Simple Sundays - Crockpot Orange Chicken

I like to do these simple Sunday's, especially now that our shows are going to start back up - #breakingbad #teamjesse #walterwhiteisabadass. Anyways, the whole concept behind this, as I've said before is to be able to fully relax on Sunday's and enjoy the day without having to stop whatever it is that one is doing to go and cook a meal, or even worse, pick up something horribly unhealthy.  I made this crock pot orange chicken a while back and I have to say, its one of the best recipes I've found for the crock pot and couldn't be easier! Since I am eating wheat/gluten free, I did have to change up the recipe and use almond flour instead of regular.  I have left the recipe with the original as is in terms of the flour - i used coconut flour and just found it to not fry out quite as nicely as when I made this with regular flour.  I also found it to leave the texture a bit, grainy or powdery? Either way, if you are looking for a wheat free/gluten free option for frying instead of the flour, I did a bit of research and it sounds like corn starch is a great alternative (which I would tend to agree), as is rice flour (expensive) or almond flour.  The nice part about the almond flour is its great for baking as well, whereas the rice flour is less than perfect.  I would recommend doing the almond flour or the corn starch over the rice flour and DEFINITELY over the coconut flour.  

Crockpot Orange Chicken 

Adapted from: The Pursuit of Happiness

Ingredients

3-4 Boneless, Skinless Chicken Breasts, chopped into small pieces 

1/3 cup flour, almond flour, or corn starch

olive oil

3 T Ketchup

6 Oz Frozen Orange Juice, thawed

4 T Brown Sugar

1 t Balsamic Vinegar

1 t Chili Powder

1 T Orange Zest

1 1/2 C Chopped, Frozen Broccoli

Combine ketchup, orange juice, brown sugar, balsamic vinegar, orange zest and chili powder in small bowl.  Set aside. Dredge chicken pieces in flour.  Heat oil in medium fry pan.  Quickly brown chicken on each side, about 2 minutes per side.  The chicken does not need to be cooked all the way through as it will be slow cooking in the crockpot. Add chicken to crock pot, pour sauce over and add frozen broccoli.  Cook on low for 6-7 hours or on high for 2-3.  

I also made some of my infamous fried rice which can be found HERE.Today I used brown rice though and had to omit the soy sauce at least in my portion. It was still delicious and although Steve and I had agreed before I made it that brown rice just wouldn't do fried rice justice, it was still pretty tasty!