Some Slow Cooker Lovin'

For the past few weeks, Wednesdays have become mine and Justin's slow cooker adventure days. I work from 8:30 to 5 pm and stay at work to kill a little time before heading to my 6-7:30 pm training session at the MedVed store/Nazareth college track. Justin works from home, usually from whenever he rolls out of bed (9-ish?) til whenever dinner is ready (7ish).  It ends up being a very long day for the two of us... with me coming home tired and absolutely famished and him being off in his web coding world, too dazed to think. Food is a MUST and we have no time (or will) to make it... so slow cooker it is!

To help out this process, I'll usually pick up all my groceries for the planned slow cooker meal on Tuesday and prep all of the veggies/spices/meats later that evening. Justin will take a little time around his "lunch" break (usually consisting of a 10 minute span to grab a quick bite) to throw everything into the pot and set it to low. By the time we're both done with the days events, the food is ready.

This past Wednesday, consisted of a combination and adaptation of two recently scouted recipes (http://everydaypaleo.com/2011/01/09/a-meal-in-minutes/ and http://everydaypaleo.com/2010/08/25/slow-cooked-pollo-con-salsa-roja/) into the:

Uber Mexi-Slow Cooker Chicken

(I'm working on getting a photo for this)

Ingredients:

• 2 lbs boneless, skinless chicken thighs
• 1 yellow onion, sliced
• 7 celery stalks, diced
• 2 cups baby carrots
• 4 cloves of garlic, minced
• 1 14.5 oz can of organic diced tomatoes, drained
• 1 15.5 oz jar of salsa (I used Wegman's organic hot)
• 2 tbsp cumin powder
• 3/4 tbsp chipotle powder
• 1/2 tbsp paprika
• 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper (you can either omit this or use to your taste, we like spicy)
• 1/2 - 3/4 tsp unsweetened cocoa powder
• Juice from 1 lemon
• Salt and Pepper to taste
• 1 bunch of cilantro chopped
• 2 avocados, diced (or quacamole)
• lime juice

Method:

• In the bottom of your slow cooker, layer the carrots, celery, and onions and top with the minced garlic.
• On top of the veggies layer your chicken, squeeze the lemon juice over the chicken.
• Add the diced tomatoes, salsa, all of the spices, and mix well.
• Cook all day on low (6-8 hours).
• Taste, adjust seasonings if need be.
• Serve topped with the diced avocado and cilantro. 

We served the stoup (YES, stoup! A combo of soup and stew...) over some pre-roasted and shredded spaghetti squash. This turned out to be scrumptious! (Granted, Justin forgot to put the carrots in...) The chicken thighs are melt-in-your mouth tender. The broth is rich and throat warming... and it's even better as leftovers the next evening (as I type this while slurping)! A perfect recipe for for a cold day!