Ever have a dinner that didn't go as planned?

Today I was planning on making some yummy crock pot sweet and sour chicken. It is budget friendly and oh so good, but it does require 6 hours in the crock pot. I have made this several times, but today it didn't work out so well. You see 6 hours on warm is a lot different from 6 hours on high...silly mommy, you know you can't do more three things at a time. =) I can't serve raw chicken to my family, well at least not on purpose.

So, this is a time I'm glad for our chest freezer. We're able to stockpile items like frozen pizzas and quick meals when they go on sale for nights like these. If we didn't have those cheap meal alternatives you can bet we'd be dialing Papa John's right now for take out. Keeping a few extra easy meals on hand really is a budget saver!

Here's the recipe for my crock pot sweet and sour chicken, but just be sure to use "high" on your crock pot and not "warm"!

Sweet and Sour Chicken

2 lbs. Chicken Thighs
1 Envelope Onion Soup Mix
1 Jar Apricot Preserves
1 Sliced Red Pepper
1 Cup of Frozen Peas
1 Can of Mandarin Oranges
Pepper to Taste
Rice or Egg Noodles

Put chicken, soup mix, preserves in crock pot on high and mix. After four hours add red peppers and frozen peas. After six hours, remove skin and bones from chicken. Then combine chicken mixture with mandarin oranges and serve over rice or noodles. So yummy!