Slow Cooked Green Beans & Ham Shanks

To me green beans symbolize the holidays, a special ocassion, a celebration, whatever the moment, they are a classic favorite of mine.

I prepare them in so many different ways but hand-down this is my family's favorite way to enjoy these little green wonders.

The key to making this recipe a success is slooooooooow cooking - ten hours worth of slow cooking. Don't try this on the high setting of your slow cooker, the flavor just doesn't compare.

Even though they are simmering away along with meaty ham shanks and smoked ham hock, the green bean flavor is not lost, on the contrary it is enhanced. It's richer, deeper and so incredibly savory.

The best part? Everything gets chucked into the slow cooker, that's it. Nothing more to do than sit back and let the cooking aromas tantalize your taste buds all day. And really how bad can that be?

Give it a try, I think you'll make these green beans a part of repertiore!

2 - 3 pounds fresh green beans, ends trimmed *
1 big meaty piece of ham shank or two medium pieces
1 smoked ham hock, scored
1 large onion, chopped
1 head of garlic, crushed, no need to peel**
2 quarts of ham stock (substitute with chicken stock if not available)
Salt** and pepper to taste

1. Place all the ingredients in a slow cooker.
2. Set for 10 hours on low. (Do not use the high cooking temperature, the results are not the same)
3. Shred ham hock and shank.
4. Remove the garlic or slip the peel off and throw back into the green beans
5. Enjoy!

Serve with anything but especially delicious with a down home southern meal of fried chicken, mashed potatoes and cornbread.  Fish out the garlic head** or leave it in and serve with the green beans.  I've been known to have this dish on its own as meal with just a wedge (or two) of cornbread to soak up the juices.

Recipe notes:  If you have juices left over, DON'T throw them out! Use them to make another batch or save them to use when you make a batch of split peas or any bean for that matter! The juice freezes well in zip bags.
** Go easy on the salt, since the shank and hocks are fairly salty. Check for seasoning halfway through cooking time and adjust if needed. You can either remove the garlic head and discard (terrible thing to do!) or  gently squeeze out the paste and mix back into the green beans (a great thing to do!).

Japanese-Inspired Beef Stew

After a year of being unemployed I finally landed a job, my first real nursing job! I am now working at the oncology clinic at a major university, which around here is a big deal. It ranked in the top 50 schools in the U.S. so working there is an honor. However, being a full time employee again has made cooking on weeknights a new challenge for me, but the slow cooker has already been my savior. Be prepared for more slow cooker recipes since that handy, beautiful appliance will be saving the day more often than not. As you may have noticed I am continuing my Asian cuisine fascination into the slow cooker. I am infatuated with stews so this twist on your regular beef stew keeps it fun! I found out that searing the beef before slow cooking it really makes a difference. I never thought it would and often I would skip that step out of laziness or time. I prepped this meal on a Sunday and stuck it in the slow cooker on Tuesday. I seared the beef, placed it in one of those slow cooker liners with the rest of the ingredients so that Tuesday morning all I had to do was put the bag in the slow cooker, set the time and leave for work. The meat is tender and melts in your mouth and the aroma in your house will even drive your pets crazy. If you can, try to sear the beef, if not just toss in the beef raw it will be fine. Serve with rice and your favorite vegetables!

Recipe:
2 tablespoons oil
2 lbs beef stew meat, cubed
4 medium carrots, chopped diagonally
1 onion, chopped
1 cup chicken or beef stock
1/2 cup white wine
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup soy sauce
1 teaspoon salt

1. In a large skillet, heat oil over medium high heat until very hot. Sear the beef on all sides; cook in batches if needed. Transfer the beef to the slow cooker.

2. Add all the remaining ingredients and stir well. Cover and cook on low for 10-12 hours or on high for 4-6 hours. Serve and enjoy!

