"Asian" Turkey Lettuce Wraps

The school year starting with a new kindergartner has me scouring the internet for recipes (I adapted this from newleafwellness) that will make my life after work-life easier.  That means trying out recipes that require minimal cooking or cooking that I don't need to watch over.  I decided I needed to try using my crockpot more often, so I happened upon a recipe for chicken lettuce wraps.  I put quotes on the word Asian, because it really doesn't taste anything like the Chinese lettuce wraps I've had in restaurants growing up, but there is an Asian flavor to them.   In any case, I decided to give it a try.  It's a bit sweet and a bit salty, so that worked out.  The original recipe called for ground chicken, but since I didn't have that, I used ground turkey instead.

Ingredients

• 2 pounds of ground turkey
• 1 medium-sized red bell pepper, diced
• 2 large carrots, grated (1 cup)
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/4 cup low-sodium soy sauce
• 1/4 cup ketchup
• 1 tablespoon honey
• 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes (I opted out of using these as I wanted my kids to eat it)

Directions

1.   Add all ingredients to your slow cooker and cook on “low” setting for 4-6 hours or until chicken is tender.
2.   Break apart chicken and serve.

Now my slow cooker has a few settings, and it's no exactly adjustable.  I can cook on high for 4 or 6 hours, or low on 8 or 10 hours.  Hmm...what to do?  Since I'm not home to monitor this, I opted for the low on 8 hours cooking time.  When I got back, parts of the sauce were a bit burnt, which added a slightly smokey flavor my husband liked, but my kids didn't.  I think the next time I might do the 4 hours on high.  Or if I'm home, do the 8 hours on low setting but stop at 4 hours.  Haha.  In any case, the kids really liked it (I just scooped them the parts that didn't have the slightly burnt sauce) and we ate it using romaine lettuce.  It was a hit for my 3 yo too, who didn't want to eat the lettuce part initially.   I think watching her brother eat it and seeing that you can wrap it like a burrito made it more fun for her.

I didn't try to freeze this, but it's probably going to be in my rotation soon with maybe a few tweaks to the recipe.  But here are instructions on how to freeze.

Freezing instructions

Add all ingredients to a gallon-sized plastic freezer bag.  Remove as much air as possible, seal, and freeze for up to three months.  Thaw in refrigerator overnight and then cook in slow cooker for 4-6 hours on “low” setting.  Break apart chicken and spoon onto lettuce.