Honey Bourbon Pulled Chicken

This post is long but bear with me… there is a recipe at the end.

Hungry Mom didn’t do much Running in February.  You know the mom’s an (injured) runner when her 1 year old thinks that the foam roller is a fun toy.  An injury kept me sidelined through most of the month, but maybe for the best...

It freed up some time to be extra crafty for my sister-in-law’s shower.  If you know me, you probably know that I married my best friend’s brother. It’s pretty cool when your best friend becomes your sister too.  Kate, Kerry (her sisters), my MIL and I had a blast pretending we were professional party planners and pouring all our energy into a shower for someone we all love so much!

The Beautiful Bride to Be!

The only catch was that Kelly lives in Colorado and we had never been to her house.  We had to plan everything “blindly” from home and then make it all small enough to pack in our suitcases and bring with us.  We would arrive late on Friday night and have just a few hours the next day to have everything ready to go. Kate and I really got Pinteresty and handmade just about everything on the table.  It was so fun!

Kate made the banner with scrapbook paper and leftover fabric she had laying around the house.  We made the Yarn vases by gluing yarn around old wine, liquor and beer bottles.  Her graphic designer at work scanned the invitation for us and made a bunch of labels for the table.  I made that chalkboard frame from some free wood at Home Depot and an old frame.

This ended up being really fun… I bought a can of chalkboard paint at Home Depot for about 9 bucks.  One can will last you forever.  Kate painted chalk squares on a pack of plastic glasses and left chalk out for the guests to write their names or descriptions like “Maid of Honor” or “Mother of the Groom."  It was such a fun (and cheap) way to get to know the members of the wedding without using boring old name tags.  

Favors were “Cozy Campside Cocoa” in Mason Jars

I took care of the menu planning from home so that we could get it all done quickly when we got to Colorado.  The theme was “Cowboy Chic” to to speak, and everything turned out adorable.

On the Ranch Veggies

Tumbleweed Salad with Lemon-Bacon Vinaigrette, Cowboy Caviar, Mac n Cheese Bites, Honey Bourbon Chicken Crostini

Farm Fresh Fruit Skewers

Dessert Table, complete with a picture of the Bride and her sister as a kid wearing her grandma’s dress.  She is wearing the same dress on her wedding day!

After the shower, a bunch of the men were coming back to the house for dinner.  I had to plan the menu so that we could serve finger food for the ladies, but be able to transform it into a big hearty dinner for the men after the shower with as little work as possible.  We made two big Crock Pots of Honey Bourbon Pulled Chicken which we served in “Crostini” form at the party, and then with rolls as sandwiches afterward.  We pulled out some baked beans, mac n cheese, and cole slaw prepared earlier in the day and the transition to dinner was ready in about 5 minutes!  The Pulled Chicken turned out AWESOME and was a fun way to mix up your traditional BBQ sandwich.

Honey Bourbon Pulled Chicken

Makes… a lot!  Enough to feed 10 adults

Originally posted and adapted form here

2 1/2 cups ketchup

1/2 small Onion, minced

3/4 cup Bourbon

4 Tablespoons Honey

4 Tablespoon Apple Cider Vinegar

4 tablespoon Molasses (or 2 tablespoons Brown Sugar)

1 tablespoon Tomato Paste

1 tablespoon Worcestershire Sauce

4 Garlic Cloves, smashed

1 teaspoon Ground Ginger

1 pinch Cayenne Pepper

1 pinch Salt

2 pounds chicken breast, 2 pounds chicken thigh

Dill Pickle Slices

First just add all the ingredients, aside from chicken in a bowl.  This is going to be a boring series of pictures but I’m doing it anyway…

Ketchup!

Brown Sugar!  NOTE that we used Molasses in Colorado and I prefer that, but I couldn’t find Molasses at Harris Teeter or Bloom so I went brown sugar.