Slow Cooker MeatLoaf

Meatloaf! The all American family dinner that pretty much everyone has had at least once in their lifetime and if you haven't... well you must! I am a lover of American food as I am a proud American. I went to a baseball game the other night and as the woman sang our national anthem I got goosebumps. I always do because I truly love living in this country; I love the melting pot, the freedom, the history, the land and the beauty this country has to offer. You have a little but of everything here and although there are a lot of hiccups on the road of this country it is what makes us the United States of America. It's like our friends or our partners, they are never perfect by any means, but the imperfections make them perfect to you; that is how I feel about this country. For being such a young country because in fact we are very young compared to the rest of the world, I think we are doing just fine! Anyways, enough of my patriotic rant (I did want to be an American history professor at one time so it shines through from time to time) to me meatloaf, among other popular American foods, is an American staple. It's easy to make for any night of the week; it's great for a small family or even a dinner party! The taste of meatloaf never gets old and people keep reinventing it everyday. So to make meatloaf even easier than it already is, lets put it in the slow cooker! I know it sounds odd but let me tell you that it comes out very moist, not watery at all and above all delicious! I hope you enjoy this version of the American classic: Meatloaf!

Recipe:
1 1/2 lbs ground beef
3/4 cup milk
2/3 cup bread crumbs
2 eggs, beaten
Onion powder, to taste
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon dried oregano
1/8 teaspoon dried thyme
1/2 cup ketchup
2 tablespoons brown sugar

1. Combine beef, milk, bread crumbs, eggs, onion powder, garlic powder, oregano and thyme in a bowl; shape into a loaf. Place in the slow cooker and cook on low for 5-6 hours.

2. Combine ketchup and brown sugar in a small bowl. Spread over the cooked meat in the slow cooker and cook for an additional 15 minutes on high. Serve and enjoy!

Slow Cooker All American Meat n' Potatoes

Nothing says "American comfort food" than meat and potatoes.  This recipe is my homage to the All American Meat n' Potatoes classic dinner. Really simple every day pantry ingredients, an economical cut of meat and of course potatoes make-up this recipe.  And the best part? It all goes in the slow cooker. So when you get home at the end of a long work day, the scent of rich beef, and slow cooked onions hit you right when you walk in.  All you have to do is decide what to serve it with.

Serves 3 - 4

1 pound  of round -  3/4" top round steaks, sliced in half - (about 4 steaks - like little filet mignons without the cost.)
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon butter
2 large onions, sliced in half moons
1 tablespoon minced
1 cup beef stock
1/4 cup white wine
Salt
Pepper
Onion powder
4 red potatoes cut in quarters (unpeeled is just fine)

• Heat a stainless steel pan over medium heat, add oil, butter and all the onions.
• Sprinkle with a few pinches of salt. Stir and cook for 15 minutes at medium low heat until the onions are a deep golden brown but not burnt. 10 minutes into the cooking process, add the garlic.
• While the onions cook, salt and pepper the meat, then add a generous dusting to each side of the meat of onion powder. Set aside.
• Deglaze the onions with 1/4 of the beef stock, allow to evaporate*.
• Add the potatoes to the bottom of the slow cooker, spoon half the onions over the potatoes.
• Lay the meat slices over top of the onions and then spoon the remaining onions over top.
• Slowly pour the remaining beef stock and the white wine over top.
• Cook on high for 4 hours, low for 8 hours.
• You'll have a nice broth at the end of the cooking cycle. To thicken the broth, remove the meat, potatoes and whatever onions are left  with a slotted spoon and set aside. 
• Leave behind 2-4 of the potatoes in the slow cooker with the broth and using an immersion blender buzz through until you have a nice thickened sauce. Tip: Start with 2 potatoes and add in the remaining two, one at a time or until the sauce has thickened to your liking.

Serve this as is, over rice, mashed potatoes (yes double carbs!), egg noodles, toasted bread, it's really up to you. To drink? Beer or a robust red wine. Enjoy!

*Recipe Notes:

You can make the onions the day before, even up to two days ahead of time, Just keep in a tightly sealed container in the fridge until ready to use.

Wine-Braised Beef Shanks in Garlic-Tomato Broth

I've gotten into buying beef shanks, probably not the most popular cut of meat but I can tell you it's amazingly rich in flavor. It's a cut of meat that lends itself to being braised and slow cooked. It's intensely beefy in flavor and oh so tender when cooked right. This recipe couldn't be easier. You marinate everything in a zip bag overnight and by everything I mean Burgundy wine, thyme, a whole head of garlic, shallots, and tomatoes. The next morning chuck the contents of the bag into your slow cooker and let it braise slowly all day. What you get is the most mouth-watering, tender and juicy beef, that's perfect over mashed potatoes,  rice or even ladled over large pieces of toasted, crusty, french bread. Next time you are at the market and see these under-appreciated and often overlooked beefy cuts, pick up a couple of packs, I promise you won't be disappointed and they are budget friendly too!

