BBQ Chicken Sandwiches....and Mini Pepper Nachos!

I made these a week ago for 2 reasons--1. I adore anything with BBQ sauce, and 2. because the creator of the recipe PROMISED the chicken would be good out of the crock pot. So I held my breath...and it was! If you want a little bit of summer love without having to smoke or grill something (or heat up your house with the oven for that matter), this will fit the bill. Use the leftover chicken (if you can stop eating it) to make BBQ chicken pizzas, or BBQ chicken nachos...or BBQ chicken quesadillas...or BBQ chicken pepper nachos (yes, I made those up and I will tell you about them shortly!). I feel a bit like Bubba and shrimp with this list, but you get my drift.  The sauce is homemade, and is just about as close to perfect as you can get. That is saying a lot coming from a very picky BBQ sauce girl like me. Trust me on this one. Bust out the crock pot and make some chicken (words I almost never say together--miracles ARE possible).

• 2lbs chicken breasts
• 1 cup ketchup
• 1/4 cup + 2 Tablespoons brown sugar
• 1/3 cup water
• 2 Tablespoons apple cider vinegar
• 1 Tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
• 2 teaspoons smoked paprika (you have to have it smoked, kids. No substitutes here)
• 1-1/2 teaspoons salt
• 1/4 t cayenne pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/2 teaspoon onion powder                                                                                                                                Place chicken in the bottom of your crock pot. Whisk together remaining ingredients in a large bowl then reserve 3/4 cup and pour the rest over the chicken. Cook on low for 4 hours or until the chicken shreds easily with a fork. Shred chicken then return to the crock pot and cook on low for 30 minutes. Transfer shredded chicken to a separate container then mix with reserved BBQ sauce and serve. I piled this on toasted buns and topped with dill pickles (plus a slice of cheese for my husband). We devoured these sandwiches

OK, now. Those pepper nachos I mentioned? I figured if I could make pepper nachos with chicken, why can't I make 'em BBQ style? So, if you have leftovers of this chicken, place some inside the hollowed out halves of mini bell peppers, then top with finely chopped red onion, colby jack cheese and bake at 400 degrees for 15-20 minutes. Top with chopped dill pickles (or cilantro if you'd rather...or both!) to serve. Now, I was out of this chicken so I had to ad lib. I took cooked leftover shredded chicken and added it to a skillet (after I had sauteed about 1/2 a red onion), then I added 1/2 cup or so of my favorite BBQ sauce (if you have to ask me just what that is then you don't know me very well at all), 1 T Worcestershire sauce, and 2 T steak sauce. I sprinkled in a little salt and pepper and some garlic powder and just messed with proportions until it tasted darn good to me. Then I proceeded as I mentioned above. Fa-bu-lous.