Thai BBQ Chicken In The Slow Cooker

     I'm in a cooking rut. It has been hot outside, nothing sounds good when it's hot. I hate to heat up the oven and heat up the house to make food. I'm feeling very blah about food. I decided that I can't live on yogurt, blueberries, and Bakery on Main Maple Granola. Ok, so I COULD.....but it probably isn't a good idea.
     I didn't want any heavy foods with the "Cream of" soups. UGH! The thought of eating creamy heavy sauce and heat make me sick. UGH! I thought about making stir-fry. However, the thought of standing over a hot wok also makes me sick! ha
    I was going to BBQ some chicken last night, however it wasn't thawed out in time. So there goes that idea as well because tonight I'm busy so no time to stand at the BBQ. That left me with the option of throwing something in the crock pot. I already had the chicken out (from last night). So that left me with two things to go on....chicken something in the crock pot.
    I LOVE to make Thai BBQ sauce to slather on chicken when I grill. I love the sweetness of the BBQ sauce and honey with the creaminess of the peanut butter. YUM! So I decided to see if I could replicate the taste in the slow cooker. Here is my result.

Thai BBQ Chicken in the Slow Cooker

2 Small/Medium Sweet Potatoes, washed, peeled, and cut into chunks
1 Package Chicken Breasts (could also use boneless thighs)
1 Small Onion, sliced
1/4 C. Water

Sauce:
1/2 C. BBQ Sauce (I use Sweet Baby Ray's)
2 Heaping tablespoons of Peanut Butter
2 T. Honey
1 tsp Soy Sauce
1/4 tsp. Chopped Fresh Cilantro

Generously spray your slow cooker with cooking spray. Place the sliced/diced sweet potatoes in the bottom of the cooker. Pour the 1/4 C. Water over the sweet potatoes (it will not cover the potatoes). Place the chicken breasts over the top of the sweet potatoes. Combine the sauce ingredients with a whisk. Spread the sauce over the chicken breasts (sauce is very thick). Lay the sliced onion on top of the sauce covered chicken.

Cook on high for 3-4 hours.

Layer 1 is sweet potatoes

Layer 2 is the chicken breasts

Combine the sauce ingredients.

Whisk until thick and creamy looking.

Spread the sauce over the chicken breasts (layer 3).

Top with the sliced onion (layer 4).

Cook on high for 3-4 hours.

Smells good!

 

Ok, so after making this there are a couple of things that I would change. I think I would leave the sweet potatoes out. They seemed to flavor the chicken more than I thought they would. So then everything kind of had the same flavor. I think I would maybe add some garlic to the sauce. It was good. It wasn't exactly like my BBQ chicken that I make on the grill, but it was still good.

-Jessica

Grilled Pizza......summertime favorite

     So this isn't really going to be a "recipe". I guess you could call it more of a tutorial or a "how to". I absolutely LOVE to make pizza on the grill. I don't do anything too fancy with it, but I still love doing it. It really isn't too hard to do, you just have to really keep an eye on it so your crust doesn't end up charred. Because, charred crust it gross!! Ask me how I know?!?! ha
     The first time I tried grilling pizza I used a prepared pizza from a box. It turned out great and I was hooked on grilled pizza. If you just think of your grill as a big outdoor oven then you will be fine. Some grills have thermometers on the outside that will tell you what the internal temp of the grill is. You can also just purchase an oven thermometer and that will tell you how hot it is in there. The thermometer is probably pretty helpful for your first time trying to grill the pizza. You want to try to keep the grill at an even temperature that is as close to the same temperature as your oven would be if you were cooking indoors.
     I use a Chebe Pizza mix. It is my favorite for pizza, indoors or out! Then my favorite toppings and cheese. Just like normal. Like I said, the key is just keeping an eye on the pizza so it doesn't burn the crust.

I mixed the crust according to the package and rolled it out onto a greased cookie sheet. It went out onto the grill on the top shelf on a medium/high heat for 10 min.

I then topped the crust with all of the yummy toppings and cheese. I cooked it on a medium/low heat for another 10-15minutes. I checked it a couple of times to be sure nothing was burning. Your pizza may take more or less time depending on your grill and the type of crust and toppings you used.

Best tip for grilling pizza: keep an eye on it so it doesn't burn!!

Yum!! Crispy grilled pizza.

Enjoy your pizza. This is one of my summertime favorites for the grill!

-Jessica