Dinner, Saved!

On Monday holidays when I have the day off, I like to put a crockpot meal on the menu.  So last week's Monday dinner was supposed to be Honey Sesame Chicken.   I got the recipe from Pinterest and had made it before and knew it to be fabulous.

Except, last time I had set the crockpot on the low setting and cooked for 4+ hours.  This time I didn't have time for that, with running around with the boys and doing errands.  So I followed the "high" instructions and gave it 2.5 hours.  I checked the chicken thighs at the two-hour mark, and to my dismay they were quite raw.  Auggghhhh!

There was a time in my life that I would've thrown this out and ordered a pizza.  But I hate to waste food, so I set about my salvage mission.  With the rice cooking on the stove, I quickly chopped the chicken thighs and added them to a frying pan with a little oil.  In another pan I poured all the sauce and set it to boil, so there would be no issues with raw chicken juice.

While all this was going on I decided to try my hand at a new veggie:  roasted butternut squash.  Ok, so butternut squash is not new in this house, but usually it's served as a puree with cinnamon and butter.  Instead  I cut it into one-inch pieces and roasted it.  I prepared two cookie sheets and roasted it two ways, one with just salt, pepper and olive oil, the other with the aforementioned and some chili paste.  Livin' large and flying by the seat of my pants!

With the sauce cooked and safe from the boiling, I added some cornstarch and whisked until it was velvety.  Time for plating!

The verdict?  Not only "saved" but downright delicious!  The chicken flavor was incredible, and the squash was awesome too.  Though the chili paste version was much better than the "naked version."

Thank you Food Network, for what you have taught me.