Barbecue Chicken & Veggies (Crockpot)

Celebrating JK's 24th Birthday at Angelo's

When I think of Texas, I think of the following things: The University of Texas Longhorns, burnt orange, the Fort Worth Stockyards, Mexican food, the San Antonio Riverwalk, Texas Christian University Horned Frogs, bluebonnets and wildflowers, and barbecue.  Growing up in Fort Worth, the barbecue joints were countless- Railhead, Angelo's, Riscky's, Cousin's, Red Hot and Blue, Dickey's, Spring Creek, Cooper's- and the list goes on and on.

Angelo's

When my parents found out that my mom was pregnant, they didn't choose to have a quaint little tea party of a baby shower.  Oh, no.  They invaded Angelo's Barbecue with champagne in hand and celebrated with friends. (Well, I hope my dad was in charge of the champagne!)  We went to Angelo's all the time when I was little.  I would hug the taxidermy-ed bears wearing Angelo's t-shirts and pretend like they were Winnie-the-Pooh's friends.  I took my ceramic baby doll there once (bad mistake), and dropped her on the stained concrete floor.  She shattered, I cried, and my mom still mentions it every time we walk in.  Timmy, the rib master, still somehow recognizes me, and greets us asking how many pounds of ribs we'd like.  While we have yet to celebrate any friends' pregnancies there, we have celebrated many friends' birthdays and rodeo pre-games at Angelo's.  A few years ago, my friend, Jennifer, had a big group go to Angelo's for her birthday (pic above).  We had the whole downstairs room to ourselves, we could be as loud and fun as we wanted to, and it was nostalgic for most of us there.  Angelo's continues to be a cash-only restaurant, with some of the iciest beer on tap around.

Railhead Smokehouse BBQ

In addition to Angelo's, my family also used to frequent Railhead Smokehouse BBQ, but not the Railhead of today.  Railhead used to be located in what is now Eskimo Hut, a drive through beer and margarita barn.  Railhead was on the right side of the building, and "Booze Cruise" was on the left side (it was still a drive through beer barn back in its day).  I actually used to call the restaurant "Booze Cruise" instead of "Railhead."  Think, a seven year old saying loudly, "I wanna go to Booze Cruise for dinner!"  Yep, I bet my parents were proud of that one.  There were only about 16 tables in the whole restaurant, and their rib master was named Mike.  Yep, I was on a first-name-basis with numerous restauranteurs, even when I was six.  Railhead has since expanded to have numerous locations, some that offer live music, and all that offer long lines of hungry barbecue customers.  In fact, my brother has been known to order Railhead and have it sent to Chicago and other barbecue deprived parts of the country.

One of the shirts that Railhead sells- haha we love this one in Fort Worth!

In an effort to "spend less, save more," in 2012, I decided to try a few recipes from Pinterest that bragged I could spend one day chopping and preparing for numerous days worth of meals.  Prep work in advance, bag it, freeze it, plop it in the (new for Christmas!) crockpot.  Done and done.  I chopped and prepped all of the ingredients for both this and Goulash because they both had some of the same ingredients.  It took me about 2 hours to prepare everything.  When we were ready to cook it, all I had to do was put it on the counter for 30 mins to defrost then throw it in the crockpot.  Easy peazy!


Barbecue Chicken & Veggies (Crockpot)
Pinterest
Servings: 10; Weight Watchers PointsPlus Value: 7

All of the Barbecue Chicken & Veggies ingredients ready to go in their bag!

• 9 small red potatoes, cut into 1/2 inch pieces
• 2 large green pepper, deseeded & cut into strips
• 1 large red pepper, deseeded & cut into strips
• 1 zucchini, chopped
• 1 medium onion, sliced
• 1 tbsp instant tapioca
• 2 lbs boneless, skinless chicken breasts
• 1 8-oz can tomato sauce
• 2 tbsp packed brown sugar
• 1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
• 1 tbsp yellow mustard
• 1/4 tsp dry mustard
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1/4 tsp salt

All of the Barbecue Chicken & Veggie ingredients ready to be frozen and
stuck in the crockpot when I'm ready for them!

Dump everything into two gallon freezer bags, shake well, seal, label with contents and date, and put in the freezer.

1. When ready, set bags out for appr. 30 mins to defrost a bit.
2. Pour bags into crockpot
3. Cook on low for 8 hours or high for 4 hours.

Crockpot Barbecue Chicken & Veggies ready to go

Keep on cookin'!
-Katherine