Serves 2-4

2-3 lbs beef shanks
1 1/2 cups Burgundy wine (or any red wine you have at home)
1 tablespoon dried thyme
1 head of garlic, unpeeled, sliced in half
5-6 shallots, unpeeled, opposite end of the root cut off
1 28 oz whole tomatoes, undrained
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

Place all the ingredients in a zip bag and allow to marinate, in the fridge, overnight or 24 hours if time permits. If marinating for 24 hours, turn bag often to distribute marinde, if overnight turn bag once.

Add all the ingredients to a slow cooker and cook on low for 8-9 hours, or on hi for 4-5 hours. Remove remove beef shanks set-aside. Remove shallots and garlic, allow to cool enough to handle. Remove peel from shallots, and squeeze garlic to expel the soft garlic paste. Strain liquid, reserve tomatoes and run liquid through a fat separator*. Return liquid, tomatoes, garlic paste to slow cooker and blend through using an immersion blender (or a regular blender if you don't have one).
Add shanks and peeled shallots back into the blended liquid. Beef will be tender and will probably have already fallen off the shank bones, you can discard bones or save them for your pooch or a beef stock.

Serve with mashed potatoes, egg noodles or rice. Or do what I do and toast up some crusty French bread, tear it off into big pieces and then ladle the meat, shallots and garlicky-tomato broth over the bread.  Yes, that is decadently delicious! Enjoy!

*Recipe note:  Personally, I think this meal tastes even better the next day, so I skip the fat separator part place everything in a large glass bowl in the fridge overnight. The next evening I just remove all the fat which will have solidified. Easier, less mess to clean up and I think much more effective way to remove the fat.  I then follow the rest of the steps in the recipe.

Weekly Recipe Round-Up November 18th-23rd

In less than a week most of us will be sitting down to a great Thanksgiving dinner with family and friends, and this year I am really behind on everything. I have a lot of catching up to do this coming week, just not sure how I am going to get it all done, but I will.
This week's Recipe of the Week was Slow Cooker Mustard & Beer-Braised Turkey Thighs, and it was our Friday featured recipe.  It had the most shares and likes by our awesome followers and for that we Thank You!  Here's what was cooking in the kitchens of The Fork Ran Away with the Spoon this past week.

Featured on Monday:

Brine, Brine, Brine That Turkey!

Since we are less than a week away from Thanksgiving, I thought I'd post my brine chart and my Turkey Brine Solution with a Hispanic Twist so you can start planning ahead, and brine, brine, brine that turkey!

Featured on Wednesdays with Eryka:

Easy Chicken & Vegetable Lo Mein

Why order take-out, when in the time it takes to deliver, you can be eating this delicious, easy, Weeknight Chicken and Vegetable Lo Mein. Its the perfect weeknight meal!

Featured on Friday:

Slow Cooker Mustard &
Beer-Braised Turkey Thighs

In  this recipe I use juicy, tender turkey thighs, that are smothered in mustard, then braised in beer with fresh thyme and caramelized onions. And what you get is the nothing short of spectacular, deep flavor. Even people who say they don't like turkey, like this turkey. It's simply that good. Adapts to slow cooker or stove top cooking, easy to make and budget friendly.

Slow Cooker Mustard and Beer-Braised Turkey Thighs

I know what you're thinking ... another turkey recipe during Thanksgiving. But this turkey recipe is as far from being your standard Thanksgiving Day turkey.  In this recipe I use juicy, tender turkey thighs, that are smothered in mustard, then braised
in beer with fresh thyme and caramelized onions. And what you get is the nothing short of spectacular, deep flavor.  Even people who say they don't like turkey, like this turkey. It's simply that good. And, if that isn't enough, the cost to make this entire meal for 4 is under $5. I get turkey thighs at BJ's Wholesale, and they are roughly under $4 for about 2 pounds, which is 2 thighs. When I originally made this recipe I started with plain old yellow mustard and a bottle of Heineken, because it's what I had on hand. Each time I've made it since, I use a different mustard and change-up the beer. I've used all types of mustards, from champagne mustard to cardamon mustard, and I've had fun changing up the beers, from pale lagers to rich, deep dark stouts, each one adding its own unique flavor profile to the overall recipe.  I hope you get around to trying this recipe because I know you'll have fun changing it up each time you make it.

