Crock Pot Day

First, I wanted to say that the recipes from yesterday were INCREDIBLE! And the whole family loved them, which is rare these days since our middle son hates most vegetables.

Tonight I'm trying 3 new recipes and will post results/comments tomorrow.

Coq au Vin

4 slices bacon, diced
1 jumbo onion, chopped
1# baby carrots
4# whole chicken, cut into 8 pieces and skinned (they actually sell them just like that if you don't want to go to the trouble of cutting and skinning a chicken)
1/2 t salt
1/4 t black pepper
1 c dry white wine
3/4 c chicken broth
1 1/2t dried thyme
1/4 c chopped fresh parsley

Spray a large nonstick skillet with Pam and set over medium-high heat. Add bacon and cook until lightly browned, 3 minutes. Add onion and cook until softened, 8 minutes. Transfer mixture to 5- or 6-quart crock pot. Stir in carrots.

Sprinkle chicken with salt and pepper. Spray skillet with Pam and set over medium-high heat. Add half of chicken and cook until browned, 5 minutes per side. Transfer chicken to crock pot. Repeat. Add wine to skillet; bring to boil, scraping up browned bits. Pour wine into crock pot. Stir in broth and thyme. Cover and cook until chicken is fork-tender, 3-4 hours on high or 6-8 hours on low. Top with parsley.

Yield: 8 servings (1 piece of chicken with 3/4 c vegetables and sauce) at 5 PointsPlus each. This is gonna be an average because a drumstick and breast do not have the same amount of points. Just figure it out by how much of the total you eat.

Baked Asparagus

1 bunch asparagus, ends trimmed
1 T olive oil
salt and pepper

Shake asparagus and olive oil in plastic bag until asparagus is coated. Lay asparagus in a single layer on a baking sheet. Sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste.

Bake at 400 degrees for 12 to 15 minutes.

Yield: 4 servings at 2 PointsPlus each.

I got this recipe from a blog written by a woman I went to high school with (http://notarealhousewife.blogspot.com/). She has tons of GREAT recipes!

Lemon Cake

1 box "one-step" Angel Food Cake Mix (it will say "one-step" on the box)
12 oz Sprite
21 oz can Lemon Pie Filling

Mix ingredients. Pour into 9x13 pan sprayed with Pam.

Bake at 350 for 30 minutes.

Yield: 12 servings at 6 PointsPlus each. You can add up to 2 T of Fat-Free Cool Whip for no additional PointsPlus.

Note: The original recipe called for "diet lemon-lime carbonated soft drink". I am allergic to Nutrasweet so I use regular (4 PointsPlus instead of zero).