Crock Pot Teriyaki Chicken

Summer is almost upon us, and for me that means a sudden decrease in my desire to cook. We live in a fairly mild climate here, which I find to be wonderful. I can't imagine having to deal with some of the hot temperatures that people living in other areas have to deal with. As it is our house usually ends up feeling hotter inside than outside, and that makes for an unhappy Mom in the kitchen.
Of course we can plan on eating more salads, having BBQs, eating sandwiches and I am sure to be on the hunt for hot weather recipes. Sometimes though I just want to eat an old favorite, and I want to do it without heating up the whole house.
Crock pots are a great tool for simplifying your day in general, and during the summer you can still make a good meal without worrying about overheating. We have a crock pot that was a wedding gift, and a little over a year ago, we bought a larger crock pot. The new crock pot is digital and I can set the time for how long I want it to cook on low or high, and it will automatically switch to keep warm when that time is up. It will keep food warm for several hours, so I can start dinner in the morning when I get up and actually have energy and I don't have to worry about timing it just right. We also have a rice cooker that lets you program how many hours you want the rice to be ready in, so I can literally fix it and forget it.
I thought I would share my recipe for Teriyaki Chicken.

5 to 6 lbs boneless skinless chicken breasts, thighs or mixture of both (if you have a small family or a small crock pot you can cut this recipe in half, or even 1/3 easily)

For the sauce mix the following in a bowl
1 1/2 C brown sugar
1 1/2 C soy sauce
1 1/2 tsp ground ginger (fresh grated ginger works great if you have it as well) or to taste
3 to 4 cloves fresh garlic (chopped) or to taste (you can use garlic powder, dried garlic or another equivalent, but fresh is best)
4 1/2 T white vinegar (rice vinegar if you have it works also)
1/4 C sesame oil (you can substitute olive oil if you don't have sesame oil)

Stir the sauce well and pour over the chicken in the crock pot. I just put the chicken in still frozen unless I am in a hurry. Cook on low for 6 hours or high for 3 hours or until done. Use a fork to shred the chicken and stir it into the sauce. Serve over the rice of your choice. Enjoy!

We buy our soy sauce and sesame oil by the gallon here, so this recipe is easy for me to make. It will still turn out well if you use one or more of the substitutes so don't be afraid to try it if you don't have everything you need. You can cut the sauce recipe in half and still use a large amount of chicken, but we prefer to have enough sauce with it to soak into the rice. This recipe freezes well also. Even with seven of us we always have leftovers, and I just throw the chicken and some sauce in the freezer and it makes a great quick meal when I don't feel like cooking at all. I hope you try it and like it!