2 Turkey thighs, (1 lbs., ea.) skins removed
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon light butter
2 large onions, sliced in half moons
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoon tomato paste
2 tablespoons spicy brown mustard or yellow mustard +  2 extra to cover turkey sides
3 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
2 tablespoons chopped fresh thyme
1 tablespoon honey
2 tablespoons flour
1 bottle beer
Salt & pepper

Potaje de Garbanzo / Cuban Chickpea and Chorizo Stew

The last week brought about some cooler temperatures to South Florida and believe me that is quite a relief! This delightfully cool weather inspired me to make one of my favorite Cuban potajes (stew) ... Potaje de Garbanzo.  I think of a potaje (poe-tah-hey) as not quite a soup, not quite a stew and not quite a porridge. It's a hearty chickpeas (garbanzo), simmered with Spanish chorizo, ham, smoked pork shank, Cuban calabaza and potatoes. The taste takes me back to the days of sitting in my mom's kitchen, talking and watching her prepare this divine "potaje". It's funny how so many of the memories of my mom, that mean so much to me and that I hold dear, took place in her kitchen. A little choked up and a big sigh inserted here! Anyway, back to the "potaje". To me, the perfect spoonful has a piece of chorizo, calabaza, and chickpea swimming in the smokey, paprika infused tomato-y broth. Add your favorite bread to dunk in the savory broth or white rice and your meal has just graduated to a traditional Cuban meal. This is nothing short of absolutely, positively delicious! I am pretty certain that my favorite Potaje de Garbanzo may become one your favorites too!

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 large vidalia onion, chopped
3-4 garlic cloves, chopped
1 large bell pepper chopped
4 small dried and cured Spanish chorizo* links, sliced on the diagonal
1 tablespoon sweet, smoked Spanish paprika
1 tablespoon granulated garlic powder
1 laurel bay leaf
1 8 oz can tomato sauce
4 cups chicken stock
1 1/2 dry white wine
1 pounds of garbanzo beans
1 1/2 pounds of smoked pork shank
8 oz ham steak cubed
1/2  Cuban calabaza squash (or butternut squash), peeled and diced into large pieces
1 - 2 large red potatoes, peeled, diced
1/2 teaspoon salt
Soak the beans 24 hours ahead of cooking time, change water whenever possible.
Place the rinse beans and place in a pot with enough water to go about 2 inches above beans. Bring to a rolling boil and cook for 5 minutes on high. Cover and turn off heat. Leave in water for 1 hour. Remove and rinse beans set aside. Throw out water.
Heat a deep, heavy bottomed dutch oven over medium heat. Add olive oil, onions, pepper and garlic. Saute for 5-7 minutes or until vegetables are tender, add sliced chorizo, paprika, bay leaf and garlic powder stir well to incorporate. Cook, stirring often, for 5 minutes, making sure the chorizo has expelled it's oils. Add tomato sauce, lower heat to a simmer and cook for 10 minutes, covered. Add all of the remaining ingredients, except the salt, and stir to combine. Cook for 1 hour or until beans are almost tender. Add salt and cook for another 1/2 hour.

Serve in deep bowls along with crusty Cuban or French bread and/or, as served traditionally, with white rice. Enoy!

Recipe notes:
*Do not substitute Spanish chorizo with Mexican chorizo, the flavor profiles are completely different.
I like to to dice my calabaza (squash) in large pieces so that I actually have pieces of it remaining in the stew once it is done cooking. It tends to break down considerably during the cooking process.
Easily to adaptable to slow cooker cooking. After sauteing and simmering vegetables and chorizo in the tomato sauce, transfer all ingredients, except salt, to the slow cooker and cook on high for 4-5 hours OR on low for 8-9 hours.  Half hour before cook time is up add in the salt.
I never add salt to beans until they are almost done. It is my experience that salt added to the beginning of the bean's cooking process will keep the beans from softening.  See my post Salt Will Keep Your Beans from Softening for more information on bean cookery!

