I had too much to accomplish this week to focus on cooking.

Usually, when I’ve said something like that in the past, I meant that I was too busy. Balancing work, cleaning and other responsibilities with maintaining a slight bit of a social life is often all I can do in the space of seven days. Cooking and healthy eating has often fallen to the backburner in the middle of that chaos.

But this week, I wasn’t lost in the busyness. Instead, I had a few personal goals finally coming to fruition – some things I’ve been dreaming of for months and a few other things I’ve been training for for weeks. It was time to make things happen.

I needed to sharpen my focus to get through the week. My brain didn’t need to be crowded by worrying about what Hunter and I were going to eat. But we still had to eat, because that’s something humans have to do three times a day.

Enter my slow cooker. My saving grace and best friend in the kitchen. There’s nothing better than throwing a bunch of ingredients into it and not having to think about it anymore. All I have to do is wait, and spend the day smelling my dinner cooking.

Still, just because I didn’t feel like cooking didn’t mean my husband should suffer. So instead of using a generic slow cooker roast recipe, I searched for a recipe I knew he would love. After scrolling on Instagram for a while, I found one from @fairfiteats that I hoped would check all the boxes – A Marry Me Chicken Orzo recipe.

Hunter loves when I make Marry Me Chicken, with fresh spinach, sundried tomatoes, cheese and other light flavors. But he doesn’t love when things get repetitive. The orzo added a different kind of carbohydrate that I usually don’t work with day-to-day.

Halfway through the week, I made this recipe. It only took a few minutes of chopping and work, but after that, I had enough servings to freeze and reheat throughout the week. Which meant that when I needed to focus on work on Friday night, I could do that. When I was working on changing my hair color for the fall, which I’ve wanted to do for years, I had time to do that. And when I needed to train to get my mile time faster for the 5K I ran on Sunday, I had time to do it.

It was also delicious. Savory, creamy, bright and filling. I don’t want to overstate it, but I really loved getting to eat this recipe. It also included some extra protein, with the cottage cheese, to fit my nutritional goals while keeping me out of the kitchen.

I keep saying that word over and over again. Goals, goals, goals. But as we move into the fall, I’ve got a lot of personal goals I want to achieve. I’m not going to be slowing down anytime soon. But I know I’m going to be using my slow cooker more. There are so many great soup, stew and roast recipes that I found this week that I want to try. I’d also encourage you to try this one, if you’re interested in the overall flavor profile.

Let’s get stuff done together.

MARRY ME CHICKEN ORZO

(Adapted from Fair Fit Eats)

Ingredients
60 ounces chicken breast, diced
1 tablespoon garlic salt
1 tablespoon Italian seasoning
1 tablespoon smoked paprika
4 tablespoons tomato paste
8 garlic cloves, diced (or 12, if you’re like me and love garlic)
3 cups dry orzo
4 cups chicken bone broth (may have to reduce based on size of slow cooker pot. I had to use about 3 1/2 cups)
1 cup diced white onions
1 cup sundried tomatoes
2 cups blended cottage cheese
1 cup fresh shredded Parmesan
1 small bag of spinach
3 tablespoons lemon juice

Directions
■ Add diced chicken breast, garlic salt, Italian seasoning, smoked paprika, tomato paste and garlic cloves to slow cooker. Give everything a good mix, and then cook on high for two hours or until chicken is fully cooked (165 degrees internal temperature).
■ Add orzo, chicken bone broth, white onions and sundried tomatoes. Cook for 30 minutes, or until orzo is tender.
■ Once orzo is cooked, blend cottage cheese until smooth and creamy (I did this in a bottle blender). Add blended cottage cheese, Parmesan, spinach and lemon juice to slow cooker. Give it a good stir. Serve with leftover Parmesan sprinkled on top.

Note: This recipe freezes and reheats well. Just add a few tablespoons of water before throwing your dish into a pot on the stovetop or into the microwave. It takes just a few minutes to heat back up. You can also add a bit of lemon juice and Parmesan after to freshen it.

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