Green Pepper Steak

 Ingredients:
1 1/2 lb buttock steak (to make it really simple, use pre-sliced stir-frying strips of beef)
1/2 cup soy sauce
1 clove garlic
1/2 cup cold water
a little oil
2 medium sized green peppers (other colors are fun too!)
1 medium sized onion
5 stalks celery
1 tsp cornstarch
extra 1/2 cup water


Directions:
Cut the steak into thin strips. Combine the soy sauce, crushed garlic and water and marinate the meat in this mixture for 15 minutes. Drain, reserving the liquid. Heat enough oil in a heavy base frying pan to cover the surface of the pan. Add the meat and brown it quickly all over then push it to one side of the pan. Slice the peppers and onion thinly and cut the celery into pieces diagonally.
Add peppers, onion, and celery and cook in the pan until the vegetables are tender crisp. Mix the reserve marinade with the cornstarch, blending until smooth. Add the extra water and pour into the pan. Cook everything together, stirring well until the mixture boils and thickens. If the meat has not cooked enough, cover and simmer for about 10 minutes more. Serve over hot rice.

Chicken Cacciatore

Easy Crock Pot Chicken Cacciatore
Found this on http://thecraftingchicks.com/.  Loved it!

Ingredients:

1-2 chicken breasts

1 packet of Spaghetti Sauce mix (I love the cheap brand the best!),

1- 8oz can of tomato sauce

olive oil

water

(You can double this if you have a larger family.  Or if you want more sauce, you can double everything but the chicken.)

Note: As a super simple alternative, just combine the chicken and some pre-made spaghetti sauce. 

Directions:

Spray your crock pot with a non-stick spray.  Combine the spaghetti sauce mix, the tomato sauce, 1 1/2 cans full of water, and about 2 tbls. of olive oil.  Stir together. 

Add your chicken.  Frozen chicken works great! Cook this on high for about 3-4 hours, or on low for 6-7 hours.   (I usually cook mine on high and it still turns out so moist and tasty.)

After about 3 hours, or when the chicken is cooked through, separate or pull the chicken.  This will help the flavors seep into more of the chicken making it super yummy.  After it is pulled, cook if for about 30 mins-1 hour longer.

Cook some spaghetti noodles (whole grain noodles are great with this recipe) and serve your Chicken Cacciatore over top.  You can sprinkle some parmesan cheese on top.  This is a yummy alternative to regular old spaghetti.