Crock Pot Honey Sesame Chicken

There are days when I swear there truly aren’t 24 hours in it.  Like I think there are those days when you maybe get 18 hours and somehow those other 6 hours magically disappeared.  Like maybe Mother Earth needed to borrow some time and took mine. They say the older you get the easier it gets.  Thing is I’m not sure I believe that’s entirely true. I think the older I get it *may* get easier but that’s only because at our age we’ve become the expert at doing it; whatever it is. Like remember when you were a little kid and you first learned to tie your tennis shoes?  It took FOREVER to get it right and I’m sure you sat there, tongue sticking out of the corner of your mouth and your eyes intently staring at your little fingers all the while your parents sat there reciting the bunny rhyme to help you tie them.  However eventually over time and practice you became and expert at it and now I’m pretty sure you don’t even give it a second thought when you do tie them, huh?

Thus since you aced the whole shoelace tying thing you were able to add another task to your day.  Eventually you aced that too and you added another task.  Eventually you are at the age you are now and you have a bajillion tasks to do and while you may be an expert at them all, they still take up time. For me I’m at that point.  I need more time in my days. Like you know how you can buy more cell phone minutes when you run out?  Well I want to buy more hours in my day.  Anyone know who I can speak with about this?

So this recipe happened on one of those days when I just didn’t have enough hours in the day but I knew at some point I’d have to eat.  See Mr. Fantabulous was off being a rock god (aka band practice) and I had 797 bajillion things to get done while he was gone AND somehow include some much needed ‘me’ time in there. Since I knew I’d be short on time I broke out my trusty crock pot and grabbed some stuff out of the fridge, whipped up a quick sauce, plopped it all in the slow cooker, turned that sucker on and went about my day.

One thing I love about this dish (and any slow cooker recipe) is that I can dump it all in, set the time and go about my business. In 4 hours I got 5 loads of laundry done, 2 loads of dishes run (it was a heavy cooking day for TKW site), 6 photo shoots, ran to 2 markets, Homegoods (cause it’s an addiction!), worked out, answered emails, posted a recipe, facebooked the TKW site, spoke with Mama Fantabulous and took a shower.  Yeah I need a cape *puts hands on hips like Super Woman though I don’t have the body like hers… or the invisible jet, damn it!* LOL

I mean really, when I was a little kid I LOVED Super Woman with her perfect jet black hair, Barbie-like figure, awesome outfit, her magic lasso and her invisible plane. She was a TRUE warrior princess that was a genius, beautiful and rocked a killer bod.  However to know me as a child I would have driven you nuts.  See even as a kid I analyzed EVERYTHING.  Like I can remember having deep discussions with my family and friends about how the likelihood of the plane ever truly existing “in the future” was impossible unless they had invisible bolts, glues, welding materials, oils, gasoline and so forth.  I did justify saying that they could build a plane out of tempered glass that could withstand the altitude and pressure but there would be no way to keep it ‘invisible’ if a bug, bird or other object hit is. Yes, I was one of those kids.

See I was never that “Why?” kid but rather I wanted a more detailed explanation.  I wanted reasoning, justification, evidence.  My poor parents and teachers… I drove them nuts!  I can remember when I learned how to read.  I didn’t go for Puss ‘n Boots.  I went for our Funk & Wagnells Encyclopedias or my brother’s trigonometry books. I wanted to know it all; hell I still do. For me my quest to not just know things but to understand them, how they why and why they work is what I thrive on.

I. Am. A. Dork.  There, I said it and am proud of it.  LOL  #KnowledgeIsPower

Wait, I so got side tracked in this post.  What was I talking about? My mind is all over the place today. I swear right now I’m like that person that’s giving a big lecture and then they get ready to tell you the secrets of the world and SQUIRREL!  LOL  Eh it’s okay I think you’ll forgive me today since I’m giving you one amazing recipe.

So once I finished all 897,876 things I had to get done I sat down and made a plate of this for me.  Okay seriously this was so good that I actually thought about having a 2nd serving, something I never EVER do.  Trust me, my thighs are ever so grateful! Thankfully Mr. Fantabulous called me to tell me that they were staying at practice late but that he was starving and if I could have something made when came home.  Yeah, like I don’t have food in this house or something, huh?  I’m equating his call the reason I didn’t go for a 2nd plate as my willpower was fading fast.

