Italian Chicken and Jasmine Rice

Italian Chicken

It's a snow day here .....which means HEALTHY COMFORT FOODS are on Deck! Today I am preparing Italian Chicken with Jasmine Rice.  I love fresh steamed broccoli with this dish.  Grab your crockpots and lets make something yummy and healthy!


Ingredients
4 pds - Boneless Skinless Chicken Thighs
1 1/2 cup - Chopped Onion (divided in half)
1 cup - chopped celery (divided in half)
1 cup - diced/shredded carrots (divided in half)
15 oz can - Tomato Sauce
15 oz can - Diced Tomato (i prefer the ones with onion and green pepper)
Salt

The main ingredients

Pepper
Season All
Accent (optional)
Italian Seasoning
Lemon Juice - just a dash
Jasmine Rice - I prefer Uncle Ben's 90 second rice ...its fast and good!
Steamed Broccoli


Directions - 
1. *Weigh your chicken thighs - it is important to have an idea of the weight of each chicken thigh before all the ingredients are added.
2.  Turn your crock pot on HIGH as you are prepping to cook this meal.
3. Add half of the onion, celery, and carrots to the bottom of the crockpot.

4. Season both sides of your chicken thighs with Salt, pepper, Season All (this is a salt base so be careful), and Accent.
5. Add the chicken thighs to the crockpot.

6. Place the remaining vegetables on top.

Before the Tomato sauces

7. Pour in the Diced tomatoes and tomatoes Sauce.
8. Add a dash of lemon juice.
9. Add 1 tsp of Italian Seasoning
10. Cover and Cook on LOW for 6 to 8 Hours or on HIGH for 4 hours.
11. At the halfway cooking point (2 hrs on high or 3 hours on low), LIGHTLY mix everything in the crockpot. Be careful to not break the chicken thighs.

Serving
Right before serving cook the Jasmine 90 second rice in the microwave according to directions. After cooking the rice, place the rice in a bowl and add a little salt and 1 tsp of margarine.

For those who are aiming to lose or manage your weight,  your serving portion is as follows:

1 Chicken Thigh in Sauce (around 4 -6 oz precooked weight. Will weight a little more weight with the sauce)
1/2 cup of Rice (reduce to 1/4 cup if you have had a lot of carbs earlier in the day)
1 cup of Seamed Broccoli
*Serve the Chicken and Sauce over the Rice! Try to take the chicken out without breaking it first and then add the sauce on top. You can have up to a cup of the sauce so be careful to measure the chicken.

From the Heart,

Bridgette