Sometimes I have very busy days. Days when I have a lot to get done and not enough time to get what I need to do done! Having to spend a lot of time cooking can really be a bit of an inconvenience on those days. I do love cooking, but if I can make things a bit easier on myself on busy days, that is what works well for me!
On those kinds of days, I like to use my crockpot. Cooking in a crockpot is so easy and convenient. You just, for the most part, have to dump everything into the crockpot and turn it on. Easy peasy.
Recipes like this simple Crockpot Chicken & Gravy recipe are what I like to make! Using only a few ingredients and hardly any hands-on time, they fit the bill perfectly!
- 2 boneless, skinless chicken breast fillets
- salt and pepper to season
- one half of a 10 1/2 ounce/420g tin of condensed cream of chicken soup (low salt if possible)
- 4 heaped tsp chicken gravy powder
- 1/4 cup (60ml) chicken stock or water
Each of my chicken breasts was about the size of my open hand. So not overly large or overly small. I like to buy the free from chicken breasts. They have a lovely flavor and are free from the nasties. My sister and I usually scout out the free from chicken in the grocery store early in the week and take note of the day it needs to be used by. Then we will pop into the shops early on that day and get it for 50% off.
Crockpot Chicken & Gravy
Ingredients
- 2 boneless, skinless chicken breast fillets
- salt and pepper to season
- one half of a 10 1/2 ounce/420g tin of condensed cream of chicken soup (low salt if possible)
- 4 heaped tsp chicken gravy powder
- 1/4 cup (60ml) chicken stock or water
Instructions
- Season your chicken with salt and pepper all over. Be judicious with the salt. Place into the bottom of your crockpot.
- Whisk the soup, gravy powder and water together. Pour over the chicken in the crockpot.
- Cook on LOW for four to six hours, at which time the gravy should be nice and thick and the chicken tender and cooked through.
- Use two forks to break the chicken into bite sized pieces. Divide between two plates, spooning the gravy over each serving. Mashed potatoes or rice go very well with this.
Did you make this recipe?
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- 1/3 cup (75g) medjool dates, pitted and finely chopped
- 1/4 cup + 1TBS (75ml) boiling water
- 3 TBS (45g) butter at room temperature
- 1/3 cup (60g) soft brown sugar, packed
- 1 large egg, lightly beaten
- 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 1 TBS dark treacle or fancy molasses
- 3/4 cup (85g) plain all-purpose flour
- 3/4 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 tsp baking soda (bicarbonate of soda)
- small pinch salt
- 1.4 cup (60ml) full fat milk
- 1/3 cup +1 TBS (87g) dark brown sugar, packed
- 1/4 cup (35g) butter, cut into bits
- 1/2 cup (120ml) heavy cream (double/whipping)
- 1/2 TBS dark treacle or fancy molasses
Sticky Toffee Pudding (small batch)
Ingredients
- 1/3 cup (75g) medjool dates, pitted and finely chopped
- 1/4 cup + 1TBS (75ml) boiling water
- 3 TBS (45g) butter at room temperature
- 1/3 cup (60g) soft brown sugar, packed
- 1 large egg, lightly beaten
- 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 1 TBS dark treacle or fancy molasses
- 3/4 cup (85g) plain all purpose flour
- 3/4 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 tsp baking soda (bicarbonate of soda)
- small pinch salt
- 1.4 cup (60ml) full fat milk
- 1/3 cup +1 TBS (87g) dark brown sugar, packed
- 1/4 cup (35g) butter, cut into bits
- 1/2 cup (120ml) heavy cream (double/whipping)
- 1/2 TBS dark treacle or fancy molasses
Instructions
- First prepare the dates. Pit and chop them into small pieces. Place into a bowl and cover with the boiling water. Set aside for 10 minutes.
- Preheat the oven to 350*F/180*C/ gas mark 4. (170*C/325*F fan oven) Butter a 9 by 5-inch baking dish and set aside.
- Cream the brown sugar and butter together for the cake, until light and creamy. Beat in the egg. Stir in the vanilla and treacle/molasses.
- Whisk the flour, baking powder, soda and salt together in a small bowl.
- Add half of the flour mixture to the creamed mixture, stirring gently to combine, then add the remaining flour and the milk. Again, stir together just to combine.
- Mash the dates together with the soaking liquid and then add the whole bunch to the cake batter, mixing it into the batter equally.
- Spoon the batter into the prepared pan, smoothing over the top. Bake in the preheated oven for 25 to 30 minutes until firm on top and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
- Make the toffee sauce while the pudding is baking. Place the sugar, butter and half of the cream in a small saucepan. Heat over medium heat, stirring constantly, until the mixture comes to the boil and the sugar has completely melted.
- Stir in the treacle/molasses. Turn up the heat slightly and allow to bubble for two to three minutes until the mixture takes on a lovely brown toffee color. Stir occasionally so that it doesn't burn.
- Remove from the heat and whisk in the remaining cream. Put to one side and keep warm.
- Remove the cooked sponge/cake from the oven and spoon half of the toffee sauce over top evenly.
- Cut into four portions to serve, warm, with the additional sauce and cream or custard as desired.
Did you make this recipe?