Simmered Beef Tips and Carrots

A Two for Tuesday Recipe 
Ever been in a cooking bind where you didn't plan on cooking but somehow wound up having to make dinner on the spot? That was me last week. Tuesday night I took out a pound of eye-round to slow cook the next day. When my boyfriend comes home from a long day Tuesday night, he tells me he will be home late Wednesday to not worry about making dinner. Now I had already taken out the eye-round but I just figured I'd season it and just use it Thursday for the slow cooker... it'll be marinated for a whole day so it'll make for a great stew. I go about my Wednesday, running errands, jogging, then I get a phone call at around 6pm. It was my boyfriend, telling me he'll be home on time, that it'll be Thursday when he's late. Now, obviously, we could have resorted to buying food but to me, it's an expense that can be avoided and unnecessary. So I told him, oh don't worry, I'll whip something up! I went into panic mode! What do I do?? I'm used to planning my meals. I opened my fridge and just starred at it then it all hit me. I saw my eye-round meat (cut into 1-inch pieces, marinating in salt and pepper and red wine) from earlier that day, a half full bottle of barbecue sauce, onions, tomato paste and carrots. It all started coming together. I was taking a risk, mixing ingredients that I'm not used to mixing, but I figured today was the day to experiment...we could always have take out if my experimenting failed! I felt like a mad scientist working in the kitchen, working fast and frantically moving around. I don't know about you, but there is a certain time of day where even your kitchen closes, it just becomes a "quicky mart" for milk or cookies. Within about hour I had finished my culinary experiment; behold a recipe that we both enjoyed! I think I enjoyed it more though, because I went crazy trying to figure it all out. I hope you enjoy this "on a whim recipe" that turned out to be very tasty!

Recipe:
1 lb eye-round, cut into 1-inch pieces, marinated overnight in 1 cup of red wine with salt and pepper.
1 tablespoon olive oil
4-5 carrots, cut diagonally
1 onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1 1/2 tablespoon barbeque sauce (any of your choosing)
1 can beef consomeé 10.5 oz (or homemade, if you prefer)

Slow-Cooked Kale and Ham

A Two for Tuesday Recipe 
I don't know about you but sometimes I may order a meal because of the sides it comes with.  I recently had a delicious kale cooked with ham at a local eatery that was out of this world. So, of course,  I set out to recreate the kale I had and I am really thrilled with how delicious it was. My version has a wonderfully smokey scent and the taste ... hammy with hints of bacon ... is comfort food all the way. Warm, and hammy, it's a perfect side dish.  Because this is a slow cooked kale, the bitterness that turns some folks off of kale, disappears and the kale itself takes on a slightly spicy taste that is simply amazing. If you have your doubts about kale, this recipe may turn you into a fan!


1- 1 pound bag of kale
2 quarts of ham stock*
1- 2 ham hocks
8 ounces of  ham steak, diced
1 package of center cut bacon*, chopped
1 tablespoon garlic powder
1 tablespoon onion powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
2 or more Thai chilies (optional), cut in half and lightly smashed

Creamy White Bean and Chicken Chili

A Two for Tuesday Recipe 

While it's still in the 90's here in south Florida, I have been craving chili, not the usual red bean and beef variety but a lighter, paler, creamier version. And my creamy white bean and chicken chili is just the thing to calm that craving. You can make this chili stove top and you'll be diving in, in under 40 minutes or use your slow cooker (scroll down for instructions) and have the warm, homey scent of the simmered beans, chicken and earthy spices greet you at the door, after a long day at work. All the work is done, and all you need to do is grab a bowl and a spoon to dig in.


Serves 4-6

2 white corn tortillas, chopped
1/2 cup of cream or milk
1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil
1 large onion, chopped
1 or more jalapeño (or chili of choice), white membrane removed and seeded*, finely diced.
1 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon granulated garlic
2 ounces of tequila
1 lime juiced
1 quart chicken stock
2 cans green chilies
3 151/2 oz cans of white bean*, undrained, set aside 1/2 can
1 can of corn, undrained
2 cups of cooked and cubed chicken breast*
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
Palm full of cilantro, chopped (or to taste)

