Dijon Maple Chicken Thighs

We did something kind of big and scary over the weekend.

We bought a minivan.

Like, a mommy-mobile.  I always said I wouldn't drive one unless we had at least three kids, but ever since the baby went into the bigger baby/toddler carseat, our little Civic was just not working anymore.  I was having to unlock the toddler's door, get her in, walk around, get the baby in, go back to the toddler and buckle her and then walk around to the passenger side door and drop off the diaper bag and THEN get in myself.  And our car is parked a short walk away from our apartment, just off the street.  So I have to make sure to not let go of the toddler's hand at any point during this process until she is safely in the car.

AND carseats are just huge anymore.  So are my children.  And my legs are long.  So in order to make the bigger carseats and the bigger children FIT in the back of the Civic, I had to move the driver's seat up closer, which meant I had to drive with my leg at an angle in order to fit under the steering wheel, which wasn't so much unsafe as it was incredibly uncomfortable and pinchy on the nerves in my leg after more than about 10 minutes.  Very, very pinchy.

So we finally just did it.  We bought a new (to us) minivan.  It is blue.  We named him Jarvis.  If you don't get the reference, I'm sorry because you obviously aren't cool like we are.  We're really cool people, which is definitely obvious now since we own a minivan.

Did you know that even when you know exactly what you're looking for and you only test drive ONE CAR and the dealership is basically empty that it still takes THREE AND A HALF HOURS to trade in your car and get a new one?  That's a lot of time to entertain a toddler and keep a baby fed and happy.

So I'm tired today.  Which is why this recipe only has five ingredients and only takes two minutes to toss together in the crockpot.  So the next time you're having a tired and weary day, go ahead and make this.

Serves 4.

The Tools:

6 qt. crockpot

1/2 cup Dijon mustard
1/4 cup maple syrup
1 T red wine vinegar
1 T rosemary
1.5 - 2 lbs boneless chicken thighs, salt and pepper

The Process:

Plop chicken in the crockpot.  (Mine was still frozen solid.  I told you I was tired.)

Mix the rest of the ingredients together in a bowl.

Dump over the top of the chicken.

Cook on LOW for 8 hours or HIGH for 3-4 hours.  Check to be sure chicken is thoroughly cooked.  If your chicken is thawed, it will likely only take about 5-6 hours to cook on LOW or 3-4 hours to cook on HIGH, but again, always be sure to double check temperatures!  Different crockpots cook at different speeds.  The good news is this dish won't dry out if it's left in for a tad too long.

Note: the marinade actually turns into a really tasty sauce for this dish, so this would be paired perfectly with some riced cauliflower to sop it up!

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