Buffalo Chicken and Easy Fried Rice

One of my 2015 goals is to keep cooking, so I’m definitely starting off the year right.

On Sunday I pulled out my new Crock Pot to make buffalo chicken. I love ordering buffalo chicken in restaurants, but it hadn’t occurred to me to try and make it myself. Then, I found this buffalo chicken slow cooker recipe that only required three ingredients so I decided to give it a shot!

It was perfect to have the chicken cooking for a few hours on Sunday afternoon while I cleaned, worked out, and got my apartment back together after the holidays.

I was so excited hungry that I failed to take a picture of the chicken before taking it out of the Crock Pot, but this gives you an idea.

I put the chicken in a wrap with carrots, green onion and blue cheese. Delicious!

On Monday night, I used the chicken for lettuce wraps.

I plan to get a lot of use out of the Crock Pot this year!

I had extra chicken breasts after making the buffalo chicken, so I baked a couple in the oven which was perfect to have around to go with one of my favorite go-to recipes: Easy Fried Rice. I may have shared a link to this recipe before, but I’ll share it again. It really is easy, and even better it’s from Weight Watchers. It’s a great light option when you’re craving some Chinese food.

Cook up some rice. I like using brown rice. Cook some carrots and green onions in a skillet for a few minutes. I just spray the pan with cooking spray – you don’t even need oil.

Then put the cooked rice, some peas, and soy sauce in the same skillet. Stir everything together and let it heat through for a minute.

That’s it! It’s really that easy to have fried rice in about 15 minutes.

What are your favorite slow cooker recipes? What are your go-to recipes?

New Year, New Goals for 2015

Ok, I know I’m a little late with the 2015 goals post, but honestly I just needed a little extra time to figure out what I wanted my goals to be. In the end, I’m keeping it fairly simple. A couple are sort of extensions to goals I had last year, and a couple are new.

Goal 1 – Keep Cooking

I’m not setting a specific goal for a number of recipes or anything – just the goal to keep cooking. Luckily, I’m already off to a nice start for the year. I busted out my new Crock Pot on Sunday night and made some buffalo chicken! More on that later this week, but here’s a sneak peek.

Goal 2 – Be Open, Be Present

Last year I had the goal of getting more comfortable with change. This year, I’m expanding that a little to work on continuing to be open to changes, challenges and choices. To me, this means taking on new experiences, being open to the good and the bad that may come, and enjoying all of those moments as they’re happening. I have a feeling far more good will come from being open than bad, but it’s always that small chance of something bad happening that can often hold me back.

Goal 3 – Work on Strength

I tend to slack on the strength training, but I want to make it a more regular part of my workout routine. At least doing something 1-2 days/week.

Goal 4 – Run the Twin Cities Marathon

Yes, if all goes well, 2015 will be the year of the marathon! When I first started running, so many people asked me if I was going to run a marathon. At the time I always said, “I doubt it.” It wasn’t on my radar at that point. Over the past few years, I’ve continued to take on new running challenges and distances and a marathon crept up my running bucket list. Successfully making it through the TC Loony Challenge this past fall pushed the marathon up to the top of my list.

I’m not gonna lie, it scares me a little. It’s a commitment. It’s a lot of time, training and dedication. But, in the spirit of being open and being present (please refer back to Goal 2), I don’t want that fear to stop me. I’ve felt that fear before taking on other distances and I’ve always been able to conquer them. I’m ready for the challenge, and I’ll be able to share the ups and downs on here. If anyone has training advice for a novice – let me know!

What are your goals for 2015? How do you stay open to new experiences?