Newton Citizen

Using a Crock-Pot liner makes the clean-up process easier when cooking Crock-Pot Hawaiian chicken.

Some of you might get a kick out of this week's column. I know I've laughed about it all week.

I learned a few lessons from cooking this recipe, Crock-Pot Hawaiian chicken.

Here's my No. 1 tip -- Don't believe everything you read on the Internet.

I had seen this recipe floating around on the Internet for a while now and then I saw it on www.pinterest.com, an online social networking site where people share ideas for the home, such as recipes and decor. So I decided we needed to try it out at the Wells household. I searched several sites to make sure that I was getting the same basic information in regard to this recipe. Then I just went for it.

Lesson No. 2 -- Frozen chicken does not cook in 2 to 3 hours in a Crock-Pot, even on the high setting. It takes more like 6 hours. You can imagine how excited I was thinking I could throw four frozen chicken breasts, tangy barbecue sauce and a can of pineapple in the Crock-Pot and be eating dinner in about three hours. Boy was I wrong!

Lesson No. 3 -- The recipe was good and the chicken, when it was finally done, simply fell apart and was tender, but I think we needed to use a more tangy barbecue than we did. Needless to say, we ate this dish the day after we had planned to eat it and had sandwiches instead of a hot Crock-Pot meal.

So go ahead and use the frozen chicken breasts; just don't be dismayed when it takes 6 hours instead of 3. I should have known it was too good to be true. I think I was so excited I wasn't going to have thaw out the meat that I didn't take the time to really think it through.

Plus, I love the combination of foods that are sweet and tangy.

Serve this dish over rice, or on Hawaiian sweet rolls.