This content (written and photography) is the sole property of The English Kitchen. Any reposting or misuse is not permitted. If you are reading this elsewhere, please know that it is stolen content and you may report it to me at: mariealicejoan at aol dot com
Well, here it is Sunday and here I am again with another Meals of the Week post! On Sundays I like to share all of the tastiness that I have enjoyed over the previous week. All of the main meals and recipes that I have enjoyed and cooked.
I do share a lot of new recipes with you during the week, sometimes they are for puddings, or baked goods, breads, cakes, etc. Interspersed with them may be a new main dish that I have cooked. I do eat a main meal every day however and most of the time the recipes for those are taken from my archives.
I have been blogging here in The English Kitchen since 2009. I had another blog that I used to share my recipes on that I had been writing for years. I also included my everyday thoughts about life etc. on that one, but I decided in 2009 that I wanted to have a blog that was only food and cooking related. That is when The English Kitchen was born. I was still working and cooking at the Manor then!
A lot has changed since this blog began. I am now living on my own and back in Canada. I am no stranger to change, having dealt with many changes and challenge through the years. I have gone from cooking for a family of 7 people down to cooking for just myself.
SUNDAY, October 13th - Thanksgiving
Sunday was Thanksgiving. I had been expecting my oldest son and his family to come for the weekend and a family dinner, however my father and sister came down with Covid and I had been exposed so a family dinner was cancelled and my family did not come.
Instead I took a small turkey breast from out of the freezer and made my own dinner. I baked a small, sweet potato, roasted some winter squash and cooked some peas. I also made instant mash and a pack of stove top stuffing. (Not normally what I would have, but you do what you do.) I made some gravy, opened a tin of cranberry sauce and had my own little Thanksgiving dinner here all by myself. Not what I had planned, but it was still delicious.
MONDAY, October 14th - Leftover Turkey Stuffing Casserole
I had leftovers from my turkey dinner to use up and so I made myself a delicious turkey casserole. This tasty casserole is a really great way to use up leftovers from the holiday dinner. Its also very simple to make. You just layer things into a casserole dish. Turkey and gravy on the bottom. Some vegetables and cranberry sauce dotted over top of that and then leftover stuffing crumbled on top of everything.
Dot with butter, cover tightly and then bake until everything is bubbling away. Uncover and cook a while longer to brown things off and its done! I enjoyed this with some boiled new potatoes.
TUESDAY, October 15th - Ham, Potato & Green Bean Soup
I made myself a small batch of this Ham, Potato & Green Bean Soup. I didn't want to make a full batch as I wasn't sure if it would freeze properly or not. I am never quite 100% sure about freezing things with milk in them.
In any case this is a simple and delicious soup. It is a creamy soup that comes together in minutes. Hearty and delicious! I like to enjoy it with a bit of cheese sprinkled on top.
WEDNESDAY, October 16th - Leftover turkey and Gravy with Air Fryer Twice Baked Potatoes
Usually on Wednesday nights I go out to supper with my father and sister and dad's friend Hazel. We skipped this week as they were still testing positive for Covid. I stayed at home and heated up the last of my turkey with some gravy and enjoyed it with a twice baked potato and some frozen green beans. I didn't get a photograph of the whole thing together. But it was very good.
I really love twice baked potatoes. When we were children, and my mother made them, we were all in seventh Heaven! They were a real treat. They still are. In fact I could make a meal of these and nothing else. They are a very simple make in the air fryer. If you don't have an air fryer, you can also do them in a regular oven.
THURSDAY, October 17th - Pork Chops with Cream Gravy
I took a pork chop out of the freezer on this day and had myself a Pork Chop with Cream gravy for my supper. I did use a pot of Instant Mashed Potatoes. I buy the Idaho brand, and they are quite good. They are perfect for someone who is on their own and are basically just dehydrated mashed potatoes.
I love this pork chop recipe. It always tastes so good. The chops are tender and juicy and that gravy is delicious. I enjoyed with some frozen veggies.
FRIDAY, October 18th - Sole Filets with Lemon & Thyme
On Friday I enjoyed some fish. I love fish and would eat it more often if it wasn't so expensive. I particularly love Sole. It is a beautiful flat fish with a lovely mild flavor. On this day I dusted it with some flour and cooked it simply with some lemon and thyme. This is one of my favorite ways to cook fish. All of the flavors are delicate and go together perfectly.
I enjoyed this with some rice actually (Not the potatoes in the photograph) and some peas and carrots. I do love peas and carrots together. They go so well together, and they go with just about anything as a simple side dish.
SATURDAY, October 19th - Spaghetti with a Quick Bolognese Sauce
My daughter Eileen had been asking me for weeks to do a spaghetti recipe on my YouTube channel and so I thought I would make her dreams come true. I made this Spaghetti with a Quick Bolognese Sauce. It is a very simple make and something she could probably make for herself at home. I enjoyed one serving of it with some homemade garlic bread and then I took the remainder of it over to her place for she and her husband to enjoy.
They were really happy about that.
I think we are going to have our delayed Thanksgiving Dinner for Sunday Dinner tomorrow! I am looking forward to that!
This content (written and photography) is the sole property of The English Kitchen. Any reposting or misuse is not permitted. If you are reading this elsewhere, please know that it is stolen content and you may report it to me at: mariealicejoan at aol dot com
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