Zesty Crock Pot Barbecue Chicken

This is another freezer meal I made the other week.  I am in LOVE with those.  Make them in advance and stash them in your freezer.  Then you almost forget about them until you just absolutely can't come up with something for dinner (or just don't have the time!) and voila!  There's your meal!  

This makes a lot of shredded chicken.  My husband and I had a sandwich each the first night, the second night, I made nachos for the kids because we were going out to eat ourselves.  There's still some left over for at least 2 more sandwiches for lunch or dinner again!  

I love that there is bottled barbecue sauce, but then some added ingredients typically found IN barbecue sauce.  It's almost intensifying the flavor.  And those dark brown edges on some of the chicken pieces?  Amazing!  Almost like the chicken was grilled - it has this smoky flavor that is out of this world.  

Serves 4

Zesty Crock Pot Barbecue Chicken

3 large chicken breasts

1 (12 oz) bottle BBQ sauce (I use Sweet Baby Ray's)

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup apple cider vinegar

1 teaspoon garlic powder

pinch of cayenne (or more to taste)

To prepare as a freezer meal:  add all of the ingredients to a resealable plastic freezer bag.  Seal and shake to combine all of the ingredients.  Lay flat in the freezer.

To prepare from frozen in the Crock Pot:  take out of the fridge for about an hour in advance.  Dump everything into the Crock Pot and cook on low for 6-7 hours or high 4-5 hours.

To prepare fresh in Crock Pot:  add all of the ingredients to the Crock Pot and cook on low for 6-7 hours or high 4-5 hours.  

Shred chicken and return to the pot, mixing it in with the sauce.  Serve on good rolls.  

(Source:  Recipe adapted from Over the Big Moon)

You may also like:

Crock Pot Cilantro Lime Chicken

Rosemary Lemon Crock Pot Chicken

Crock Pot Buffalo Chicken Sandwiches

Slow Cooker Southern Style Pulled Pork and Coleslaw

Crock Pot Chicken Burritos

Crock Pot Buffalo Chicken Sandwiches

 This recipe has become such a staple in our house, I'm surprised I haven't shared it with you yet!  It's too easy - just about effortless.  I actually even use frozen chicken breasts so I don't even have to worry about defrosting.  And Sweet Baby Ray's sauce but I know that Frank's has one too.  

Yummy enough to just eat up with a spoon...or tortilla chip.  We've done that before!  I used a wonderfully doughy sub roll from Publix (love their bakery) with a drizzle of Ranch dressing on top.

Serves 6

Crock Pot Buffalo Chicken Sandwiches

3 large boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 (12 oz) bottle Buffalo Wing Sauce
1 packet of dry Ranch seasoning
2 tablespoons butter
Ranch dressing, for drizzling

Place chicken breasts on the bottom of the Crock Pot.  Pour wing sauce over chicken breasts, then Ranch packet.  Cook on high for 5-6 hours or low 7-8 hours.

Remove chicken and shred.  Return to Crock Pot, add butter and stir.  Cook on low or warm for another 1/2 hour to allow the chicken to absorb some of the sauce.  Serve on buns or sub rolls with a drizzle of Ranch dressing.
 

Easy Peasy Egg Salad

Egg salad is perfect for lunch but this is such a great recipe for a quick weeknight dinner when you have everybody running every which way (games, gym, school events, etc).  It keeps for a couple of days so it's perfect to make on a Sunday night and have it for lunch and/or dinner a couple of times.  I buy my eggs in bulk (no seriously, we go through eggs like they're going out of style) so I always have plenty on hand to make this. 

Perfect paired with a piece of toasted white or wheat bread and a leaf of Romaine lettuce.  Serve with chips for a quick lunch or I made my Sweet and Spicy Sweet Potato Fries for dinner one night.    

Makes 4-6 sandwiches

Easy Peasy Egg Salad

1 dozen eggs

1/2 cup mayonnaise

1 teaspoon yellow mustard

2 tablespoons sugar

2-3 tablespoons apple cider vinegar

salt and pepper

Place eggs in a large pot and fill with water so they are covered about an inch.  Place on the stove top on high until the water starts to boil.  Remove the pot from the heat and cover with a lid for 12 minutes (PERFECT hard boiled eggs every time!).  After the 12 minutes is up, drain the water, peel the eggs, chop and place in a large bowl.  

