Pulled Chicken Sandwiches

Is there anyone who doesn’t love good barbecue? I know I do. There's something about a finger lickin' good rack of ribs or perfectly spiced pulled pork. But I struggle with wanting it to be healthy as well. Here's a pulled chicken recipe that is both delicious and healthy.

I know that original pulled meat sandwiches include Coleslaw. I will post separately about the coleslaw that I tried, along with a couple of recipes for you to try with your pulled chicken.

Ingredients:

3 Small or 2 Large Whole Chickens

1 (15 oz) can Tomato Sauce

1 (18 oz) bottle Hickory Smoked BBQ Sauce

1 (18 oz) Bottle Bills Johnson's Hot & Spice  Sauce

1 Sweet Red or Yellow Bell Pepper

1 Green Bell Pepper

1 Tbsp Garlic

1 Tbsp Paprika

1 Tbsp Celery Salt

1 tsp Cumin

2 tsp Crushed Red Pepper Flakes

1/4 Cup Honey or Agave

Technique:

Boil chickens until tender. (Boiling chickens are never pretty, are they?)

Cool and remove meat from bones, discarding skin and fat. (Just boiled chickens are not pretty either!!) On this day I boiled 3 large chickens and used 2 for pulled chicken and 1 for a pot of chicken soup.

"Pull" chicken with two forks or your fingers.

While the chicken is cooling enough to handle it, put the sauce together.

Turn  the crock pot on high.

Mix all sauce ingredients together in crock pot.

Add pulled chicken to sauce.

Cook on high 2-3 hours or turn the crock pot to low and let simmer 4-6 hours.

(Simma down now, simma down! Sorry, I digress...) 

Serve with buns...

Add coleslaw if you like...

And accidentally figure out that the pulled chicken is fabulous on spicy nacho chips!! 

Okay, I think this was my favorite way to eat it. On the bun was great. But I'm a fan of spicy and the chips added a little spice and a little crunch...perfect! This recipe as I've written it has really great flavor, but is not spicy. You could add a little heat by increasing the crushed red pepper flakes. 

Printable Recipe

What favorite food would you like to find a healthier version of?

To leave a comment Click Here.

Tuxedo Bunnies

This is the week for Easter treats, so even though I am eating healthy and juicing this week, I will post some fun Easter treats for your celebrations this weekend. You have to check out these awesome Chocolate Bird Nests...so fun, so crunchy, such chocolaty goodness!

You might also like these Homemade Chocolate Bowls, which are perfect for serving ice cream sundaes.

So here are Tuxedo Bunnies. I'm not a huge fan of plain marshmallow peeps, but all dressed up in formal chocolate attire, they are pretty darn good! This will be a hit with both kids and adults.

If you are putting them in Easter baskets, I would recommend either wrapping them in plastic wrap or putting them in a plastic sandwich bag. If the chocolate gets warm, you don't want chocolate rubbing off on everything else in the basket.

I do recommend keeping them at room temperature. While the chocolate is good in the fridge, marshmallow gets hard when cold...and no one wants a hard marshmallow bunny!

You can use regular chocolate chips or melting candy; I used melting chocolate discs. You can use any round candy for the tuxedo button; I used a red hot.

These are fun to serve along side of an ice cream sundae in a chocolate bowl or as a centerpiece standing guard in a circle around a nest full of eggs.

However you display them, they never last long. So, have fun and enjoy them.

Happy Easter!!


Update: Here's what we do with the leftovers...Bunny and Chick s'mores!!

30 seconds in the microwave…

Gives you warm, gooey marshmallow and chocolate on a soft graham cracker.

For more recipes and fun holiday ideas Click Here and Here.

To leave a comment Click Here.

Monday Motivations: Dancing On Potato Chips

This story crossed my desk shortly after I was diagnosed with breast cancer. It resonated deeply with me as well as Doug. One particularly challenging day during chemo treatment I  went grocery shopping by myself. I thought I was doing pretty well, but as I was putting the groceries away I dropped the eggs. A whole carton, a dozen eggs, splat! On the floor! I stood there looking at them, thought of this story, and then......

Dancing On Potato Chips

Not too long ago I had "one of those days." I was feeling pressure from a writing deadline. I had company arriving in a couple days and the toilet was clogged. I went to the bank, and the trainee teller processing my deposit had to start it over three times. I swung by the supermarket to pick up a few things and the lines were serpentine.

By the time I got home, I was frazzled and sweaty and in a hurry to get something on the table for dinner. Deciding on a can of cream of mushroom soup, I grabbed a can opener, cranked open the can, then remembered I had forgotten to buy milk at the store. Nix the soup idea. Setting the can aside, I went to plan B, which was leftover baked beans. I grabbed a Tupperware from the fridge, popped the seal, took a long look and groaned. My husband isn't a picky eater, but even HE won't eat baked beans that look like caterpillars.

Really frustrated now, I decided on a menu that promised to be as foolproof as it is nutrition-free; hot dogs and potato chips. Retrieving a brand new bag of chips from the cupboard, I grabbed the cellophane and gave a big pull. The bag didn't open. I tried again. Nothing happened. I took a breath, doubled my muscle, and gave the bad a hearty wrestle. With a loud pop, the cellophane suddenly gave way, ripping wide from top to bottom. Chips flew sky high. I was left holding the bag, and it was empty. It was the final straw. I let out a blood curdling scream. "I CAN'T TAKE IT ANYMORE!!!!"

My husband heard my unorthodox cry for help. Within minutes he was standing at the doorway to the kitchen, where he surveyed the damage: an opened can of soup, melting groceries, moldy baked beans, and one quivering wife standing ankle deep in potato chips. My husband did the most helpful thing he could think of at the moment. He took a flying leap, landing flat-footed in the pile of chips. And then he began to stomp and dance and twirl, grinding those chips into my linoleum in the process!

I stared. I fumed. Pretty soon I was working to stifle a smile. Eventually I had to laugh. And finally I decided to join him. I, too, took a lead onto the chips. And then I danced. Now I'll be the first to admit that my husband's response wasn't the one I was looking for. But the truth is, it was exactly what I needed. I didn't need a cleanup crew as much as I needed an attitude adjustment, and the laughter from the rather funky moment provided just that.

So no I have a question for you, and it's simply this: Has God ever stomped on your chips? I know that, in my life there have been plenty of times when I've gotten myself into frustrating situations and I've cried out for help, all the while hoping God would show up with a celestial broom and clean up the mess I've made of things. What often happens instead is that God dances on my chips, answering my prayer in a completely different manner than I had expected, but in the manner that is best for me after all. Sometimes I sulk. Sometimes I dance. I'm working on doing  more of the latter than the former. I guess the older I get the more I realize that He really does know what He's doing. He loves me and I can trust Him. Even when the chips are down. Author Unknown

......I began to laugh! And the more I laughed, the funnier it was. I was doubled over in laughter as I called Doug to share with him. "The potato chip bag burst, and they're all over the floor," I told him. "Only they're not potato chips, they're EGGS!" Then I was laughing again and Doug was laughing with me.


Click here for more Monday Motivations.