Yummy lemon garlic slow cooker chicken meal plus BEST EVER healthy brownies!!

Well, hello there!  I have been MIA lately from my blogs since we were on vacation.  We had an AWESOME time in San Antonio, on our 2nd annual family trip.  Here I am with Eli & Sophie on our balcony at the hotel:

 And our whole family in front of the hotel on our last day:

This past week was catch up week: unpacking, laundry, grocery shopping, cleaning, etc.  I did my grocery shopping Monday for 6 dinner meals, breakfast, and lunch foods.  Here's what was/is on the menu for this week:

Breakfast:
oatmeal with organic PB and honey
organic plain greek 0% yogurt with agave
Cold cereals
Whole wheat pancakes
Scrambled organic eggs with organic cheddar (with or without pita)

Lunch:
nitrite/nitrate free hot dogs with whole wheat hot dog buns
organic turkey and cheese on whole wheat bread
Leftover slow-roast chicken
(all served with choice of fruit)

Dinner:
Greek chicken pitas
Beef sliders with avocado, corn, quinoa salad
Ground mustard pork chops with tomato and corn salad and baked green beans
Lemon garlic slow-cooker chicken with baby potatoes, corn on the cob, and sliced basil tomatoes
Chicken tikka with yogurt sauce and cumin rice pilaf
Summer tacos with avocado corn salsa and black beans & rice
(all served with choice of fruit)

I spent about $200 between Wal-Mart and Akins on these meals plus a TON of fruit:  pineapples, cantaloupe, grapes, apples, cuties, bananas, and watermelon!  My kids LOVE fruit.  We had gone through all the fruit in 5 days so I had to make another trip back on Friday for some more...  We don't have much in the pantry in the way of snacks because of all the chemicals and sugar BUT I always have fruit available for the kiddos to snack on.  :)

So tonight I cooked the lemon garlic chicken with baby potatoes, corn on the cob and sliced tomatoes.  I knew we were going to be out most of the day and I wanted something rather easy so that I didn't have to be cooking in a hurry if everyone was hungry when we got home.  Have I mentioned how much I LOVE my crock pot?   Anyway, here's the recipe:

Lemon garlic slow-roast chicken:

• 1 whole organic chicken
• 1 lemon, halved
• 1 head garlic, halved
• 2 T kosher salt, 1 t pepper, 1 T garlic powder, 1 T onion powder (mixed together)
• 16 oz baby potatoes

Place baby potatoes at bottom of slow cooker. 
Remove package from cavity of chicken and place in slow cooker.
I have a little rack that I placed on top of the potatoes, under the chicken so that it is easier to take the chicken out when it's done cooking.  But if you don't have this, just place the chicken right on top of the potatoes. 
Put lemon halves and garlic in cavity of chicken.
Rub seasonings on chicken.
Cook on low for 4.5-5.5 hours.  Make sure it's cooked through and juices run clear. 

I also served this with some good ole corn on the cob:

Shuck and clean corn and boil for 7 minutes.  Then add melted butter (real butter or Earth Balance) and a little sea salt! 

And I served it with a tomato basil "salad"

3 vine-ripe tomatoes, sliced with fresh chopped basil, salt & pepper.  Super yummy and easy!  A GREAT summer side. 

And served with choice of fruit (of course).  Kids had some pineapple and grapes.  And then an apple later on for snack...ha!

This dinner was PERFECT.  All the kids ate and Mike LOVED it!  This is a great family friendly meal I will keep on my go-to list. 

So, tomorrow is Father's Day!  Since I'm not working anymore I don't really like to spend a lot of money on gifts for my husband.  So, for holidays and his birthday I try to be creative.  He LOVES sweets and I don't keep sweets in the house, nor do I bake much.  Even the healthiest sweets are not really "healthy", per se.  But, I knew I wanted to bake him something sweet and I wanted to make sure it was as healthy as possible since the kiddos were more than likely going to partake.  He loves brownies so I found a great recipe on Gracious Pantry for brownies, but I did not make the marshmallow topping.  Here is the recipe:

Clean Eating Brownies (adapted from Gracious Pantry)

Makes 20
1 (16 oz.) container almond butter
4 egg whites
1 cup honey
1 tbsp vanilla
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1 cup grain sweetened chocolate chips (non-dairy chips for those avoiding dairy)


Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.
Step 1 – Add each ingredient, in the order listed, to a large mixing bowl, one at a time. Whisk in each ingredient completely before adding the next.
Step 2 – Pour into an oiled baking pan* and bake for 35-40 minutes.

*I cooked mine in a 9x9 because we like them thick and moist, but you could also do a larger baking dish and make them thinner.

This was seriously as easy as a box mix!  I already had all the ingredients on hand (other than the chocolate chips I had to pick up) so that helped.  And let me tell you, this is one of the best brownies I've ever had, healthy or not!  The kids all had one and LOVED them and of course Mike liked them too.  No white sugar, oil, or butter!  Only 200 calories per brownie, and trust me, you only need 1!