To make the dressing - in a small bowl, whisk the mayo, mustard, sugar and apple cider vinegar until combined.  At this point, I always taste it to see if it needs more vinegar (we like ours a little tangy).  Pour the sauce over the hard boiled eggs, salt and pepper to taste and stir gently.  Serve egg salad on toasted white or wheat bread.  

Tomato Avocado and Mozzarella Panini

Tomato and Mozzarella sandwiches are one of my absolute favorites and we eat them often in our house.  But adding avocado and turning it into a panini definitely took our staple sandwich way up a notch.  Absolutely amazing!   

Quite frankly, eating it like this, without toasting the bread is fabulous as well.  I used Campari tomatoes (the smaller ones) and fresh slices of mozzarella.  

Gooey mozzarella and creamy avocado...are you drooling yet??

Makes 2 sandwiches

Tomato Avocado and Mozzarella Panini

2 fresh ciabatta rolls 

2 Roma or Campari tomatoes, sliced

6 slices of fresh Mozzarella

1 avocado, sliced

Mayonnaise (optional)

Balsamic vinegar

Italian Seasoning

Sea salt and fresh ground pepper

After everything is sliced, spread the mayonnaise on open sides of the ciabatta rolls.  Preheat your panini maker or skillet.  Layer 3 slices of mozzarella, 2-4 slices of tomatoes (depending on which you use), and a couple of slices of avocado on each roll.  Add a couple of splashes of balsamic vinegar over the layers, followed by a dash of Italian seasoning and salt and pepper to taste.

Place sandwich on panini maker and close the lid.  Allow the bread to toast and the mozzarella to melt a little, about 7-10 minutes.  You can also use a skillet with a panini press.

Chicken Caesar Club Sandwich

One of my favorite things is rifling through my cookbooks and seeing pages crumbled or stains from various spills.  Silly, but seeing the years of use and wear makes me happy.  One of my absolute favorite cookbooks is Ina Garten's Barefoot Contessa at Home, and surprisingly, it still has the dust jacket on it.  But it's pretty crumbled, from years and years of love and use.  I mentioned in a previous post that I was going to try to cook my way through Ina's cookbooks and this is another one of those tries.  I substituted some things and omitted others, but this is my version of her sandwich and I must say it turned out excellent!

My absolute favorite way to cook chicken is to roast it (thanks to Ina!)...it is moist and flavorful and perfect for a sandwich like this or it makes a fantastic chicken salad.  If you have not tried it this way, you must!  Hope you all enjoy this sandwich as much as my family did! 

My rumpled cookbook...and a few of my other favorites! 

Chicken Caesar Club Sandwich

2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

Olive oil

Kosher salt and black pepper

1/2 pound of bacon

Caesar dressing 

3 ciabatta rolls

A few Romaine leaves

2-3 ounces of Parmesan cheese, shaved

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Place the chicken breasts on a sheet pan, rub with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper.  Roast for 30-35 minutes until cooked through.  Cool slightly and slice meat thickly.  Set aside.  

Meanwhile, place the bacon in skillet and cook until crisp.  Set aside to drain on paper towels.  

Slice the ciabatta rolls in half horizontally and separate the top from the bottom.  Toast the bread in the oven, cut side up for 5-7 minutes; cool slightly.  Spread the cut sides of each piece with the Caesar dressing.  Place a Romaine leaf on the bottom piece of bread, then layer in order:  bacon, shaved Parmesan, sliced chicken.  Sprinkle with salt and pepper and finish with another Romaine leaf.  Repeat with the other 2 rolls.  Serve at room temperature.  

(Source:  Adapted from Barefoot Contessa at Home)

Slow Cooker Southern Style Pulled Pork and Coleslaw

I don't make this that often, but after what I think was one of the best meals we ever had, I will be making this a lot more.  When I made pulled pork previously, I used a very basic rub - brown sugar, cayenne pepper, salt and pepper and done.  It was good, but not nearly as good as the recipe for the rub that my dad gave me, which is what I used this time.  And did I mention this is done in the Crock Pot?   Yeah, easy, one pot and you're set. 