Slow Cooked Beef in Wine and Broth with Herbs

There are many days I crave stews. Stews are delicious my favorite part being the sauce. Why? To pour that silky sauce over white rice is heaven to me! Back to the story. This week I was craving a stew, but I wanted to make my own creation. I have followed many recipes that I decided to take what I have learned to venture out on my own. I used my trusty slow cooker for this recipe, as you all know it is my favorite kitchen appliance. Saturday my mom and I had a day planned out to go to the mall, then the movies ... our little girls day out. I didn't want to be thinking about dinner or thinking about getting home to make dinner so the night before I thawed a chuck roast to prep in the AM for slow cooker cooking! For this recipe you can certainly use whatever cut of meat you would prefer for a stew; you can also adjust the amount of herbs to your taste. I would consider this a simple, basic stew recipe that you can use to build your own recipe. I like simplicity but the wine is the ingredient that adds that extra depth of flavor. Please feel free to add or expand this recipe!

Recipe:
2lbs chuck roast
1 onion, chopped
4 carrots, chopped in large pieces
1 cup beef broth
1 cup red wine
1/2 tsp dried thyme
1/4 tsp paprika
salt and pepper to taste

1. Cut the chuck roast into 1-2 inch pieces. Chop onions and carrots in large pieces. Place all in slow cooker.

2. Add the broth, wine, thyme, paprika and salt and pepper. Mix in slow cooker.

3. Cook on low for 8 hours.

4. Serve with rice or vegetables. Enjoy!

Easy, No-Fuss, Slow Cooked Braised Beef Short Ribs

A Two for Tuesday Recipe 

Last week I opened my mini deep freeze to pick out what to cook up for dinner. It is usually a game of "eeny-meeny-miny-moe" and the winner was beef short ribs.

I took out two pounds of  beef short ribs to defrost. I must warn you that beef short ribs render down significantly. If you usually take out one pound of meat, with beef short ribs, you'll need two pounds. I seasoned my short ribs very simply ... salt, pepper and Homemade Complete Seasoning *. Most recipes require you to brown the meat, cook it in a dutch oven and finish it off in the oven for two hours! Now I don't know about you, but with the price of electricity, who can really afford to braise for two hours at 220 volts?! My recipe lets you skip the browning, an overheated house (it's hot enough in Florida as it is), that electric bill and save some time too. As I have mentioned before, the slow cooker is your best friend, and that is exactly what I use for this recipe. Who really wants to get up extra early to brown meat before work? Ah, no way! I created this recipe for those who what a no-fuss, braised beef short rib. And at the end of the day, when you open your front door, the delectable scent of the braised beef short ribs is there to greet you. You'll be sitting down to mouth-watering, tender, juicy, falling off the bone, short ribs in no time. I hope you enjoy this no-fuss, comforting, rendition of braised beef short ribs.

Seasoning for Short Ribs:
Salt and pepper (to coat)
Homemade Complete Seasoning * (to coat)

Recipe:
2 lbs beef short ribs (or more)
1 medium onion, chopped
8 oz baby carrots
3 cloves of garlic, chopped
2 whole shallots, chopped
2 cups red wine
2 cups beef stock
1 tablespoon Worcestershire
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1 teaspoon dried rosemary

Sweet 'n Savory Slow-Cooked BBQ Chicken

The slow cooker is a home cooks best friend. It does all the work for you, creates delicious dishes, makes it appear that you've been cooking for hours, saves electricity and the possibilities are endless! I truly believe there is no con to a slow cooker except that it teases your taste buds all day, tempting your salivary glands and making your stomach grumble with hunger... but that's ok! However, don't peek as much as it is tempting to do so because it interrupts the cooking process. I experiment with slow cooker recipes and I came up with this one. It is VERY simple almost too simple, it leaves you wondering if it will be tasty. Oh it is! The chicken at the end of this slow cooking session is falling off the bone with sweet flavor. The sauce can be eaten alone, in my opinion. I could eat it drenched in rice and call it a day. Customize the recipe as much as you want from what chicken pieces you'd like to add to the amount/variety of vegetables. Serve with white rice, mashed potatoes, roasted vegetables, corn or bread. I hope you enjoy this easy 4 step recipe for your slow cooker and experiment on your own!

6-8 pieces chicken (whichever parts you like)
1 1/2 tablespoons garlic powder
2 teaspoons onion powder
1 teaspoon paprika
1 bottle of Sweet Baby Ray's BBQ Sauce or your favorite brand
1 teaspoon Worcestershire Sauce
1 teaspoon soy sauce
1/4 cup red wine
baby carrots