With this dish I served it with simple brown rice that I cook in chicken stock.  I loathe rice cooked in just water.  It’s too drab for me.  I actually toast my rice first in a tsp of butter just to get that nutty flavor and aroma.  Then I add my stock and cook away. If you aren’t a rice fan you could easily put this over rice noodles, quinoa or serve with pasta. I bet you this would be great with egg noodles or gnocchi too! A few hours later my hubby came home, famished (because he hadn’t eaten in 5 hours.. I know, right!  How dare I starve that man!  I’m a horrible wife!) and looking for food.  Since I am the best wife ever I had a huge plate of this all steamy hot waiting on the table.  Now normally he’ll carry all of his gear in first and then sit down to eat but he truly must have been starving as he immediately went straight to the table.  I mean I didn’t even get a “hi”.  About half way through the meal he picked up his head and said “Hi baby, how was your day?” with sauce on his lower lip looking all sexy-like.  I giggled and told him everything I did.  Now as I was yammering on I honestly think he tuned me out as he just kept shoveling it in until the plate was empty.  He then picked up his head, look at me, look down at his bare plate and back up at me.  You could see the pleading look in his eyes all Oliver-Twist like “Please sir, may I have some more?”. So I gave him a bit more and told him to save room for dessert.

See while he was out I also made 2-6″ cast iron chocolate chip cookies.  He LOVES those things and the fact that he can eat it right out of the pan with a spoon with melty vanilla ice cream on top.  Seriously, I am the best wife ever.  I spoil him…and I love every single minute of it!

This dish didn’t last long to be honest.  In fact I had to make another batch 2 days later.  I took some for lunch and he finished the rest as a snack – i.e., post lunch/pre-dinner or “dinner jr” as my black-hearted little sister Liz would call it. It’s filling but light.  The addition of the Sriracha adds just enough heat to balance out the sweetness of the honey.  The ginger just rounds the flavors out beautifully.  This dish is perfect when you simply don’t have enough hours in the day or feel like standing over the stove cooking.

As for crock pots I personally recommend either of these.  I LOVE them!

Hamilton Beach Set ‘n Forget Programmable Slow Cooker, 6-Quart

Crock Pot Honey Sesame Chicken

• Author: The Kitchen Whisperer

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Ingredients

• 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts or thighs (about 2 pounds total)
• 1 tsp kosher salt
• 1 tsp ground black pepper
• 1 cup honey
• 1/2 cup low sodium soy sauce
• 2 tsp onion powder
• 3 Tbl grated ginger (fresh) or 1 tsp ground ginger
• 4 Tbl ketchup
• 2 Tbl sesame oil
• 1 Tbl garlic, minced
• 1/2-1 tsp Sriracha
• 3 Tbl cornstarch
• 6 Tbl water
• 3 green onions, minced (whites and green parts)
• Sesame seeds for garnish

Instructions

1. Spray a 6 qrt crock pot with cooking spray.
2. Pat the chicken dry and season both sides with salt and pepper and place in the bottom of crock pot.
3. In a medium sized bowl, whisk together the honey, soy sauce, onion powder, ginger, Sriracha, ketchup, oil, and garlic.
4. Pour over chicken.
5. Place the lid on the slow cooker and cook on low for 3 1/2 – 4 hours, or just until chicken is cooked through. This will vary on how large your chicken is.
6. Remove the lid and carefully remove the chicken to a carving board.
7. Make slurry of the cornstarch and water by whisking together the two until the cornstarch is all dissolved..
8. Add the slurry to the sauce in the crock pot, gently mix and replace the cover.
9. Replace lid and cook sauce on high for ten more minutes or until slightly thickened.
10. While the sauce is thickening up, cut chicken into bite size pieces.
11. When the sauce has thickened shut off the crock pot.
12. Remove the lid and place the chicken and green onions in the sauce and gently stir.
13. Serve with rice or noodles.
14. Garnish with sesame seeds.