Tomato Paste

Worcestershire

That’s Bourbon… I used 1 cup and its very Bourbony.  So if you like Bourbon go for it.  If you’re not interested in sprouting hairs on your chest during dinner, go 3/4 cup.

Cayenne?  Maybe?  Bad picture taking skills.

Ginger

Onion and garlic

Mix mix

I did 2 breasts and 1 pack of thighs for this at home because it is all I had and I figured that would be a good amount to feed the 5 of us.  I like mixing the cuts of meat because while I like chicken breast better, that little extra fat from the thigh helps keep all the chicken moist in the crockpot.

Add it in and set to low for 5-7 hours.

Shred with a fork or Salad Choppers, and serve on Rolls with Pickle Slices.

Sage-approved!

 

Here’s the abbreviated, copy and paste-able version of the recipe:

Honey Bourbon Pulled Chicken

2 1/2 cups ketchup

1/2 small Onion, minced

1 cup Bourbon

4 Tablespoons Honey

4 Tablespoon Apple Cider Vinegar

4 tablespoon Molasses

1 tablespoon Tomato Paste

1 tablespoon Worcestershire Sauce

4 Garlic Cloves, smashed

1 teaspoon Ground Ginger

1 pinch Cayenne Pepper

1 pinch Salt

2 pounds chicken breast, 2 pounds chicken thigh

Dill Pickle Slices

Mix all ingredients in a small bowl and whisk well.  Add chicken to crockpot and coat with sauce.  Set to low for 5 to 7 hours.  Before serving, remove chicken from crockpot onto a cutting board.  Shred well and return to sauce.  Serve with buns and pickle slices.

My Gym

God made my gym.

My gym is free.  Zero dollars and zero cents to belong.  

I dont have to worry about anyone being annoyed that I’m there after the New Year.

No one is watching me, judging how fast I’m going or how hard I’m panting.  

I don’t have to dress to impress the other gym-goers in my newest LuLu Lemon pants and Athleta top.  A simple reflective vest over some warm, 10 year old hand-me-down running clothes work for me.  

I don’t wear make-up or check my hair in the mirror before I hit this gym, and better yet I don’t have to be surrounded by anyone who cares about having attractive make up and hair before they sweat.  

My kids are asleep while I hit my gym, so there’s never any need to worry about who’s tending to their needs down in day care, or feel guilty for stealing time from them.

Did I mention this gym has the most locations in the world?  You can practically find one absolutely anywhere at any time!  Better yet, its 24 hours!

It’s never crowded at my gym, and especially not at 5 am.  No reservations necessary.  God made this gym big enough for everyone.

It can be very peaceful and quiet there.  Just me, my thoughts and prayers, my footsteps, and my steady breathing.  Might I add, the air quality at my gym is superb.

And dinner on a cold night after a hard workout at this gym?  Well I like my meals how I like my workouts.  No fad diets, no low fat low cal this or that.  Just real God given goodness.

Chicken and Butternut Squash Quinoa Stew 

(recipe found here via Pinterest and I simplified it a bit)

2 Chicken breasts

1 lb Butternut Squash (its a lot easier if you get it already cut up)

1 onion

2-3 cloves garlic

1 tablespoon oregano (not pictured)

1 32 oz box broth (vegetable or chicken)

1 14 oz can diced tomatoes

1/2 cup chopped kalamata olives (I also added 1/4 cup of olive juice)

2/3 cup quinoa

parsley for color and garnish and freshness, don’t skip it

salt, pepper and EVOO of course

First things first, I transferred the butternut squash to a microwave steamer, added a touch of water, and microwave steamed it for 10 minutes.  Stove top steamer is great too but this was easiest for me.

In that 10 minutes I quickly diced the chicken (ps. it helps to cut meat on a different mat, then you can quickly wash the knife, remove the mat, and continue chopping all the other stuff)

Heat a large soup pan over medium heat, add a few tablespoons of olive oil.  Add the chicken. The original recipe has you remove the chicken with a slotted spoon after its cooked and yadayadayada but listen - this works.  Just stick to one pot.  It will taste good enough, be done faster, and you’ll have less to clean up.

