Slow Cooker Chicken Cacciatore

Since we are in the midst of summer and the temperatures are nearing a normal high 90s to 100s turning on the oven or stove during the day is the last thing I want to do.

It just so happened that Corbin had his cousin over and I wouldn't have time to figure out dinner since it was going to be a late night. If you haven't guessed this where I now give praise to every home chef's (and probably any chef) greatest appliance...THE SLOW COOKER.

We had some extra (I know weird) chicken thighs after making four varieties one night and I really wanted to try a different dish rather than grilled or oven baked. It was getting hot after all. We had pasta sauce in the fridge so off to pinterest I went to find some chicken dish. So and so forth I ended at this pin and decided on chicken cacciatore.

Once I started gathering all of our ingredients I decided to veer off from the pasta sauce and go for a more chunky sauce with the fresh ingredients we had. After all those are not going to last nearly as long as the jarred sauce.

Ingredients
💢1 lb Boneless Skinless Chicken Thighs

💢1/2 Small White Onion

💢1 Whole Bell Pepper

💢2 Roma Tomatoes

💢1 Can Mushrooms (4 oz)

💢1/2 Can Black Olives (4 oz)

💢1 TBSP Oregano

💢1 TBSP Thyme

💢2 TBSP Basil

💢3 Medium Cloves Garlic
💢1 TBSP Sea Salt
💢 1 TBSP Ground Smoked Paprika *not shown

Hardware
🔪Slow Cooker
🔪Chopping board
🔪Knife
🔪Can Opener
🔪Wooden Spoon
🔪Food processor
🔪Strainer

🔥TURN YOUR SLOW COOKER ON HIGH🔥

﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏

-Chop up the tomato, bell pepper, and onion. I prefer to keep my veggies in chunks because I like the stew to be more chunky and have more bite.If you'd prefer a more saucy texture simply chop up your veggies into smaller portions or use the food processor
-Drain the mushrooms and olives
-In the food processor add in the fresh herbs and garlic

Definitely the best thing about having a garden is the fresh herbs. Oregano and thyme have been growing year round and basil started at the beginning of the summer. We still haven't mastered growing garlic though. I am about to be panting another round of basil, oregano, and thyme to keep indoors not just as herbs to cook with but also for the fresh and indoor fragrances. Our house is going to smell incredible! However, I guess not everyone can have fresh herbs at their immediate disposal so....

I sometimes miss watching Ina Garten regularly just because her recipes were so intriguing and creative, however I do not miss her talking. She did have some great one liners from time to time.

Blend until the garlic is chopped up-

Add the following ingredients into the slow cooker; tomatoes, bell pepper, and onion and then stir, -add in the mushrooms and olives and stir, lastly add in the herbs and 2 tsp salt.-

Stir once last time and put on the lid.-

Set the timer for two hours.-

-Meanwhile, find something to do!
-We made some banana ice cream and slime. The slime wasn't too successful, but ended up making cool kinesthetic bags! Note: do not listen to 8-10yr olds when trying to figure out what slime is.

Luckily the banana ice cream turned out to be way more successful and fun. If you've never made banana ice cream (a.k.a. "nice" cream) here is a recipe that I have been using for years! I will definitely need to make an updated version though. As they say, most thing just get better with time and practice. Okay so I paraphrased...

After two hours give the cooker a stir and add in your chicken. I also turn them over and mix them around to make sure they are coated and nestled in the cooker. Time for another two hours of trying to find something to do.

Since I had to take Corbin to gymnastics practice and his cousin home I was able to work out and not worry about what sort of messes kids were getting into. I also got to try out my new workout leggings. If you follow me on the gram, this photo should be very familiar. ICYMI: I had been wanting a pair of mesh leggings, but most places I had looked were kinda pricey. While scrolling through instagram one day I saw comment about how you can also find decent ones on Amazon.

So of course I searched a.s.a.p. Low and behold I found a pair! They were only $17.99 when I got them, but the price goes everywhere. I have seen them at $20 and at 6$. They fit great and are very comfy. I ordered a small and they aren't as tight as I would have expected. If you order definitely use their size chart. You can find all sorts of cute options as well as capris or shorts! Here are some I have been eyeing.

🏋My workout was🏋

🏋Bulgarian Light Bench

🏋15 b tricep extensions 4x9

🏋Incline bench press 45 5x7

My workout definitely had me dripping with sweat. However I think the majority of it was how high the humidity had been the past few days. After my workout and showering the chicken was finished. I turned the slow cooker off since we had a few hours to dinner and I didn't want the chicken to dry out or get mushy. We ended up eating it with grilled broccoli and Corbin ate it for lunch over spaghetti the next day. The flavour was very reminiscent of pizza which is something I so miss being able to have regularly. Sure there is low carb pizza, but it takes forever to make and isn't quite the same when you have a craving. For us though, anything that can eaten alone or on top of something else is always a win here with the three different diets we have going on. Also a plus when the little guy approves of something, even if he isn't so little anymore. We got a good 6 servings out of the whole pot.

⮇⮇⮇⮇⮇⮇⮇MACROS ⮇⮇⮇⮇⮇⮇⮇