Crockpot Orange Chicken

Today is Friday. Fridays are very busy for us. My son has a standing therapy appointment and while he is in therapy I have a yoga class, so usually it is very late when we get home and I don't feel like cooking. Due to acid reflux I need to eat pretty quickly so that takes care of the idea of eating out. Dinner needs to be ready upon us walking in the door. So Friday at our house is Crockpot Friday.  (Used to be Pizza Friday before I started yoga, but Pizza night has been changed to Saturday now.)

Today I decided to try this recipe that I actually got off my newsfeed in Facebook. I did not save the picture that came with it, and I wasn't even thinking pictures when we got home and I started to eat. Sorry. You'll just need to make it and see what it looks like yourself.
I also don't know where the recipe came from. When I saved it for my use I wasn't thinking about sharing it in a blog. So I am sorry that I do not know who to give credit to. If you do know, please let me know and I will give credit where credit is due.

We also had rice cooked in a slow cooker (I have four, in different sizes and sometimes all four are going at once!) This was my first time cooking rice in a slow cooker and it wasn't too bad. A little mushy, which is probably due to the fact that we were a little late getting home.  And I forgot to lightly grease the slow cooker so it was a bit of a job to clean up afterward.  It tasted good, anyway.

So I will give you the recipe as I copied it off the newsfeed, and then I will tell you what I did to it that was different.
Here it is... The Main Event:

Crockpot Orange Chicken 

Ingredients:
2 large carrots, peeled and sliced about 1/2-inch thick
2 large red or green bell peppers, cut into 1/2-inch chunks
3 cloves garlic, finely minced
4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
2 tsp. ground ginger
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper
8 ounces orange juice concentrate
2 cups Mandarin orange segments or fresh orange segments
2 Green ONIONS, chopped
hot cooked rice
Directions:
Put carrots, peppers, garlic, then the chicken, ginger, salt, pepper & frozen orange juice in Crockpot. Cover and cook on LOW 4 to 6 hours. Serve chicken on hot cooked rice on platter. Top with orange segments and green onions. Serve chicken liquid in gravy boat, if desired.

Metric measures: 

1/2 inch =  approximately 1.3 cm

2 tsp = approximately 10 g

1 tsp = approximately 5 g

1/2 tsp = approximately 2.5 g

8 oz = approximately 237 ml 

2 cups = approximately 470 ml (500 is probably close enough)

What I did Differently: 

Ok, when I went shopping I forgot how many peppers I needed and I only bought one. So I used it. I put in an extra carrot because mine were smaller. Instead of the garlic cloves, I was in a hurry so I once again used Tastefully Simple's Garlic Garlic.   My husband doesn't really like onions, and I didn't have any on hand so I skipped the onions.  If I had green onions, I would have used them anyway.  The recipe doesn't say so, but I cut the chicken up into bite-sized pieces. 

It came out very well. It tasted pretty good.  I use unsweetened orange juice, and I think next time I might try it with sweetened and see how it is, or maybe add just a touch of brown sugar or maybe even a few drops of stevia.  My family loved it, so all in all it is a keeper. 

So on to your own cooking, and enjoy!!