Crockpot BBQ Chicken and Roasted Red Potatoes

It took me years to appreciate many of my wonderful kitchen helpers that I received as wedding gifts.  We were lucky to have great aunts working at Macy's ensuring we registered for the products that last and were good quality.  And when I finally did begin using my crockpot I was not immediately in love.  If you cook something too long it can get dry even immersed in liquid.  If you add a normal amount of liquid like a stovetop recipe it becomes too soupy because none of the liquid escapes.  My natural curiousity makes me want to lift the lid and peek and sniff, a big no no.  But once I figured out these rules of the crockpot I realized you can make amazing delish meals with little effort.  Too hot to BBQ outside or too cold or too lazy, no problem just add chicken and BBQ sauce to the crockpot and you will have the most tender moist BBQ chicken.   Veggies and roasted red potatoes make great sides for this dish.  

And if you're like us you will have plenty of meat left over.  I usually shred it and store it with some of the crockpot liquid over it.  We use the meat to make quick easy lunches or dinners.  Some typical uses - BBQ chicken sandwiches topped with cheese; chicken quesadillas (cheese, tortillas, chicken, salsa all melted together on stovetop);  tacos;  salad with chicken, spinach, mandarin oranges, walnuts and dried cherries; pasta salad with veggies and chicken... and the list goes on.

Ingredients 

Chicken - 

• Bone in Chicken.  We prefer split breast.  Four large split breast fit in our slowcooker smushed in without having to stacking.  Best results for this recipe do not stack your meat.
• 1/2 - 1 cup BBQ sauce

Potatoes - 

• 1.5 lbs of red potatoes, or like I measure half a 3 pound bag
• 4-5 cloves of garlic
• 1/2 cup white onion or shallots
• 2 tablespoons of olive oil
• sea salt and pepper to taste

Recipe for Roasted Red Potatoes

1. Preheat oven to 450.  Line 9x13 baking pan with aluminum foil.
2. Cut potatoes into small bite-size pieces.  And put in pan.
3. Chop onion and mince garlic.  Put in pan.
4. Add olive oil, salt and pepper.  Mix all ingredients together until potatoes are coated with oil and seasonings.  You may need more oil if you have more potatoes.
5. Cook for 30 minutes stirring potatoes at 15 minutes.  Depending on heat of your oven you may need to bake a bit longer to get a nice golden color on the potatoes.  You can also achieve these my broiling for about 2 minutes, but be careful they don't burn.

Recipe for Chicken

1. Cut the skin and extra fat off your chicken.  There's no need it when slowcooked and it will save you calories and fat by removing it.
2. Pour your favorite BBQ sauce over the chicken covering the top of the meat.
3. Cook for around two and half hours for 4 large breasts.  For legs and thighs check at 2 hours.
4. Add extra BBQ sauce if you'd like and enjoy!