Chicken & Kielbasa Stew

I don’t do a lot of cooking when it’s hot outside. How about you? I really like to heat my space this time of year. I’ll usually opt for meals that are more snack-like or salads on those days. Maybe a smoothie. But I made an exception yesterday.

This past weekend was not a typical one for me. I was away from home from Thursday afternoon to Saturday afternoon. I don’t typically work weekends, but I did an extra shift on Saturday. I missed my Friday morning financials date with myself, so I did that when I got home Saturday afternoon, then went home and did laundry. I was wiped. I didn’t feel any better on Sunday after my breakfast-with-a-book so, rather than going for my customary walk and relaxing at the park, I went back home. I had planned to make a couple of different recipes for this week, one with chicken, and one with kielbasa, but I really couldn’t muster the energy to do much of anything.

I decided to make things a little easier on myself and make a slow cooker stew.

This one may seem a little odd, but it is delicious! You don’t know what you might like until you try it, and I really wasn’t sure how this would come out.

• First, I didn’t have any chicken or vegetable stock or broth. I only had beef broth.
• I am trying to use up a jar of coconut aminos, so I needed to look up how to combine this with beef broth.
• I wasn’t sure what seasonings to use with both types of meat, so I had to look that up as well.
• And I had some tomato paste and a little pineapple that I needed to use up.

To be honest, I started this later than I should have, but it made a great dinner! And, when you are trying to live frugally, you will try things together you may not normally.

I do want to note that I only used 4 grinds of the sea salt grinder because, even though I used a reduced sodium boof broth, there is also salt in the coconut aminos. Now that I have tried the stew, I feel like it would have been fine without the sea salt. So, you can leave that out if you want.

I also do want to note that while I did not cut up the chicken, it fell apart super easy when the stew was done, as I had suspected would happen.

I also want to note that you can use whatever flour works best for you for the slurry mentioned in the ingredients.

Chicken & Kielbasa Stew

Ingredients for 1st Step

1 kielbasa sliced into rounds

1 pound chicken strips

4 grinds sea salt

6 grinds pepper

a slurry made from combining 1/4 cup water & 3 Tbsp tapioca flour

32 ounces reduced sodium beef broth

2 tbsp coconut aminos

1 tsp onion powder

2 tsp each: garlic powder, oregano, parsley, and chives

Ingredients for the 4th step

3 handfuls frozen corn

3 handfuls frozen peas

2 -3 ounces tomato paste (optional)

1/3 cup crushed pineapple (optional)

1. Combine everything from the first ingredient list in the slow cooker. I used a 3-quart cooker.
2. Give it a good stir and cover.
3. Let cook on high for 3 hours.
4. Add the items from the second ingredient list.
5. Give it another good stir.
6. Replace the cover and cook for 1 hour.
7. At the end of the hour, you can taste test for flavor. Add more seasonings if you like and stir.
8. Break up any chunks of chicken that might be left.
9. Enjoy!

I really liked how this came out!

Notes

• Use what you have on hand. Want to use up other types of vegetables? Go for it.
• Want to use different seasonings? Give it a try.
• Using what you have on hand means you aren’t spending more money on food.
• To stretch this meal, you could serve it over biscuits, pasta, or rice.
• I ate some of the leftovers for lunch today, adding some nutrional yeast.

Serving Suggestions

What ingredients have you been experimenting with? We are always happy to learn from others!

~ Shannon