Slow Cooker Pad Thai with Chicken

I absolutely love Pad Thai and anytime I order it for take out I'm not usually completely satisfied. I've made in the skillet a few times but I wanted to be able to come home to it after work. So here's my version of slow cooker Pad Thai with Chicken, you can obviously make it with turkey, beef, shrimp, tofu, or just veggie as well.

Slow Cooker Pad Thai with Chicken

Ingredients:

1 lb chopped chicken (I used chicken thighs but you can use breast or ground if you want)

2 cloves garlic, minced/grated

4 tbsp rice vinegar

4 tbsp fish sauce

4 tbsp lime juice

4 tsp sugar

1/2 cup sliced onions

1/2 cup diced carrots

1/2 cup tofu, diced

1 (14 oz) can bean sprouts, drained
1/3 cup chopped peanuts

1 package rice noodles

extra chopped peanuts (for topping)

Directions:

1. Brown chicken in sauce pan.  While cooking, grate in garlic. 

2. Combine everything except noodles and peanuts in slow cooker.

3. Cook on low for about 4 hours, stir in peanuts. 

4. Cook noodles: Put noodles in a large mixing bowling and soak in boiling water for about 5-10 minutes or until limp. If you soak them too long they will become very mushy and stick together.

5. Drain noodles and stir into slow cooker. 

6. Top with extra peanuts and lime juice. Enjoy!

A few notes:

*Next time, while cooking the noodles, I am going to scramble up some eggs to add in at the end. 

*What's great about Pad Thai is that you can easily add whatever you want. If you are trying it with shrimp, they should be cooked and added in when you add in the peanuts. 

*If like it spicy, top with Sriracha Sauce!

 *You could easily do this in a skillet within minutes. After you cook the chicken, add in remaining ingredients and cook on low while the noodles are cooking. Stir in noodles and enjoy!

Fake It Bakery Cake

I discovered this recipe a little over a year ago and I'll never look at a box cake the same way! This recipe shows you how to take a box cake and make it taste like a bakery style cake for much much less! 

Fake It Bakery Cake

Here's what you do! 

1. Look at the directions on the cake mix.

2. Add one more egg than called for (or 2 if you like it VERY rich).

3. Use melted butter instead of oil and double the amount.  (This is obviously a not diet friendly!)

4. Instead of water, use milk.

5. Mix well and bake for recommended time on the box!

Here's the cake I made this weekend with the recipe! :)

Slow Cooker Mongolian Beef

This is one of those recipes that you want to make when you crave take out but don't want to spend that extra money or have all of the extra calories!

Slow Cooker Mongolian Beef

Ingredients:
1 lb flank steak, cut into thin strips/bite size pieces
1/4 cup cornstarch
2 teaspoons olive oil
1 onion, thinly sliced
1 tablespoon minced garlic
3 large green onions, chopped
1/2 cup soy sauce
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon minced ginger (I buy the ginger paste because I never seem to use the root in time!)
1/2 cup hoisin sauce (found in the asian food aisle by soy sauce)

Directions:
1. Place flank steak and cornstarch into resealable bag. Shake until steak is full covered by cornstarch and allow it to rest for about 10 minutes.

2. While steak is resting, combine remaining ingredients in a bowl.
3. Heat olive oil in large skillet over medium heat. Cook steak until brown and remove from heat.
4. Add steak into bowl with other ingredients and mix until everything is covered by the sauce.

5. Pour into slow cooker and cook on LOW for 4 hours.

6. Serve over rice and enjoy!

 A few notes:
* You'll notice that because of the brown sugar the sauce tends to get A LOT darker in the slow cooker. If you are around, try to stir about once an hour because the sugary sauce did tend to stick to the liner bag.
*This was delicious from the slow cooker but this would also be a quick skillet dish. After you brown the steak, you could easily turn the heat down to low-medium and add in the remaining ingredients until the sauce thickens up.