Crockpot Chicken

Helloooooo! I didn't die. We have had so much going on in the last couple months that I have literally not had time to post anything on here! I haven't really made a ton of new stuff, but I've made a few things I will share with ya. I don't have pictures of the foods so get your imaginations revved up! This first one is incredibly easy. 3 ingredients and no specific measuring. Wahoo!

-1 whole chicken (try and find these guys on sale and stock up! I got them for $3 a piece the other day!)-1/2 bottle of Mesquite Marinade with Lime (Kroger brand is what I used)-1/2 bottle BBQ sauce (Sweet Baby Ray's all the way!)

All you do is rinse your chicken off and then put it in the crock pot. Pour the marinade and the bbq sauce over it. I used my 4 qt crockpot for this, by the way. The chicken fits just perfect with enough room left to get the sauces in there. If you have a bigger crockpot I would use a bigger chicken and more sauces of course, otherwise your lil birdie will dry out I would guess. After you get chicken little all situated, turn the crockpot on low and let it cook all day, at least 8 hours. After it's done, take the chicken out and de-bone it, aka get all the meat off the chicken. This chicken basically reminds me of pulled pork but chicken style! So, get all the meat off the chicken and put it in a big bowl. Spoon some of the juice from the crockpot into the bowl of chicken. This will keep it moist and give it amazing flavor. I put quite a bit in... like until I could see the liquid level was about 1/2 way up the bowl. Does that make sense? I hope. If not, ask questions! From there you can eat it just like that or put it on a bun with some bbq sauce.

Prep time for this is super quick, cooking time is kiiiind of non existent since you don't have to tend to it AT ALL! The only thing that takes a while is getting the meat off the chicken! If you wanted to make it way easier, you could probably just use some boneless skinless chicken breasts. I would only cook them for 4-5 hours though so they don't turn into mush!

Crockpot Smothered Steak or Chops

I've really been trying to use my crockpot more.. obviously :) I just love coming home to supper already done! I have tried this recipe with round steak and pork chops. Both were really good. I think Austin may have liked the steak better, but I guess it depends on personal preference!

-2 pork chops or 3 or 4 round steaks (the steaks we had were 4 in a package so that's what I used)

-1 can cream of chicken soup

-1/2 packet of brown gravy mix

Put the meat in the crock pot. Pour the cream of chicken soup over it. Sprinkle the brown gravy mix over it all. Then I used a fork and just sort of flipped the pieces of meat a little bit so everything would be covered in the soup and gravy mix. Turn that crock pot on low and cook for about 4-6 hours. After it's done just take the meat out and stir the gravy. Spoon the gravy over the meat. Voila! How easy is that?! 

When I did this with the steak, I forgot to start it early enough. So I actually didn't start it until probably 4:00. I cooked it on high and it was done in about 2 1/2 hours. So do whatever suits you! I did the pork chops on low and they were so tender and delicious. I'd definitely recommend that for those!