Crockpot Chicken

Sometimes when I talk to people, I realize that they are under the impression that I feed my family better than I do. By that I mean they think I make something blogworthy for dinner every night and that I always have fresh baked goods around. Well, that really couldn't be further from the truth. In actuality, I probably make "something good" about twice a week and the rest of the time is just trying to get folks fed in between running around. So, like most people, I have a few things I make over and over again. This is one of those things, and we just call it Crockpot Chicken.

I make this.. a lot. Allow me to count the ways I love this chicken:

• I can throw it in the crockpot in the morning (or even the afternoon if I crank it up to high) and it will sit there, ready for whenever we want to eat, even if we are eating at different times.
• I don't even always know how I will use it; sometimes it's just on sandwiches served with baby carrots, sometimes it's fancier, like enchiladas. But I know I can get it started and figure something out later. Very often the answer to "What's for dinner?" is "Crockpot chicken something"
• The leftovers are just as useful as the first meal. I put this on nachos during football season or on pizza in the winter. Make chili out of it by adding canned beans and tomatoes! You can do anything with this stuff, so make double and use the leftovers in a totally different way later in the week.
• You can make in the summer and not heat up your kitchen.

What we are about to embark upon here is some real-life, no-joke weeknight family cooking.

Team photo: Chicken and BBQ marinade

About the ingredients:

Chicken:You can use any kind of chicken-- with or without bones, even a whole chicken. During the shredding step later, just discard the skin and bones.

BBQ marinade: This can really be anything that will flavor the chicken and keep it moist. You can use a dry rub with a little broth or salad dressing, or just plain barbecue sauce would be fine. Look inside your fridge door, you have something.

Trim the chicken

and toss it in the crockpot

Add a little sauce/seasoning. Don't forget salt and pepper.

Cook it on low for 5-6 hours or high for about 3 hours until it looks like this and will shred with a fork.

.

Take the chicken out and shred it with 2 forks,

and pour off the cooking liquid, but save it.

Put the shredded chicken back
 in the crockpot

Add some bbq sauce and some
 of the cooking liquid

Put the crockpot on a "warm" setting if you have one until you are ready to eat, otherwise, cook it on low for another 15-30 minutes so the chicken absorbs the flavor.