Slow Cooked Pulled BBQ Chicken

We found a new favorite chicken dish!!! This meal was SUPER unbelievably easy....and increbibly delicious! It was one of "those" days at work, I had a busy night ahead of me, and the last thing I felt like doing was cooking. When I walked in the door the sweet sweet smell of BBQ sauce filled the air and filled my heart with happiness. :) Ok-maybe not, but it did make for a WONDERFUL, fast, and easy meal! This is definitly going to be a well used recipe in our home!

Slow Cooked Pulled BBQ Chicken
Adapted from Krista Kooks

(Sorry, I pretty much took a picture of the lovely Sara Evans bun I used...I promise the chicken looks and tastes delicious!!)

Ingredients:

• 1 small white or yellow onion, chopped
• 1 small clove of garlic, minced
• 4 boneless, skinless chicken thighs
• 1/2 c. ketchup
• 2 Tbsp. cider vinegar (I just used white vinegar w/ a little Balsamic mixed in)
• 2 Tbsp. light brown sugar
• 1 Tbsp. olive oil
• 1 1/2 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
• 1/2 tsp. chile powder
• 1/4 tsp. chipotle chili powder
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• hamburger buns
  

Sprinkle onion and garlic over bottom of the crock pot and arrange the chicken thighs on top.

In a small bowl, stir together the ketchup, cider vinegar, brown sugar, oil, Worcestershire sauce, chili powder, chipotle chili powder, and salt; pour over chicken thighs. Cover and cook on low for 7 to 8 hours, until chicken is fork-tender and pulls apart easily.

Remove the chicken from the slow cooker. With two forks, pull apart the meat into shredded chunks.

Return to the slow cooker and stir to combine. Cover and leave on the keep warm setting until ready to serve.

I made some roasted oven fries to accompany this and it was the PERFECT easy weeknight meal :)

Orange Chicken

If there's one thing we love in this household, it's Panda Express. Yes-the "fake" fast food chinese chain. When I found this orange chicken recipe, I was SO excited to try it out! I was not disappointed, but it wasn't husband approved! It was very VERY orangey (Thus the name-Orange Chicken)...more than I expected though. I saw a variation for this recipe that included soy sauce to make it taste more like Panda Express. Next time, I plan on trying that variation. If you love REAL orange chicken, try this. It's delicious!

Orange Chicken

Krista Kooks

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 lb. boneless chicken, cut in 2-inch chunks
• 1/2 c. flour
• Olive oil, for browning the chicken
• 1 Tbsp. kosher salt
• 6 oz. (half a can) frozen orange juice (Little to no pulp)
• 3 Tbsp. brown sugar
• 1 tsp. balsamic vinegar
• 3 Tbsp. ketchup

Directions:

Dredge the chicken pieces with the flour, and shake off the excess. Throw away any remaining flour. Heat olive oil in a large skillet on the stove and brown the chicken on all sides. You do not need to fully cook it.

Put the chicken into your slow cooker. In a small mixing bowl, combine the orange juice, brown sugar, balsamic vinegar, salt, and ketchup. Taste-If you'd like the chicken sweeter-add more sugar. Pour sauce evenly over the chicken.

Cover and cook on low for 6 hours, or on high for 3 to 4. Serve over rice.