dump it and leave it BBQ chicken

So after a week of what I am calling a heat wave (and the rest of NC is calling summer), it was time to cook something that wouldn't heat up the whole apartment. Here I must give shout outs to Mark and Erika F. for introducing me to the beauty of crock pot cooking (w/pulled pork) and Craig B. for nudging me towards my love of Sweet Baby Ray's BBQ sauce. This recipe is so easy it doesn't even count as cooking.

Time: prep: 5 min if chicken is already trimmed

cook: approx 3.5 hrs on high, 5.5 on low

Leftovers: Freezes very well, reheats well.

A crock pot is a must for this one! Mine has choices in size, so I just use the 2 (quart?) setting.

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, trimmed (thawed or frozen, but trimmed!)

1 Tbsp. vinegar (I use plain old white vinegar)

1/4 c. brown sugar

about 3/4 c. Sweet Baby Ray's BBQ sauce to start (you could probably sub in another kind, but I make no taste promises if you do...this stuff is the best!)

Ok, get ready. This is your big cooking moment. Dump chicken in crock pot. Dump vinegar over chicken. Dump brown sugar over chicken. Dump BBQ sauce over chicken (this is the one thing I forgot to measure, but the top layer of chicken was mostly covered...you can always add more later). Put the lid on the crock pot, turn the crock pot on low (or high if you are in more of a hurry), and leave it. Resist the urge to stir. Resist the urge to cut chicken smaller with kitchen scissors. Resist the urge to mess with it at all (unless the crock pot has run out of liquid, then pour in more sauce, but this has never happened to me.) At the end of 5 hrs (on low, or 3 on high), remove lid and gently push the edges of one chicken breast with a fork. If the chicken begins to fall apart easily, use two forks to "shred" or pull apart chicken. This should be very, very easy. If not, continue cooking and check back in half an hour. Shred all chicken in the crock pot, stir, lower setting (to low or warm), and let cook another half hour. And there you have it, you're done! And it is so worth the wait!

Serving suggestions: by it self, on a sandwich, on a salad, in a wrap, over a potato (topped with more BBQ sauce), straight from the pot...

Let me warn you, once you fall in love with this, you will stop buying the little normal bottles and start buying the jugs (like you are running your own school cafeteria). Don't be embarrassed, just pass along this super easy, super delicious, and super-great-for-making-ahead secret and know that you will have caused another to make the little-bottle-to-big-jug switch :)