#1,860: Crockpot BBQ Chicken Cornbread Casserole

Often times when I make a meal, I don't care so much if my kids don't like it (hey I expect that from this crew), but it worries me that Brian won't like it either.  When he doesn't like it then I feel like I wasted my time and ingredients!  This was one of those "will they eat it?!" recipes!  

It was no surprise that Chloe hated it, Matthew only liked the cornbread topping, and Allison LOVED it.  Thankfully, Brian also enjoyed this immensely and wouldn't mind me making it again sometime soon!

I loved that this was so super simple to make and took very few ingredients.  AND it has corn in it and my non-veggie eating hubby didn't even complain!!  SCORE! 

1 pound of cooked, or practically cooked chicken, cubed or shredded (I browned my chicken in a pan until it was mostly cooked through, then chopped it up)

1 small sweet potato, peeled and cut in 1-inch chunks (optional, I omitted)

1 red onion, diced 

1 cup frozen or fresh corn

1 bottle of your favorite barbecue sauce (18 oz)

This is what it looked like
when I took it out of the crockpot

1/4 cup hot water

Box of cornbread mix (plus the ingredients needed to make it on the box MINUS the oil or butter)

Spray the inside of your stoneware with cooking spray. Cut up the chicken and sweet potato (if adding), and add to the crock. Add the corn. Empty the contents of the barbecue sauce bottle, and then add 1/4 cup of hot water to the bottle, shake, and pour that out, too. Mix well with a spoon.

In a separate bowl, mix together the cornbread topping. Spread the topping on to the chicken mixture.

Cover and cook on low for 6-8 hours (Mine cooked for 4 hours and the chicken was definitely done, borderline burning in some spots.  The cornbread was done except for one edge, so I would seriously start watching this after 4 hours). 

#1,675: BBQ Brisket

I found this recipe at Taste of Home and shockingly was the first time I ever made a brisket.  The kids didn't totally love this recipe, but Brian did.  I liked it, but don't like how stringy this got ad personally needed to chop it up even more (beyond shredding it).  The flavor was good though, it was just the texture I didn't love  This tasted best on some lightly toasted bread for the texture. 

1 teaspoon celery salt

1 teaspoon garlic powder

1 teaspoon onion powder

1 fresh beef brisket (3 to 4 pounds)

3 tablespoons liquid smoke, optional

1 tablespoon hot pepper sauce

1 bottle (18 ounces) barbecue sauce

12 sandwich rolls, split

Combine the celery salt, garlic powder and onion powder; rub over brisket. Place in a 5-qt. slow cooker. Combine liquid smoke if desired and hot pepper sauce; pour over brisket. Cover and cook on low for 6-8 hours or until meat is tender.

Remove beef and cool slightly. Discard all but 1/2 cup cooking juices; whisk barbecue sauce into cooking juices. Shred meat with two forks; return to slow cooker and mix well. Heat through. Serve about 1/3 cup meat mixture on each roll. Yield: 12 servings.

#1, 087: Paleo BBQ Sauce #2

Later this week I'm making some grilled pork chops and really wanted/needed a paleo friendly BBQ sauce to go with it.  I made one a few weeks ago which was chunky but I didn't love it.  So I figured it was time to try a second one.  I think this recipe was on the stove in about 1 1/2 minutes...it's so easy to make.  It simmered for well over an hour so that's the worst part of making it.  I really liked it.  This will be great with our meats this week!

16 oz tomato sauce
1cup water
1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
5 Tbsp. raw honey
1/2 Tbsp. ground black pepper
1/2 Tbsp. onion powder
1/2 Tbsp. ground mustard
1 tsp. paprika
1 Tbsp. lemon juice

Place all ingredients in a medium saucepan over medium high heat and stir to combine. Taste and adjust any seasonings to your liking. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low and allow to simmer for 1 hour. Pour that stuff on some meat and get elbows deep in some BBQ!

#1,081: Shredded Barbecue Chicken

Yesterday while shopping at Kroger, they had containers of pre-cooked and shredded chicken breasts marked down to $3.80.  Normally, I would buy an entire rotisserie chicken and shred it myself but I loved the thought of it already being done.  So I brought it home and figured I'd find a main dish to use it with.  When I dumped the chicken into a bowl, there was so much meat in there, there was enough for TWO meals!  What a deal! 

So for one of the meals I decided to whip together this super fast, BBQ chicken recipe.  There isn't much of an easier meal than this one!  Best yet, the family loved it. 

4 large boneless skinless chicken breasts, cooked and shredded

1 1/2 cups ketchup

3 tablespoons brown sugar

1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

1 tablespoon soy sauce

1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar

1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

8 buns  

Stir together all the sauce ingredients and cook in a saucepan until heated through. Add the shredded chicken and heat. Serve on buns.

 

#1,022: Paleo BBQ Sauce

I've had several recipes lately that I've wanted to make that calls for BBQ sauce.  As you are probably very aware, BBQ sauce has a ton of sugar in it and that is one thing I've cut out since going Paleo.  So I figured it was about time to make some. 

This recipe looked ridiculously easy and I had everything on hand to make it.  So I did.  And it was easy.  This is definitely not my favorite BBQ sauce I've ever eaten.  It's not bad though.  It's a little chunky for my liking so I'll have to puree it a bit with my immersion blender to make it more BBQ sauce-like.  I think I'll keep experimenting with other recipes, but for the first time it's not so bad.

6 oz  tomato paste
1 to 1 1/2 c beef stock
3 cloves garlic
1/2 of an onion
2 tbsp. Dijon mustard
2 tbsp. apple cider vinegar
1 tspb olive oil
1 tsp sea salt
2 tbsp. chili powder

Dice onions and garlic very, very fine.  Combine all ingredients in a saucepan and stir to combine.  Bring sauce to boil then turn to low heat and simmer for 20-30 minutes.  The more beef stock you add, the thinner your sauce will be.