2.07.2012

Pulled Chicken & Veggie Quinoa Soup

I promised to share all kitchen successes (and failures) as I attempt to domesticate myself.. last night was a SUCCESS (yesss!) John and I were dead on the couch (and feeling worse today than yesterday) when we started talking about dinner. We really are trying to be more frugal so instead of instinctively deciding to order in I decided to have a "use what we have" night. This resulted in me hauling out the crock pot (a very under-appreciated appliance in our kitchen), where this fantastic recipe was born!

ingredients:
1 large boneless skinless chicken breast
3 cups vegetable broth
2 roma tomatoes (seeded and diced)
1/2 large sweet onion (chopped)
3 cloves of garlic (chopped)
2 cups of carrots
1/2 cup quinoa (uncooked)
1 tbs jerk seasoning
s&p to taste


1. Place chicken in the center of your crock pot and cover with broth, set your slow cooker to high. I didn't think of this recipe far enough in advance to have a thawed chicken breast on hand so I just put it in there frozen. This worked out fine but I obviously had to cook it longer than if it had been thawed. I set the timer for 5 hours - but just kept my eye on it.

2. Halfway through I added the tomatoes, onion, garlic, carrots, and seasoning

3. I use my rice cooker to make quinoa, but you can cook it using your own preferred method (I got this going when the crock pot had about 45 min to go)

4. When the chicken looks fully cooked, shred it with two forks. 

5. When quinoa is finished add it to the crock pot, stir, & serve! 

makes about 6 servings 

John and I were really wishing we had a big hunk of homemade bread to go with the soup (We ended up putting a little olive oil/garlic in a frying pan and toasting up some whole grain skinny bread) ... obviously this is a recipe we are keeping and hoping to improve on. We are having a lot fun improvising together :)

On an unrelated note... remember when I mentioned John wishing I was back to my old self? Well I have now decided that the KEY to becoming my old self again is a planner by Erin Condren. Call me a nerd but watching the little video on her website about her planners gets me excited.. Too bad they are quite pricey (womp womp) BUT, great news! A wonderful little family blog is doing an Erin Condren giveaway for a $25 credit to her store.. YESSS! Check it out here.

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