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Chicken Marinara in the Crockpot and Kale with Bacon

So dinner tonight came about because one night I had chicken and I really didn't have a very good plan.  I decided to scan my cabinets and see what I had.  Diced tomatoes and tomato paste it was.  Here is what I ended up using

3 cans diced tomatoes (I'm a nerd and had organic)
1 can tomato sauce (because I'm paranoid its going to burn while I'm gone)
1 small can tomato paste
4 cloves garlic
~ 1 tbsp basil
~1  tbsp oregano
few dash's of salt, I prefer to add this after

I tossed it all in the crock pot the night before and went to bed.  Not pretty but this was my masterpiece.


Plugged it in and went to work.  Of course the can of tomato sauce was completely unnecessary but I'm paranoid.  Came home and all I had to do was cook a veggie.  I was really craving Kale with Bacon and with my boyfriend out of town, I can cook it with even more apple cider vinegar than usual.  Its my favorite side to cook because its easy and quick.  I also make a big batch so I don't have to cook any more later in the week.  The ingredients were simple:

2 bags of organic kale
1 cup of apple cider vinegar (personal preference to use that much)
8 pieces of bacon, the smokier the better




Above is my ingredients all from Trader Joe's, I especially love their bacon.  I slice up the bacon and fry it up, I usually prop the lid on the pan so I have less of a mess to clean up.  Then I toss in the kale but be careful as the bacon grease will pop.  I have found it actually works best to cook this in a soup pot because of the amount I make.  It cooks down but until it cooks down its a lot of kale.  Add on the  apple cider vinegar and stir.  Cook just enough to wilt the kale a little.  Then dinner is ready to plate.  Be careful with the kale, the bacon makes it taste great but thats a lot of fiber!





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