Chinese Chicken, Broccoli, & Carrots

Disaster struck in my mini crock pot yesterday.  I had all these great ideas for different lunches this week that didn't involve salads.  At some point while I was perusing Pinterest, I decided that I was in the mood for Chinese food.  But I wanted to try my hand at making it myself, so I'd know exactly what ingredients I'd be using.

I have no idea why the crock pot popped into my mind, but I thought it'd be a really great option to try chicken and broccoli.  The carrots were an afterthought to bulk it up a little without adding that'd break the calorie bank.

This is what happened:
I added the frozen broccoli and precooked chicken (thank you, Trader Joe's) to my crock pot.  I then added the ingredients from this recipe, but altered it slightly:

3 large cloves garlic, minced
1/2 cup fat-free, low-sodium beef or vegetable broth 1 cup water with 1/2 tablespoon of beef bouillon
1 tablespoon low-sodium soy sauce
1 tablespoon cornstarch meal
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1 teaspoon sesame oil
1 tablespoon canola or corn oil
3-4 scallions, thinly sliced

See what I did there? I added water because I thought that it'd boil out in the crock pot and that I'd need the extra water.  This is what it looked like after I mixed it all in there:

Pretty, right? Looks can be deceiving.  While I tended to the rest of my lunch meals, I lost track of time.  I figured the longer, the better, so the meal could absorb all the flavors.  When I lifted the cover and tasted the broth, I *wish* someone had been standing by with a camera to capture that moment.  It was completely watered down!  So hurriedly, I started throwing in more ingredients - a little more brown sugar, a little more soy sauce, more scallions, etc.  It helped.  I guesstimate that I pretty much doubled the recipe (albeit a little late, but whatever).

Another hour or two went by.  I opened up the crock pot to realize that my broccoli was not only soft, but it pretty much fell apart when I tried to stick a fork in it.  I DO NOT LIKE squishy broccoli.  I loathe its very existence.  It grosses me out to think about.. ick.. it makes me gag.

I am literally gagging right now.

Okay, phew, I'm over it.  So the only solution to this that I saw was to pick out the chicken and carrots that were still viable, toss the rest, and start over.  Luckily, I had the time to spare, so that's exactly what I did.

Minus the crock pot.  This time, I made the sauce (reducing it to 1/2 cup beef broth) and zapped it in the microwave.  After stirring for what seemed like an ungodly amount of time, it was done.  I happen to enjoy a little kick to my sauces, so I added in a pinch of red pepper flakes and a little bit more garlic.

As for the veggies, I threw the cooked chicken and carrots into a container with the thawed broccoli and shoved it in the fridge.  The next day, I mixed them all together, and ta-da! It finally came out right.  I even had a coworker sample it, and he was impressed.  Success!