Chop garlic, add to pot.

Slice some onion, add to pot.

Beeeep… squash is done.  Use a masher or a fork to mash it up a bit.  Chunks (I know, awful word) are still good, but just mash it a bit.

Like so.

Add the butternut squash and the diced tomatoes to the soup pot as well.  Aren’t you already pumped about the colors in this. I AM!

Box o’ broth

1 tablesoon oregano, salt and pepper

And I added olive juice for good salty measure because that way I got to teach the kids how to say *now move your mouth but dont make any sound come out* ol.iv.juice

Chop the olives and throw em in

The quinoa.  Dont worry - those suckers will expand and take over your soup.  Dont add any more than 2/3 cup.  Start with 1/2 a cup if you’re scared.

Now mix it up and let it get to a simmer, then reduce heat to low, cover, and let it cook for about 25 minutes.

Garnish with the parsley.  I love eating colorful food.  I love having soft butternut squash and chicken ready to go for the baby.  Even the picky eater picked out just the chicken.  Hey - I’m not complaining.

By the way this is naturally gluten free, and could be made vegetarian in a pinch… sub a can of chickpeas for the chicken.

Hustle and Bustle

I’m officially one day shy of a month since my last post.  I’m finally getting a new one up just under the wire.  I would be lying if I said that wasn’t metaphoric for the rest of my Christmas preparations… 

Teacher gifts due tomorrow (all eleven of em): haven’t finished

Cookies for Santa and neighbors: Made them, then ate 90% of them.  Oops.

Christmas shopping: not even close to finished

Christmas wrapping: HA! now that’s funny

I’m not the only female whose running shoes are getting a little extra workout this month.

Can’t say I’ve been cooking up a whole lot of masterpieces in the past month.  Thank God for the Crockpot… there is nothing better than dumping something in there first thing in the morning, spending the day running around like a mad woman, then coming home to a house that smells awesome coupled with the knowledge that dinner is done.

Thanks to my Pinterest friends for pinning this gem and trying it out first!  It’s a winner. I modified the sauce a bit to be more potent, and added some veggies.

Crockpot Thai Peanut Chicken

1 lb Chicken Thigh (breast is good too, but I like thigh way better in the crockpot… holds up better than breast especially if you want to start your crockpot earlier in the day and leave it for more than 5 hours).

1 cup salsa

1/3 cup Creamy Peanut Butter

Juice from 1 lime

2 tbl Soy Sauce

2 tsp fresh or dried ginger

1/4 cup lite coconut milk

Red Chili sauce (for more kick)

Cilantro for garnish

Broccoli (my chosen veggie) … Next time I’m doing red pepper

Mix the sauce ingredients in a bowl… salsa

PB

Lime

Soy Sauce

Coconut Milk… since you only use 1/4 cup, I meal planned THIS later in the week and saved the rest for that .

Mix er up

Pour over chicken in the crockpot… I know… looks so appetizing!  Cook for 5-7 hours on low

So I wanted to add some kind of veggie so I wasnt just eating straight up peanut butter rice.  Broccoli would have been AWESOME… if I put it in the right time (which would have been about an hour before serving).  I accidently added it about 5 hours before we ended up eating it, so the broccoli got pretty mushy.  Red pepper would be a better choice next time because it holds up better for long periods in the crockpot.  You could throw the red pepper in at the beginning with the chicken/sauce.

On the flip side… the broccoli got so mushed up that the kids didn’t even know it was in there!  Gotchya!

Overall a winner… flavors were mild enough for small people, easy as can be to throw together, and I actually had all the ingredients on hand anyway.  A great quick meal!

May you and your family have a wonderful Christmas together!  I’ll be back in 2012, renewed and ready for a lot more posts in the new year!