Honey Sesame Chicken (CrockPot)

Today I was a busy bee in the kitchen.  I love days like this.  Some oldies but goodies were present but most of the attempts were new ones.  As with many first tries, some needed work (read: veggie monkey bread).  I am happy to say that this attempt, in my opinion, is wonderfully perfect.  The chicken cooked up nice and moist, the sauce isn't too sweet or too sour, and the serving size, though appearing small at first, was just right.  I can definitely see this becoming a regular meal in our house.  Made with all "in-house" ingredients it is super easy to prep and cook - seeing your crock pot does all the work!  Tonight I served the chicken up with a large salad and a side of brown rice - everything about this meal made me happy.

Honey Sesame Chicken

• 1 lb Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts (I actually only used about 12oz this time around)
• 1/2 c Honey
• 1/4 c Soy Sauce
• 2 T Minced Onion
• 2 T Ketchup
• 2 T Oil (I use olive oil for EVERYTHING, it is the only oil I buy)
• 2 cloves of Garlic
• 2 T Corn Starch
• 3 T Water
• Sesame Seeds

1. Spray your crock pot with non-stick spray.
2. Trim the fat off your chicken.  (This may be a step that a lot of people skip.  I am a stickler for trimming - I think it comes from my grandmother, you should see what she can do when trimming!!  You do not HAVE to trim the fat off, however if you do not the fat will form a layer on top of the sauce that you will need to remove before completing all the steps.  In my opinion it is a lot easier/nicer to just cut it off before it morphs into the not to fun "fatty film".)  
3. Place the chicken breasts in the crock pot.
4. Combine the honey, soy sauce, onion, ketchup, garlic and oil.  Pour the mixture over the chicken and turn the crock pot on.  
5. Cook for 3-4 hours on low or 1.5 - 2.5 hours on high.  Be sure not to over cook the chicken, as over cooking chicken in a crock pot can severely dry out the chicken.  (My crock pot takes 3 hours on low to cook to the perfect moistness.)
6. Remove the chicken from the crock pot and set aside.  It is at this point that you will need to remove the "fatty film" if you did not trim your chicken prior to cooking.  
7. Mix together the corn starch and water and add the mixture to the sauce in the crock pot.  Turn your crock pot back on high for 10 minutes to thicken.
8. While the sauce is thickening cut the chicken into bite sized bits.  
9. Add the chicken back to the thickened sauce and mix to coat the chicken thoroughly.
10. If you are serving directly from the crock pot then you can add the sesame seeds now, if not add the sesame seeds once the chicken has been transferred to it's serving dish.
11. ENJOY

The recipe, as is, makes 4 servings at  about 280 calories per serving.  As I said earlier, the servings size looked small at first but looks were deceiving with this one.  It turned out being the perfect amount to fill me up but not go overboard.  If you like honey sesame I very much recommend giving this one a try.  And as always, if you do let me know what you think!