Glop

Jon and I recently celebrated our fifth anniversary. Over the past five years we have certainly gotten to know each other much better. We've become acquainted with each other's quirks, we've learned to push each other's buttons, and more importantly, how not to push each other's buttons.

A few months ago we sat down to dinner to enjoy a new recipe I had made in the crock pot. I often try new recipes and I'm still always looking for new dishes to add to my "repertoire" of meals that I make on a regular basis. The recipe for this "Easy Chicken Alfredo" was certainly easy and it looked like it would turn out pretty good.

My flash made a glare on the cook book page, but you get the general idea. The finished product was very tasty - it definitely made the cut into my regular rotation of meals. But the appearance... well, let's just say the appearance leaves a little to be desired. Okay, a LOT to be desired.

See what I mean? So when we first tried this tasty meal Jon and I both commented on how much we liked it.

Then Jon said, "You would be proud of me. I was just going to say something that would have offended you, but then I decided not to say it because I knew you would be offended."

Well, now I just have to know what he was going to say. By now he knows me well enough. If he thinks something would offend me I'm sure he's right, but I'm still curious. "What were you going to say?"

"Are you sure you want to know?"

"Yeah. What?"

"Well, I was going to call this food 'glop', but I knew you wouldn't like it, so I didn't say it."

Yes, he knows me very well. I would certainly have been offended if he had called my meal "glop". It doesn't matter to me that he would be justified in calling it that, but I would have felt that he was criticizing the product of my efforts. Even though it was "easy" to make, I still had to purchase the ingredients, do the preparation, and assemble the meal in the crock pot in the morning while taking care of the kids. And it tasted good, despite it's unappetizing appearance. Calling my food "glop" would have made me feel unappreciated.

But knowing that Jon thought about calling it glop, but stopped himself because he knows me and doesn't want to hurt my feelings, made me feel loved. Silly how such small things make such a difference. It even made me laugh because it really did look disgusting. So now it has become a joke between us and has strengthened our bond together.

Here's the recipe if you're looking for something yummy for the crock pot. This may not be worthy of serving to company for aesthetic reasons, but you might enjoy it with your family.

Easy Chicken Alfredo (aka "Glop")

1 1/2 lbs. chicken breast, cut into 1/2 inch pieces

1 medium onion, chopped

1 Tbs. extra virgin olive oil

1 Tbs. dried chives (I didn't have these on hand and had to buy them for this recipe. They were expensive, but I think it was worth it and I'm sure I can use them in other things.)

1 Tbs. dried basil leaves

1 tsp. lemon pepper

1/4 tsp. ground ginger

1/2 lb. broccoli, coarsely chopped

1 red bell pepper, chopped

1 can (8 oz.) sliced water chestnuts, drained

1 cup baby carrots

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 jar (16 oz.) Alfredo sauce

1 package (8 oz.) wide egg noodles, cooked and drained

1. Combine chicken, onion, olive oil, chives, basil, lemon pepper and ginger in slow cooker; stir thoroughly. Add broccoli, bell pepper, water chestnuts, carrots and garlic. Mix well.

2. Cover; cook on LOW 8 hours or on HIGH 3 hours.

3. Add Alfredo sauce and cook an additional 30 minutes or until heated through.

4. Serve over hot egg noodles.

Makes 6 servings