ingredient Slow Cooker Chicken

Yield: Makes about 6 servings

Ingredients

• 2 pounds chicken breast
• 1 (16 ounce) jar of your favorite salsa
• 1 (1.25 ounce) packet taco seasoning

Directions

1. Spray slow cooker with nonstick cooking spray.
2. Place chicken breasts into slow cooker, sprinkle taco seasoning on top of chicken, dump salsa on top.
3. Cook on low for 6 hours or until easy to shred.
4. Once chicken is ready, shred with two forks. Mix with remaining salsa in slow cooker.
5. Serve on top of rice, tortillas, chips, etc.

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Low-Fat White Chicken Chili

Nothing says comfort food like a big bowl of chili and cornbread muffins! This white chili recipe is great for several reasons. First of all, the fat and calorie content are significantly lower than your average red meat chili. There are only 4 grams of fat and 160 calories per cup. And second of all, it can either be made on the stove or in the crock pot! I love recipes that are versatile and give people options depending on time constraints.

This chili also freezes well. Personally, I could make a big old pot, and eat it every day for a week! But if that's not your style, divide it into small, single-serving containers and stick them in the freezer. It will last for about three months in the freezer.

I like to serve my chili with cornbread muffins and cilantro. But you can add whatever toppings you want: sour cream, tortilla chips, cheese, green onions, avocado, etc.

Low-Fat White Chicken Chili

Yield: 15 cups of chili

Calories: 160 calories per cup

Ingredients

• 2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts
• 48 ounces chicken broth
• 1 (48 ounce) jar Great Northern Beans
• 1 (16 ounce) jar medium salsa
• 1 Tablespoon cumin
• 1 Tablespoon garlic powder
• 8 ounces shredded pepper jack cheese

Directions

If making chili on the stove top...

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit
2. Spray a baking pan with non-stick cooking spray ad place chicken in pan
3. Bake chicken breasts for 25 minutes or until they're no longer pink inside
4. Remove chicken breasts from oven and let them cool off for about 10 minutes
5. Once chicken is cool enough to touch, chop the chicken up into small chunks and set aside
6. Add chicken broth to 6-quart pot and set stove temperature to medium heat
7. Once the broth starts to boil, drain Great Northern Beans in colander and add beans to broth
8. Then add chicken, salsa, cumin, and garlic powder
9. Turn stovetop temperature to low heat and simmer for 1/2 hour
10. Add pepper jack cheese
11. Stir until cheese has melted and serve

If making chili in the crock pot...

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit
2. Spray a baking pan with non-stick cooking spray ad place chicken in pan
3. Bake chicken breasts for 25 minutes or until they're no longer pink inside
4. Remove chicken breasts from oven and let them cool off for about 10 minutes
5. Once chicken is cool enough to touch, chop the chicken up into small chunks and set aside
6. Add chicken broth to 6-quart crock pot and set crockpot temperature to high heat
7. Once the broth starts to boil (it will take about 1 hour), drain Great Northern Beans in colander and add beans to broth
8. Then add chicken, salsa, cumin, and garlic powder
9. Turn crock pot temperature to low heat and let simmer for at least 1 hour (up to 4 hours)
10. Add pepper jack cheese
11. Stir until cheese has melted and serve

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Broncos Buffalo Chicken Dip

Everyone seems to have his or her own favorite buffalo chicken dip recipe. And I respect that. In a world full of choices and tough decisions, it’s important to have something familiar – an old standby!

Buffalo chicken dip is obviously delicious, but did you know that it’s also incredibly EASY to make? Buy the few required ingredients, combine them in a bowl, and heat it up in the oven, on the stove, or in a slow cooker. Serve with chips and celery sticks and call it a day!

The past two years I’ve made “skinny” buffalo chicken dip, which means I used low-fat versions for each of the ingredients. Some people may think my reason is because I’m trying to lose weight. Puhleasseee. It’s so I can eat more. Because like with most things more is better. And low-fat ingredients cost the exact same so why not.

You may have noticed that the title of this recipe is “Broncos Buffalo Chicken Dip.” That’s because I’m most definitely supporting the Broncos in this year’s Super Bowl. As an Indiana girl, I’m obviously rooting for Peyton. And Yia Yia loves him so much; it would make her so happy if they won! (How adorable does she look?)

I paired the buffalo chicken dip with blue tortilla chips – perfect Broncos colors!

Broncos Buffalo Chicken Dip

Yield: Makes about 3 1/2 cups

Ingredients

• 4 ounces fat free cream cheese
• 1 cup shredded, fat free mozzarella cheese
• 1/2 cup plain fat free sour cream
• 1/2 cup reduced fat crumbled blue cheese
• 1/2 cup Frank’s Red Hot sauce
• 2 cups cooked, shredded chicken (or about 2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit; prepare baking dish with nonstick baking spray, set aside
2. Combine all ingredients except chicken in a medium-sized bowl; fold in shredded chicken
3. Transfer mixture into baking dish and bake for 30 minutes or until the cheese is melted and the edges turn slightly brown
4. Remove and serve with chips and celery sticks

Also, be sure to check out these other recipes from Kylee’s Kitchen that are perfect for the Super Bowl!

• Dena's Famous Cheese Ball
• Guacamole
• Low-Fat White Chili and Honey Cornbread Muffins
• Sweet and Tangy Red Velvet Cupcakes
• 5-Ingredient Funfetti Blondies
• Slow Cooker Chicken Tortilla Soup
• Brown Butter Blondies
• Slow Cooker Spinach Jalapeño Dip
• Classic Garlic Hummus
• Chocolate Peanut Butter Buckeyes

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