Zesty Slow Cooker BBQ Chicken

Ok, y'all! Guess what turned up?!?!

And would you believe that 3-year-old little baby girl is the one who found both of these?!?! We call her "Finder" now. Her reward was that she got to sit next to me at dinner. I'm super popular around here.

I got my day started this morning with a little Pure Cardio from Insanity. Here's what I looked like when I finished.

I exude popularity, don't I?

After a well-deserved shower, I had my favorite new Shakeology recipe for breakfast: 1 scoop chocolate Shakeology + 1 Tbsp. PB2 + 1/2 cup skim milk + 1/2 cup water + lots of ice. SO GOOD!!! It's like having dessert for breakfast!

Lunch was a turkey wrap stuffed with my latest obsession: bell peppers. And a clementine for good measure.

I had some apples for a snack this afternoon. I have discovered that apples really hit the spot that time of day.

The last month or so of school is CRAZY around here. Tonight we had to divide and conquer: the boy had baseball and one of the girls had soccer. So I made one of our favorite quick and easy dinners: Zesty Slow Cooker BBQ Chicken. I got this recipe awhile back from Allrecipes. All the kids will eat it, which is a miracle in and of itself.

Here's the cast.

Start by putting your chicken in the crock pot. I used frozen chicken which works perfectly.

Next, mix together your BBQ sauce, dressing, brown sugar and Worcestershire in a small bowl.

Pour your BBQ mixture right over the chicken.

Then turn on your crock pot and walk away.

The next step can be done either when you're ready to eat, or after the chicken has been cooking for a few hours or so and is tender. I like to do it right before my kids get home from school, because they tend to need my undivided attention once they arrive. 

Take the chicken out of the crock pot.

Then pour at least half of the sauce out of the crock pot and reserve it in a small bowl.

Now take two forks and shred your chicken.

Place the shredded chicken back in the crock pot and add just enough of your reserved sauce to make sure it's all nice and moist. I don't like to add back all the sauce though because it's too runny in my opinion.

This chicken is perfect served as is with a couple of veggies. We had it with sweet potatoes and spinach. It's also great on a bun or stuffed in a baked potato.

Zesty Slow Cooker BBQ Chicken

• Approximately 6 chicken breasts (I used 10 chicken tenders)
• 12 ounces BBQ sauce
• 1/2 cup Italian dressing
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 2 Tbsp. Worcestershire sauce

Place chicken in a crock pot. In a small bowl, mix the BBQ sauce, dressing, brown sugar and Worcestershire sauce. Pour over the chicken. Cook approximately 4 hours on high or 6 - 8 hours on low. Remove chicken from crock pot. Reserve about half of the sauce from the crock pot in a small bowl. Shred the chicken with 2 forks. Place it back in the crock pot and gradually add reserved sauce until the chicken reaches desired consistency.

I think I would be remiss not to mention how horrified I have been by what transpired in Boston. My heart and prayers go out to all those affected.

Laundry and PB2

Happy Friday!!! It's been a busy day around here. I started it off with Asylum 2 Back & 6-Pack. That is 40 minutes of some tough core work! Afterward, I made myself a quick Shakeology shake and headed out the door.

After our morning errands, baby girl and I came back home to some major laundry. My husband went to put this shirt on the other day and noticed that it looked like someone had tried to draw a picture on it with an ink pen. I have my list of suspects....

Regrettably, I did not think to photograph this until I had already sprayed the vinegar.

Anyway, I was sure it would never come out, but being the dutiful wife that I am, I knew I had to make some attempt. I used my latest favorite laundry treatment: vinegar + dish soap.

I rubbed the marks really well with a toothbrush that has been designated for such purposes, then threw it in the wash.

To my surprise, almost all the ink came out! Vinegar is quickly becoming my go-to cleaner for everything!

Lunch today included cheese quesadillas on tomato basil tortillas with salsa and a clementine for dessert.

Later this afternoon, I found myself hungry again. While I was out running errands this morning I purchased my first jar of PB2. Have you tried this? It is a peanut butter powder made from crushed peanuts that have essentially had all the oils squeezed out of them. As a result, it has 85% less fat calories than regular peanut butter.

Actually, this is the second jar of PB2 I've owned. My mom gave me a jar yesterday. It expired June 11, 2009. (Love you, Mom!)

Notice the old-school packaging!

In spite of the fact that it was well past its expiration date, I thought I'd give it a try. I opened the jar and smelled it. It smelled just like wet paint. But I wasn't sure...maybe this was normal? So I tasted a little bit. It also tasted like wet paint (at least as I imagine it). I decided to invest in a new jar.

My friend Rachel told me that PB2 is great mixed with vanilla greek yogurt, so I also picked up a container of that this morning. I decided to give this combo a try.

Rachel usually mixes it with 2 Tbsp. of PB2, but I decided to start with just 1.

I mixed it really well with a whisk.

And OH MY! It did not disappoint! I am not ashamed to admit that I licked the bowl clean. Now I wish I had gotten more greek yogurt this morning.

This evening the boy had a baseball game. By the time we got home, I was starving! I whipped up a veggie burger and topped it with pickles, banana peppers and red bell peppers. And another clementine for good measure. It definitely hit the spot!

In unrelated news, should I be concerned that I found baby girl's Barbies in her room this way?

Question of the Day:

Have you tried PB2? What's your favorite way to use it?