foodie friday : crockpot whole chicken

Most of the time I like to grab a rotisserie chicken from whatever grocery store (usually about $5) and shred it for various recipes.  The flavor is good and always adds a little something to whatever I am fixing.  But they are pretty small so don't go very far.  This time I decided to grab a whole fryer chicken (about 4.5 lbs and just over $5) and cook the whole durn thing in my slow cooker (inspired by my friend ThatWinsomeGirl).  I rinsed it and patted it dry and then rubbed it with a paste of the spices I wanted for my upcoming meals.  In this case, garlic, salt, smoked paprika, chili powder, and cumin.  I put it in my 3 qt slow cooker so it just barely fit, but I wanted it to be in contact with as much of the heat as possible.  I cooked it on High for a couple of hours until it started to bubble (all juice from the chicken, I didn't add any liquid), and then dropped it down to Low for about 4 more hours or so until I had time to deal with it.  Pulling it out was a little difficult because it just completely fell apart.  The meat was so much more tender and juicy and flavorful than any rotisserie chicken I buy, and there was about double the meat I normally pull off.

First I fixed some white sauce enchiladas.  These are different every time I make them.  Sometimes I just use the chicken with some cheese inside.  Other times I have added black beans and corn.  This time I did sautéed peppers and onions with cheese and a little salsa mixed in with about 1/4 of the white sauce.  Load up your tortillas and put them in a greased pan.  The white sauce is 8oz sour cream, a can of cream of chicken, and a small can of chopped green chilis.  Spread the sauce on your assembled enchiladas and then generously sprinkle on some shredded cheese.  Bake at 400F for about 25 minutes until cheese is melted and starting to brown on the edges.  These are great with some salsa and avocado served with them.  This time using fajita/small flour tortillas, we had 9 enchiladas.  Kyle requests these regularly, and Myles is a huge fan as well!

The second night, I grabbed a box of Pasta-Roni angel hair pasta and herbs, roasted some cherry tomatoes and squash for 15 min on 400F with some olive oil and S&P, and threw in some more of that chicken.  Myles and I loved it, Kyle once again ate it just because that was what I fixed.  I will say that since tomatoes aren't in season, these were pretty sour despite their red color, so I wasn't as happy with them as I'd hoped I would be, and I was really wishing the whole time that I had remembered to grab some mushrooms at the store.  But for dinner done in 20 minutes, you can't really beat it.

I still have about 1/3 of the chicken left, so might toy with a chicken salad recipe today or something; have any suggestions? This would be great in a pot-pie or on nachos as well!

Want more food ideas?  I'm linking up at gatormommyreviews today so go check out the other great recipes!