5 Ingredients & 5 Minutes to a Healthy, Delicious, Hot Meal

Got a crock pot? (say yes...or if not, get one. You can get a decent one for under $40 at Target. Or, get a really old one for free from your boyfriend's mom. That's what I did, it works just as well.) Excellent.

You're already off to a great start to making easy, awesome meals.

My latest crock pot endeavor involves five ingredients. Yes, five. Even better, it requires about five minutes of your time.

1. three or four frozen chicken breasts, depending on size and how meaty you want this to turn out
2. one bag of frozen corn
3. one can of black beans, drained. try to find a kind that are a little more interesting than just plain. i really like Kuner's of Colorado Jalepeño Black Beans with Lime Juice--super flavorful, and not at all overly spicy! I made my latest batch with plain ones and it was a little less awesome than it's been in the past.
4. a jar of your favorite salsa. the bigger the jar the saucier this'll turn out. i usually just use a 16 or 24 oz jar of medium Tostito's and it's great, but i'm sure that something more exciting would be even better!
5. a can of diced green chiles


Throw all this in your crock pot before you leave for work in the morning (I usually have my heat set to low, but that can be adjusted depending on how long your work day is) and by the time you come home your kitchen will smell wonderful and you'll have a delicious, healthy meal that you barely lifted a finger for. The chicken shreds itself while it's cooking and the flavors mix together in a fantastic way. Serve over white or brown rice or quinoa, or just eat! (okay, so that's a sixth ingredient)

This will become a favorite, I promise.

Asian Chicken Lettuce Wraps

These were great when I made them the other night!


Healthy and super tasty!


The recipe makes a ton, so half it if you want to, but I love to have leftovers so I don't have to put in much thought after a long day. Also, I'm totally okay eating things cold, and these are actually great that way too!


original recipe from http://fashionablyfoodie.blogspot.com/2009/03/asian-chicken-lettuce-wraps.html

6 chicken breasts (either raw or frozen)
2 whole carrots, grated
1 pint of mushrooms (just the regular-sized carton that you get at the grocery store)
6 green onions, finely chopped
2 red bell peppers, diced
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 can of water chestnuts, drained and chopped
4 Tbsp canola oil (or whatever type of cooking oil your prefer)
1/2 tsp sesame oil

1 c water
1/2 c sugar
4 Tbsp rice vinegar
2 1/2 tsp sesame oil
1 tsp sriracha
*rice vinegar, sesame oil and sriracha maybe aren't something you use very frequently, but they're easy to find in the Asian aisle at your regular grocery store and they're not expensive
1 c soy sauce
1 1/2 tsp fresh ginger, minced
1/4 tsp red pepper flakes

1 head iceberg lettuce, leaves washed and peeled away (keep as whole as possible!)
chow mein noodles for garnish/texture

•Bring a pot of water big enough to cover the chicken to a boil, and add chicken breasts, a pinch of salt and a clove of garlic. Boil for about ten minutes, or until chicken is done. If using frozen chicken it'll be more like twenty minutes.

•While chicken is boiling, prep your vegetables.

•Once chicken is done and very little pink remains (it'll cook just a little more when you throw everything into a sauté pan [or wok if you have one], so a little bit under-done is okay) chop it into very small pieces. Ideally, the chicken and all vegetables would be cut into the same sized pieces...good luck with that.

•Mix water, sugar, vinegar, 2 tsp sesame oil, sriracha, soy sauce and 1 tsp ginger. Whisk to combine well.

•Heat 4 Tbsp oil and 1/2 tsp sesame oil in a large pan. Add onions, mushrooms and peppers and cook to soften, about two minutes. Add chicken, water chestnuts and garlic; sauté for another two minutes. Add half of the liquid mix that you made in the previous step to the pan and reserve the rest. Bring to a boil then let simmer for ten minutes, or until the liquid is reduced and there is just a little left in the pan.

•While the pan is simmering, add more sriracha, 1/4 tsp red pepper flakes, 1/2 tsp fresh ginger to your reserved liquid. This will be a dip for your wraps.

•After the chicken/veggie mix is ready in the pan, stir in the grated carrot. Serve on lettuce leaves with chow mein noodles.

•Enjoy being healthy and happy!

Welcome to The Daily Digest

lettuce wraps!...made these the other night and they were great (recipe posted soon!)

Welcome. I say that to both you and me, because this is a brand new thing for me too. You'll have to bear with me over the next few weeks as I tweak, edit, make changes, decide I hate the whole thing, start over, have a break down because the computer just deleted my entire post and just generally get used to this blogging idea.

I've been thinking about writing a blog for a while now, ever since I started admiring such wonderful women like Jessica at www.howsweeteats.com, Nikki at www.chef-in-training.com, and Kristina at mouthfromthesouth.com, thanks in large part to the advent of everyone's favorite addiction, PINTEREST. However, I credit my best friend Cathryn, whose blog nuefvies is beautiful, funny and honest, for really giving me the inspiration to finally sit down at my desk and start typing. loveyousister.... :)

You may have noticed that the majority of the blogs that I just mentioned have to do with food...Now, I don't have nearly as much time or money as those women must to devote themselves so fully to exploring their culinary interests (even though in a perfect world I would spend all my money on ingredients for fabulous recipes, vacations, and fashion) but as far as I can foresee, this blog will focus mainly on my aspirations to get into as much trouble as possible in the kitchen. I can't promise that I'll have a new great recipe for you every day with stunning pictures and witty instructions, nor that they'll always be entirely my own creations, but I solemnly swear that I will do my best to post at least one recipe a week.

Maybe this is a good time to explain how I came up with my title, "The Daily Digest."

According to the handy dictionary on my macbook, "digest" has a few definitions:

1. (v) to break down food in the stomach and intestines into substances that can be used by the body

-That correlation is pretty obvious, given my top chef aspirations-

2. (n) a compilation or summary of material or information

-You'll also see, from time to time, posts about my other loves: yoga, fitness, nutrition, traveling, art, puppies, music, my DVR, fashion, dance, my friends and family, etc.-

3. (v) arrange in a systematic or convenient order

-Now I thought this correlation was pretty funny, and also entirely appropriate. Here's a little tidbit about me: I'm nothing if not organized. I was recently called "excessively methodical" by a co-worker. In my opinion, I'm simply making things more convenient, but I'll go ahead and apologize ahead of time if you find that you disagree :) I won't be offended...what can I say, I gotta have a system!

Like I said earlier, I won't make an empty promise and say that I'll have something new "daily" as my title implies. A few posts per week and I'll be proud of myself. But as humans we're constantly ("daily," one might say) thinking of new things we'd like to do and places we'd like to go and goals we'd like to achieve despite the regular routine that we're subject to. We dream while being realistic (thanks nuefvies, for that one!), and that's the basis for my writing.

So I hope that gives you a taste (pun intended?) of what's to come. Look for a new post soon!! Time to get cooking....