Happy National Nutrition Month! March is full of excitement. It is the intersection between winter and spring that keeps us on our toes. Some days it is nice outside, other days, you feel like a snow bunny. Well, one thing is for sure, you still have to eat! So, we felt that March should be our month of #NOEXCUSES!
This unusual time of year leaves us confused over what to cook. Do you want a warm soup or something light and easy? Are you going to be home and able to caress a meal or will the hustle and bustle of life keep you going? Fear not! The slow cooker (or as we know it the Crockpot) is here to save the day! It's a flash from the past but remains a useful tool for healthy living. It saves you time. And, it saves your brain power from having to come up with excuses for not providing a healthy meal for your family or yourself.
Until I realized how much I love soups, my slow cooker was a dust collecting large dip server or meatball warmer. Yes, I only used it when we were having a family gathering and needed an additional warmer. Occasionally, I would make a spinach and cheese dip (which I do not like) and take to a potluck party. But, mostly, it stayed on the shelf in the cabinet. About a year or two ago, my sister remodeled her kitchen and remarked that she needed to get a matching slow cooker. I didn't think anything of it until I started searching for a Christmas present for her. I found a very lightweight and reasonable Crockpot (brand) that matched her updated kitchen. It was shortly after that I fell in love with soups again. A coworker/friend and I would go to Olive Garden and get the chicken gnocchi soup. We wouldn't even eat our meal because the soup was fantastic! Soon, we only wanted soup, salad, and breadsticks, even for dinner. I needed to learn how to make this soup without all of the calories, salt, and fat. So, I pulled out the slow cooker and altered the copycat recipe I found online. From there, I've employed that slow cooker to do so much more.
For the March challenge, I chose to make a happy summer meal. March has been somewhat challenging for me, so I wanted to feel the sunshine in and out! And, hawaiian chicken wraps with sweet potato chips feels like sunshine. They are sweet, spicy, juicy, tangy, and comforting all wrapped up. So flavorful without the guilt. I adapted a recipe I found on Slender Kitchen. Chicken, pineapples, asian flavorings, garlic, ginger, and peppers...YUM! Be sure to taste your flavorings so that your dish isn't too salty. I used low sodium teriyaki and soy sauces, but still had to modify the amounts greatly. Check out the video below.
I hope you like the video. Remember, the crockpot challenge has been upgraded with two opportunities. You can submit any healthy slow cooker recipe and image collage or video. Additionally, Kim Anderson has issued a healthy crockpot chili cook-off challenge for an additional prize! There is #noexcuse for not cooking healthy. Grab some ingredients and a slow cooker...your life just may depend on it.
