Crockpot Orange Chicken

I was attempting to have April become 30 days of recipes :/ That failed fast ;) Yesterday was actually quite eventful- I had my day planned well since we were going head off to San Antonio to see the Vipsho (that is what I call my sister and brother-in-law because their names fuses so well ;). I had to go to school in the morning to teach and get a few things done on campus but the plan was to head home, pack, get Ninja ready (because Justin and Luke said they could watch him) and hit the road BUT I "lost" my iPhone. I say "lost" because I truly thought I left my phone in the lecture hall I was teaching in, so I was in panic mode. But after 1 hour I discovered my phone was in an office I swore I never went into (but hey I found it).

By the time I got home, I was exhausted- I think having a week of very little sleep- just hit me. So I took a nap. When I woke up- I suddenly got it in my head to tidy up a bit--so I did that. Long story short: the hubby and I did not get to San Antonio till around 930pm. And once we got here, we ate dinner with the Vipsho right away and then went to Howl at the Moon. I really love dueling piano bars! And when we came back to the hotel- I may have fallen asleep again....

Today began our food crawl with the Vipsho. I really need to do more sight seeing ;) But I have already been to San Antonio twice before- when I walked the River Walk and went to the Alamo. First thing we went to was a restaurant called the County Line--for some Texas BBQ (I think sometimes people say Tejas BBQ ;). If you remember- the hubby and I tried KC BBQ when we went to visit for Thanksgiving this past year and were quite disappointed. I told the Vipsho that they had to try Texas BBQ and would easily see why its better. Well I think I easily won that battle because even my sister said how good the meat taste :)

I then wanted to visit some cupcakeries to kill some time, because in the afternoon-evening the Vipsho was heading off to a basketball game. My brother-in-law is a HUGE Spurs fan. Actually he is just a HUGE sports fan, but his favorite basketball team is the Spurs and it's funny because he looks like Tony Parker. Anywhoo we ended up going to three: Kate's Frosting, Cupcake Couture (not related to the one in College Station) and Bird Bakery (a very hipster cupcake spot). Sad story: we were in a rush to get back since they had to go to the game, so I told myself I would photograph the cupcakes when I got home. But I forgot I lent my camera to them for the game and did not realize I had no camera for my cupcakes until I got to the hotel room :/ #cupcakepicturefail.

Wow that was a long post! Let go to cooking- here is an Orange Chicken recipe that I saw on a lot of food blogs that I like to follow. I was really excited when I saw it. BUT here is my note: I thought the sauce tasted great and Justin ate it up, the hubby on the other hand did not like it! I was a bit in horror because this is the first time he told me he did not like something I made and did not eat it! And yet I was so proud because I think it turned out great! After some talking, reading comments on the blogs I found this recipe on and help from Justin this is what we came up with: the orange chicken has a very "zesty" taste- if you do not like the taste of orange zest then you probably will not like this recipe. OR if you have an aversion from orange juice concentrate (like the hubby)- you will not like the taste of this recipe. If you have no issues with either- you are going to love it! 

CROCKPOT ORANGE CHICKEN

Adapted from A Year of Slow Cooking and Six Sister's Stuff 

INGREDIENTS

FOR THE CHICKEN

4 chicken breasts cut into small chunks

1/2 c. flour

olive oil

FOR THE SAUCE

1/2 tbsp. salt

1 tsp. balsamic vinegar

3 tbsp. ketchup

6 oz. orange juice concentrate (1/2 can), thawed

4 tbsp. brown sugar

DIRECTIONS

For the Chicken:

Put chicken and flour in a large ziplock freezer bag and shake well to coat chicken with flour. Then, in a large skillet or wok, heat olive oil over medium heat. Once heated, brown the chicken on all sides. The chicken does not have to cook through- the goal is to just brown the chicken to create a "crunchy" exterior that orange chicken has-- so just sear it to get the flour to stick and create a nice coating. Once the chicken has browned and you have a nice coating- place the chicken in a large crockpot. 

For the Sauce:

In a medium bowl, whisk together salt, vinegar, ketchup, orange juice concentrate, and brown sugar until you have a thick sauce. 

Pour sauce over chicken and toss gingerly to make sure all chicken pieces are covered with sauce. Cook on high for 2-3 hours or on low for 5-6 hours. Serve over rice. 

Enjoy,

Chika