Friday, July 22, 2011

Easy Crock Pot Chicken Machaca

Easy Crock Pot Chicken Machaca
TUESDAY:  We just got back home from a crazy trip to Scottsdale, Arizona.  We were there for only three days, but it seemed like we visited more people than we usually do in a week!

Gage managed to get stung by a bee Saturday night, not knowing that he was allergic.  We carried on through Sunday and made the long drive home.  By the time he stepped out of the car, his foot looked like a football!  He spent half the night in the ER of the hospital, only to come home with a bunch of pills and a "wait it out" diagnosis.

Bodhi loved visiting his great-grandmother at Westminster Village.  He didn't love the ride that followed.  Half way through the drive home, he began to heavily "purge" the contents of his stomach onto his clothing, his car seat, and the surrounding toys, games, books and mommy.  I thought he was just getting car sick, so Gage drove faster and blasted the air conditioning until we arrived in our driveway.

We managed to get cleaned up while daddy visited the doctors at the hospital.  We laid down to go to sleep and everything seemed normal again...for about ten minutes.  The heavy purge once again began, this time all over our bed, and I knew at that point we were most likely dealing with some type of viral bug or bacterial infection.

It's been a hectic last couple of days.  There are LOTS of VERY messy diapers (I'll leave out the details on those), lots of baby medicine and daddy medicine, lots of pillows, ice packs, ibuprofen and baths.  Needless to say, cooking has to be easy and effortless.  Mommy is a little occupied.

Crock pot meals always save the day when days like these appear.  I've always got chicken, green pepper and Southwest spices, so my Easy Crock Pot Chicken Machaca was a no brainer today.
 

Easy Crock Pot Chicken Machaca

Prep Time:  30 minutes / Cook Time: 6 Hours / Servings:  8

Ingredients:
  • 1 lb. boneless, skinless chicken thighs
  • 1 lb. boneless, skinless chicken breast
  • 1 green pepper, seeded and chopped
  • 1 Roma tomato, chopped
  • 6 scallions, chopped
  • 2 tbsp. olive oil
  • 3 cups low-sodium chicken broth
  • 2 tbsp. cumin powder
  • 1 tbsp. garlic powder
  • 1 tbsp. paprika
  • 1 tbsp. chili powder
  • 1tsp. cayenne pepper

Steps:
  1. Heat the olive oil in a large skillet.  Add the chicken, season with salt and pepper and sear on high heat for 3-5 minutes per side, until browned.  Remove the chicken from the pan and transfer to the crock pot.
  2. Add 1 cup of the chicken broth to the skillet, deglaze the pan with the broth, lower heat to medium, add scallions, peppers and tomatoes and cook for 3-5 minutes, until veggies are soft.  Remove from heat and transfer entire mixture to the crock pot.
  3. Add the rest of the chicken broth and remaining spices to the crock pot.  Cover and cook on low heat for 4 hours.
  4. Shred the chicken with a fork, adjust seasonings to taste, stir and cover.  Cook on low heat for another two hours.
  5. To Serve:  Stir well and spoon chicken onto serving dish with slotted spoon, draining some but not all of the juices before plating.  Serve with warm tortillas, rice, beans and/or salsa.

6 comments:

  1. I was looking for a recipe that was similar to the Chicken Machaca at the restaraunt Beach Break in Oceanside. I think this one had more flavor and good heat. Next time I probably will try and cut the cooking time an hour. Thank you!

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  2. MMMmmmmm, heat is good! Thanks for your comments! So glad you enjoyed the recipe!

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  3. If you want your chicken to be moist, drain most of the liquid, add a few eggs stirring very well. You won't know they are there (even the whites will add moisture). Cilantro in the last 5 minutes of cooking really adds a lot of flavor as well!

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  4. I should have said to let the eggs cook for a bit, of course. Sorry :)

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  5. Awesome tip! I will definitely try the eggs next time!

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  6. When do you add the eggs to the chicken? After it's all cooked?

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