Anonymous wrote:I've found a number of decent (not wonderful, but tasty enough) chicken crockpot recipes and they are pretty hard to mess up. Thighs are better than breast for slow cooking (less prone to being dry).

I have found this to be true for most chicken recipes. I was born abroad and thighs are considered more delicious than chicken breast. Here it seems to be the other way around.

Chicken breast is more dry and has a less flavor, for me.

I've found a number of decent (not wonderful, but tasty enough) chicken crockpot recipes and they are pretty hard to mess up. Thighs are better than breast for slow cooking (less prone to being dry). We made this one the other night and everyone liked it.

http://crockpot365.blogspot.com/2011/09/honey-garlic-chicken-slow-cooker-recipe.html

For simple weeknight meals, we do a lot of rice and beans (with cheese on top), omelettes or fritattas, tuna melts, and fish tacos.

Rice and beans:
cook some rice, saute some onions and garlic then add a can of black bean and some cumin and/or chili powder if you like. Top with cheese and salsa. I often add peppers, corn, or zucchini too, but it sounds like that won't work for your family.

I find frittatas easier to make than omelettes. Saute whatever you want to put in it (veggies, bacon, sausage, etc), whisk ~5 eggs together with some salt and pepper, pour them over the other stuff in the pan, sprinkle a liberal amount of cheese on top, cook until mostly solid and then put the pan under the broiler until the top firms up/browns. When I'm cooking for my picky toddler, I'll sometimes push all the offensive veggies to one side of the pan before adding the eggs so as to have some 'uncontaminated' pieces to serve him.

Fish tacos:
Brush tilapia with olive oil and salt and pepper (often we'll do a fancier marinade with lime, soy, and spices) then broil for ~8 minutes. Serve on warm tortillas with various fixings (sour cream or yogurt, salsa, avocado, cheese, lettuce, etc).

thanks everyone!

Roasted salmon is easy -- just line a pan with non-stick foil, lay the filet skin side down, brush with olive oil, sprinkle with salt, pepper and if you like dill or tarragon. Bake in a 400 degree oven till it's opaque -- maybe 15 minutes.

I serve it with a thick "sauce" of 1 part dijon mustard to 2 parts sour cream.

I'm currently marinating this in my fridge. (Marinate at least 2, but preferably 24 hours):

1 package chicken drumsticks
2 cups of buttermilk
5 cloves of garlic, peeled and smashed
1 tbsp salt
1 tbsp sugar
1.5 tsp paprika
1.5 tsp black pepper

Let this soak either in a freezer bag or a large container with a lid for a solid day. (Can go up to two.) When ready to cook, preheat oven to 425. Line a baking dish with foil and lay the chicken in the pan. Drizzle some olive oil, paprika and salt over the chicken and roast 30 minutes (for drumsticks) until done and lightly scorched in places. It's from Smitten Kitchen and it is DELICIOUS and so easy! Takes 5 minutes of prep the day before, then just 30 minutes of baking the day of. I serve with either wild rice or boiled red potatoes with butter and dill and a green vegetable.

My MIL (who doesn't cook much) made this for us one night and we we surprised how much we enjoyed it. Buy the flavor and heat of salsa that you like best:
http://recipes.sparkpeople.com/recipe-detail.asp?recipe=197691

I also make this regularly for said MIL and she loves it. Brown chicken medallions in butter. Add chiffonade/chopped basil. Continue cooking until basil is just wilted and aromatic. Take off heat, squeeze fresh lemon juice over the chicken and serve. I like to have enough butter to make a little sauce and I only lightly squeeze a half lemon over the chicken. Then I put the lemon half on the serving plate for everyone to adjust how much lemon juice they want. You can also add other light seasonings if you want, but my MIL is on a low sodium diet, so we don't add salt and she prefers milder flavors so we don't add, but other fresh flavors can be very nice. I've also done this with shrimp and salmon, but chicken is the easiest to cook. Both shrimp and salmon require a little care when cooking.

You can make simple parmesan chicken (a friend posted this recipe on FB and we found it pretty good for a quick meal). 1 c up parmesan cheese, 1 tbsp of Italian seasoning (I used McCormick Perfect Pinch salt-free). Wet chicken breasts, coat with seasoned cheese and bake at 375 for 25 minutes or so until done.

Anonymous wrote:The easiest way for me to cook chicken:
buy chicken breasts
put chicken in crock pot
pour some broth into crock pot until it's partially covering chicken
add seasoning if you want
cook on high 4 hours

shredded chicken. You can add it to anything, eat it plain, etc.

Sounds ymmy!
Every week I take the baked chicken from the groc store, shred it up, add veggies and make either chicken soup over egg noodles, or Indian curry w/veg over rice.

http://www.dcurbanmom.com/jforum/posts/list/15/250935.page

Good recipe for Lemon Chicken.

Anonymous wrote:The easiest way for me to cook chicken:
buy chicken breasts
put chicken in crock pot
pour some broth into crock pot until it's partially covering chicken
add seasoning if you want
cook on high 4 hours

shredded chicken. You can add it to anything, eat it plain, etc.

good idea!!!

OP here, i do have a crockpot!

Anonymous wrote:So you're really just looking for chicken recipes? Or are you open to things that feature eggs, beans, fish, etc?

Chicken with no veggies is pretty limiting...

Do you have a crock pot?

yes I am open to eggs, beans and some fish!

The easiest way for me to cook chicken:
buy chicken breasts
put chicken in crock pot
pour some broth into crock pot until it's partially covering chicken
add seasoning if you want
cook on high 4 hours

shredded chicken. You can add it to anything, eat it plain, etc.

So you're really just looking for chicken recipes? Or are you open to things that feature eggs, beans, fish, etc?

Chicken with no veggies is pretty limiting...

Do you have a crock pot?

I think you need to expand your food repertoire. What about chicken chili or vegetarian chili?

Chicken soft tacos? Or shrimp tacos?

Macaroni and Cheese?

Ok I have made several chicken recipes I found well rated on the internet and they turned out horribly. i am not sure if it's ME or the recipe.


I need some tried and true, fairly easy fairly healthy recipes to cook for me, DH and our toddler. Typically, I make a fruit salad and serve frozen peas, corn, brocolli, or green beans, etc with each meal, so I need recipes for the main part of the meal. The only meat we eat is chicken and DH eats shrimp. DH does not eat veggies so I like to serve those on the side for me and toddler.

Does anyone have some great, fail-safe recipes they do every week?