I am thrilled to have a guest post today by Tiffany McCauley, publisher of  The Gracious Pantry, a web site dedicated to clean eating recipes for everyday living. Tiffany’s recipes are all made with whole ingredients and very easy to make. Her latest cookbook, Clean Eating Freezer Meals, will be available in bookstores this October 1, 2014.
Hi there! I’m Tiffany from The Gracious Pantry. It’s such a pleasure to be able to share a recipe of mine with you today on Jeanette’s amazing blog! I’m a single mom to one fabulous little boy and I’m working really hard to help him learn good eating habits. A clean eating approach to mealtime has not only helped me teach my son to eat well, but it has also changed my entire life as well as my health. It’s amazing what good choices in food can do for you!
Here in Sonoma County California where I live, the weather is still pretty warm during the day. We get lots of fog at night, but the days still blaze with summer’s last hurrah.
I’m not much of a summer person. For me, the best part of summer is that fall is right behind it. I love everything about fall. The leaves, the foods, the smells, the pumpkins and the beginning of the holidays.
But sometimes, I have a difficult time slowing down to really savor the season. As a single mom, I keep a relatively busy schedule. My “honey-do” list is no joke, because I’m the only “honey” in the house. So by the time I get to dinner, I need to know that the “what’s for dinner” question has been answered long before we even get close to the dinner hour. Otherwise, it becomes far too tempting to toss in the towel and visit a local restaurant. Not a cheap event around these parts!
So I try to keep an arsenal of quick and easy dinners on a list on my fridge. I rotate this list based on the seasons and available produce which also helps me to keep out of a dinner rut.
This particular recipe just made it into my fall rotation. It gets thrown together in the slow cooker very quickly (about 5 minutes!) and I can walk away and forget about it for 4-6 hours while I check off a few more of my “honey-do’s”.
Even before I ate clean, I was never one to open a can of something and call it dinner. And now as a clean eater, it’s even more important to avoid those types of meals. But just because I eat clean, doesn’t mean I’m immune to the demands of my busy schedule. At the end of the day, opening up a can is quick and easy. So that’s where I got a little creative with this recipe.
I wanted the assembly to be fast, but the recipe still needed to be clean. So I used dry spices from my spice rack, a few cans of clean, whole food products (bpa free cans, of course!), some homemade chicken stock/broth and topped everything off with some fresh cilantro I picked up on my way home. I also made some brown rice in my rice cooker to go with it.
Everything came together beautifully, I saved time on prep and dinner was ready, waiting and delicious when I got home. Something this mom always appreciates!
Clean Eating Slow Cooker Pumpkin Chicken Curry
Ingredients
- 1 6 oz. can tomato paste, no sugar added
- 1 15 oz. can pumpkin puree or homemade
- 1 15 oz. can full-fat, 100% coconut milk
- 1 cup homemade or low sodium chicken broth
- 1 tbsp. onion powder
- 1 tbsp. garlic powder
- 2 tsp. curry powder
- 2 large raw, boneless, skinless chicken breasts (about 7 oz. each)
- Brown rice for serving
- Fresh cilantro chopped for garnish
Instructions
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In your slow cooker, combine the canned products, broth and spices. Whisk together well to combine.
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Sink the chicken down into the sauce and cover.
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Cook on low for 4-6 hours or until the chicken easily shreds when stirred.
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Serve over brown rice and garnish with fresh cilantro.
About the Author
I would like to thank Jeanette for having me here today and to thank you for taking a moment out of your day to read about my recipe! If you are interested in clean eating, please stop by The Gracious Pantry.com where you will find nearly 1000 clean eating recipe for everyday living. I focus on simple, easy to find ingredients and easy recipes that nearly anyone can follow. You can find my Recipe Index here. And if you love social media as much as I do, stop by my Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram, Google + and Twitter accounts to join in on the fun and conversations! And if you’d like to be sure you don’t miss one of my recipes, you can always have my new post links delivered to your inbox by signing up here. It’s free!
Lastly, my newest cookbook, Clean Eating Freezer Meals is available for pre-order on Amazon and will be in bookstores on October 1st. Get the pre-order discount on amazon while it’s available!
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I love adding pumpkin puree to recipes. It is amazing how well it goes with things. This curry is going to be wonderful..
Awesome recipe Tiffany – love the simplicity and flavor of this dish!
Thanks so much! I hope you enjoy it!
Thanks so much for having me here today Jeanette! This was fun!
I know what you mean about the best part of summer is looking forward to fall! I live in Phoenix so it’s pretty brutal in the summer. I adore pumpkin and also all things curry so I look forward to enjoying this dish!
This curry looks delicious! Love the pumpkin in here and the fact that this is made in the slow cooker is such a bonus for those busy nights. Thanks for sharing this with us Tiffany and Jeanette 🙂
This will give me a great recipe to try with the pumpkins starting to grow in my veggie patch. Thanks 🙂
I am a huge fan of all things pumpkin. A wonderful meal, Tiffany.
I just made this for dinner 🙂 And cooked some veggies to go with it too. It was delicious!
So that was amazing! I was so excited to get the email in the morning and have all the ingredients in my pantry. The hassle of figuring out dinner was solved. I think next time I will put in more chicken. I had tons of leftover sauce. I just poured the extra sauce on the extra rice and will eat it for leftovers. Another delicious recipe from Tiffany.
Can we use light coconut milk for this one? I see it calls for full-fat.
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Can we use light coconut milk for this one? I see it calls for full-fat.
Kailee – Yes, you can. It will be a bit more watery, but it should be fine. I hope you enjoy it!
Loved this recipe! Tastes like fall. And, its not too salty, not too sweet. I followed the exact recipe as is, but used 6 chicken thighs and real chunks from a sugar pie pumpkin (which I baked first for a half hour to get soft enough to peel and chop). I let it cook in my crockpot for 6 hours because this was done overnight while I slept. I ended up with extra sauce that I just ate with Jasmine rice.
Making this recipe again in the near future but substituting beef and beef stock instead of the chicken items, and potato or butternut squash instead of the pumpkin. So all in all, it’s a very useful recipe!
So glad you enjoyed this recipe Shae – would love to hear how your beef curry comes out!
I love this! I’ve made it twice, and I’ve totally been adding pumpkin to other things, I love that it thickens up sauces using something healthy, and I would have never thought to add it into savory dishes!
Amber – so glad you’ve been enjoying this recipe!
This is the creamiest curry I have ever made. I added fresh pumpkin and 2 cups of chicken stock. It is the best curry ever.
So glad you enjoyed this recipe Eva. Thanks so much for sharing your adaptation!