So, my in-laws were visiting and I decided to make this and for the first time, to make a coleslaw to top it.  Oh.Em.Gee.  Never again will I make pulled pork without coleslaw!  I mean, where have you been all my life?!  You can buy the coleslaw, but it was too easy not to just make it.  I'm super picky about my coleslaw anyway so this way I could make it just the way I like it (creamy, but not too creamy that it gets soggy, you know?).  My dad had given me the rub already made, but I know it isn't hard to make.  You may not have all of the ingredients though, so just be sure to check (I know for sure that I don't usually have smoked paprika around, but I will now!).  Enjoy - my mouth is watering just thinking about this.  Hmmm...I do have pork in the freezer.  I should get it out to thaw NOW... :)

Awesome pulled pork on ciabatta rolls

Homemade coleslaw

Serves 8

1 4-5 pound Boston Butt pork roast, cut into 4 equal pieces

1/4 cup smoky-sweet BBQ rub

1 1/2 cups apple cider vinegar

1/2 cup water

4 garlic cloves, minced

8 rolls, your choice - we use ciabatta

barbecue sauce

Sweet and Smoky Rub

1/4 cup kosher salt

1/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar

2 tablespoons plus 2 teaspoons smoked paprika

2 tablespoons sugar

2 teaspoons garlic powder

2 teaspoons black pepper

1 teaspoon dry mustard 

1 teaspoon ground cumin

1 teaspoon ground ginger

Combine all the ingredients for the rub and place in an airtight container (you will use less than half of what you make).  Rinse the pork and pat dry.  Make little slits throughout the meat and sprinkle with the rub.  Really work the rub into the meat and allow to sit for 30 minutes.  Meanwhile, combine the vinegar, water and garlic in a medium bowl.  

Place pork in Crock Pot and pour vinegar mixture over the pork.  Cover and cook on high for 5-7 hours or until meat is tender and shreds easily.  Transfer pork to cutting board and shred with 2 forks.  I usually place all the pork in a bowl and ladle some of the liquid on top to keep it moist.  Serve on your favorite type of roll, topped with your favorite barbecue sauce (we are Sweet Baby Ray's all the way!) and coleslaw (recipe follows).

Coleslaw

1 bag of shredded coleslaw mix

1 cup mayonnaise

1/2 cup sugar

1/4 cup apple cider vinegar

1 teaspoon yellow mustard

1 teaspoon celery seed

Combine all the ingredients and allow to sit for about 15 minutes before serving.  

Balsamic Vinaigrette and Marinade

This is my go-to dressing for salads, sandwiches or marinading chicken.  It's super simple and amazing on a Caprese salad (tomatoes, mozzarella and basil).  We also do our version of this as a sandwich, just tomato, fresh slices of mozzarella on ciabatta rolls.  A little mayo, spoon the vinaigrette over the mayo and assemble your sandwich...it's to die for!  Use it as a marinade for grilled chicken - I would double or triple this recipe if you use it for that so you have enough.  There are just so many uses and possibilities!  As I make new and different things with this, I'll continue to share and post recipes.  Enjoy!

4 tablespoons olive oil
3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1 1/2 teaspoons Italian seasoning
1/2 teaspoon salt (use Kosher or freshly cracked sea salt)

Combine all the ingredients and whisk together!  Serve over your favorite salad or use as marinade for chicken.

Double Decker BLTs

So, don't laugh that I'm posting this as a recipe, it's just that this sandwich is...awesome!!  So great for a quick weeknight dinner, which is exactly what I ended up making it for.  I just recently started eating bacon (again, don't laugh, but I never was a big fan) and I love BLTs now.  And double decker??  Yum!!  The bacon has to be super duper crispy, I guess almost burnt for me to enjoy it and luckily my husband doesn't seem to mind too much.  :)

There's another reason I'm posting this...did you ever just draw a complete blank about what to make for dinner or are just so sick of your dinner rotations?  I feel like sometimes, even the simplest recipes can give you new ideas for dinner.  It's a "why didn't I think of that" moment...but now you did!  Enjoy! 

Makes 2 sandwiches

6 pieces of white or wheat bread, toasted

2 ripe tomatoes

About 1/2 pack bacon

Romaine lettuce

Mayonnaise 

Place your bacon strips in a cold skillet on medium-high.  Cook until done to your taste.  Meanwhile, toast all 6 pieces of bread and slather each piece with mayonnaise.  Slice the tomatoes about 1/4 inch thick and tear off a couple of good pieces of Romaine lettuce.  

Lay out 2 slices of your bread and place 2 slices of tomatoes on each, followed by 2 slices of bacon broken in half so you have 4 strips going across.  Top with Romaine.  Place another slice of bread on each and repeat!  Top with remaining slice of bread and cut in half.