Crockpot Whole Chicken

Normally, when we want a whole chicken we pick up a rotisserie one from the store, however, we had some time on our hands and decided to crockpot one; and it was probably one of our best ideas all week! The meat is super tender and falls off the bone, we very highly recommend crockpotting all your chickens (when you want fall off the bone meat) if you have the time. The blog that we based our recipe off of, 100 days of Real Food, calls this "The Best Whole Chicken in a Crockpot"... and we definitely agree!

Ingredients
2 tsp. paprika
1-2 tsp. salt (depending on preference)
1 tsp. onion powder
1 tsp. thyme
½ tsp. garlic powder
¼ tsp. cayenne pepper
¼ tsp. black pepper
1 onion, chopped
1 large chicken (3-5 lbs.), thawed

Directions
Mix together all spices - paprika, salt, onion powder, thyme, garlic powder, cayenne pepper, and black pepper - in a small bowl and set aside.

Place chopped onions in the bottom of the crockpot.
 
Make sure you've removed all the guts any straggler feathers from the chicken, and place on top of onions in the crockpot.

Rub the outside of the chicken with seasoning mix (top and bottom), and sprinkle any remaining mixture inside the bird. Set the bird with breast up in the crockpot when finished seasoning.

Cook on high for 4-5 hours on high. The bird temperature should be at least 180°F.

Pull off meat (careful, it will be very hot!), tongs and/or a fork are useful.

ENJOY!

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NOTE: This chicken is wonderful in Rotisserie Chicken Noodle Soup, and you could also replace the turkey in Turkey Tortilla Soup. If you are especially crafty, this also makes wonderful homemade chicken broth.

Pulled Pork Taco Bowls

Eating out at fast food restaurants can be challenging, but there are a few that have safe menu items (list of restaurants soon to come). At Qdoba, only their pork is gluten and dairy free, however, sometimes we would rather just make it at home. Lucky for us, and now you too, Qdoba has posted their pulled pork recipe online, and it is DELICIOUS!

Ingredients
1 boneless pork shoulder roast
1 medium onion, cut into strips
2 poblano chilies, cut into strips
2 jalapeño pepper, seeds removed, pepper minced
2 anaheim or hatch green chilies, cut into strips
2 cups tomatillos, cut into 3/4" chunks
3/4 tsp. minced garlic (3 cloves)
1 Tbps. salt
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp black pepper

Directions
Place cut onions and half of the cut tomatillos into bottom of crock pot, then place the pork on top, and add remaining tomatillos and cut chilies on top.

Set crock pot on high for the first 2 hours, and then set it to low for the remaining 4 hours.

After 6 hours, the pork should shred easily with a fork. Turn crock pot off. Remove any chunks of fat to ease shredding.

Add salt and pepper to taste.

ENJOY!

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*Special Note: We enjoy this with cilantro lime rice, corn salsa, pico de gallo, and black beans (canned).