Dinner Time Tuesday: Brown Sugar Garlic Chicken

I have a REALLY yummy recipe to share with you today!  I've been so tired of the same old stuff for dinner, and I finally decided to try some entrée ideas from my "I Love Food" board on Pinterest (which I totally need to stop pinning desserts to, by the way.  OR I need to put more main courses to make it look like I have less desserts.....)

I digress.

This is a recipe for the slow cooker, which I love.  I threw everything into the crock pot the night before, stored it in the fridge, and then turned it on the next morning.  Before I give you my take, here is the link to the original recipe. 

Brown Sugar Garlic Chicken

Ingredients:

• 2 lbs boneless, skinless chicken breasts
• 1 c. packed brown sugar
• 2/3 c. apple cider vinegar
• 1/4 c. Sprite
• 2 tsp. garlic powder
• 2 T. low sodium soy sauce
• 1 tsp. black pepper
• 2 T. corn starch

1. Spray slow cooker with nonstick cooking spray and add the chicken.

2. Mix together brown sugar, apple cider vinegar, Sprite, garlic powder, soy sauce, and pepper.

3. Pour over chicken.

4. Cook on low 6-8 hours or on high for 4 hours.  (I'm finding that either my slow cooker is a SUPER cooker or that times are way off....I think I had this on LOW for 5 hours and it was done.)

5. However long it takes, when it's done, remove the chicken (most of it will fall apart), and pour the juice mixture into a sauce pan.

6. Turn the heat on high.  You will need to mix your 2 T. corn starch with a little water until it is a smooth consistency.  Then you can add the corn starch mixture to your sauce pan.  Let the mixture boil until it starts to thicken and turn into a glaze, about 2-3 minutes. 

7.  After this was ready, I put the chicken back in the slow cooker and poured the sauce over it.  Then I set the slow cooker to warm because I was ready to eat, but Scott was still sleeping.  (He was on night shift and would need to eat before going into work.

I served mine with steamed broccoli and mashed potatoes.

 

I REALLY liked this.  It was almost too sweet for Scott, but he enjoyed it.  I finished the leftovers the other day with just the chicken and mashed potatoes.  Delicious!

 

Link up below to share something yummy you've had for dinner recently!  (I will have another new recipe coming soon!)

Garlic & Lemon Pepper Chicken

So I had this chicken sitting in the freezer.  The thing I love about buying whole chickens is that they're usually SOOOOO cheap.  I believe this one was $0.99/lb, and since it was around 4 pounds, it was about $4. 

However, I make these decisions because it's so inexpensive, and then I don't know what to make.  I knew that I wanted to make it in my Bean Pot.  I got online and searched for a recipe.  I wanted to make something that included ingredients that I had on hand.  I find that so many recipes always have SOME ingredient that I don't have, and I was running into that problem.  I did see some promising ideas, and so.....

I got brave.

I took the inspiration, and made it up on my own.

You don't have to have a Bean Pot.  You could make this in a slow cooker or however you normally cook a whole chicken. 

Garlic & Lemon Pepper Chicken

Ingredients

• 1 whole frying chicken (about 4 lbs)
• 1 14.5 oz. can chicken broth
• 1 1/2 c. water
• 5 cloves garlic
• Lemon Pepper seasoning
• Salt, to taste

1. Pour chicken broth and water into the Bean Pot.
2. Peel and toss in 5 cloves of garlic
3. Remove innards of chicken and rinse thoroughly.  Then sprinkle liberally with lemon pepper seasoning.
4. Place chicken into Bean Pot, and sprinkle in a little salt.  (Do not add too much salt because of the chicken broth.)

5. Bake at 200* for 5 hours.

You CAN cook this at a higher temperature for less time, or lower for longer.  I ended up making this on Wednesday when I was home for a snow day.  I had gotten everything ready the night before. (Go figure.  I'd actually be prepared a day early and wouldn't need to be.)  I just popped it in the oven at noon, and let it cook until 5:00.  When I went to cut into it, I didn't even need the knife.  The meat just fell off of the bone.  Quite literally.  We did have to be careful not to bite into a small bone because it just fell to pieces.  It was so tender and juicy, and honestly, it was the best chicken I'VE ever made.  I do like chicken, but whenever I make my own chicken, it just doesn't taste as flavorful, and it's usually a bit dry.

You should totally make this.  It's so easy and delicious!