Crockpot Chicken or Pork

Crockpot Brown Sugar Balsamic Glazed Chicken Breast or Pork Tenderloin

If you are like me, you don't eat pork or you try to limit your pork intake to only bacon or ham. I don't eat bacon or ham a lot, maybe a couple times a year, and I rarely ever eat any other form of pork. It was ruined for me and it's really not that healthy, so I tend to stick to chicken only. I try to come up with real creative ways to cook chicken so that it doesn't seem like we are eating it yet again. (Like every night.) 

My kids have voiced their opinions about how much we eat it and they will do it, but it can't be the same way every day. (I used to just bake it in the oven.) So I decided that I had to be creative in order for them not to complain and so that they would eat it. And my kids are old! I have a 18 year old and a 15 year old. I understand how they feel. I really do. I get bored too and then I don't even want to cook it again.

Don't get me wrong, we eat tacos, pizza, and burgers. But that is like one day out of a week that we eat something that isn't chicken. So yeah, we eat a lot of chicken unless we are eating salad.

I found this recipe on pinterest from a great website Laura's Sweet Spot. But she used a pork tenderloin and I won't eat that. I won't even touch that. The thought of pork makes me hungry for it, but then I think about the time someone close to me made pork chops and they were thick, and NOT cooked all the way through, still bleeding and we got very sick. So needless to say, that is the main reason we don't eat it.

But this recipe is awesome on chicken, so you can use it on either. It's freaking delicious! So if you want my opinion about this recipe, the only thing I will say, is cook more chicken, because you will eat it all!

Here is the recipe:

Crockpot Brown Sugar Balsamic Glazed Pork Tenderloin

Serves: 6

Ingredients

• 2 pounds Pork tenderloin or 6-8 chicken breasts cut in half (and pounded) or 8 frozen cutlets
• 1 teaspoon Ground sage
• ½ teaspoon Salt
• ¼ teaspoon Pepper
• 1 clove Garlic; crushed
• ½ cup Water
• ½ cup Brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon Cornstarch
• ¼ cup Balsamic Vinegar
• ½ cup Water
• 2 tablespoons Soy sauce

Instructions

1. Mix together the seasonings: sage, salt, pepper and garlic.
2. Rub over tenderloin. Place ½ cup water in slow cooker; place tenderloin in slow cooker.
3. Cook on low for 6-8 hours.
4. hour before the roast is finished, mix together the ingredients for the glaze in a small sauce pan: brown sugar, cornstarch, balsamic vinegar, water, soy sauce.
5. Heat over medium and stir until mixture thickens, about 4 minutes.
6. Brush roast with glaze 2 or 3 times during the last hour of cooking. (For a more caramelized crust: remove from crock pot and place on aluminum lined sheet pan, glaze, and set under broiler for 1-2 minutes until bubbly and caramelized. Repeat 2 to 3 more times until desired crust is achieved.)
7. Serve with remaining glaze on the side.

I didn't really alter this recipe much, except I did notice that when I rubbed the chicken with the seasonings, and put it in the crock pot, I ended up having to scrape it off after it cooked because that is the part that was out of the water, just turn the rubbed part of the chicken down into the water to cook.

The chicken ends up being moist and so yummy.

Also, I took it out of the crock pot, brushed the glaze on it and then put it in the oven, I repeated 5 times, not the 2-3 that the recipe says. And it paid off. The chicken had a yummy sticky glaze on it. I served with a side of rice and mixed veggies.

You have to try this. It's so good.

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Have a wonderful labor day.