General Tso "esque" Low-Carb Crock Pot Meal

4 pounds chicken leg quarters, with bone and skin removed - so about 2 pounds of meat yield
4 tbsp sugar-free apricot preserves (I used Smucker's)
1/4 cup soy sauce
2 cloves minced garlic
1 tbsp Dijon mustard
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1 tbsp toasted sesame oil
20 drops of the liquid splenda I'm using (that's about 10 packets)

Turned it on low, will eat it whenever Skyspook is out of work. Probably in about 8 hours.

I'll probably add 1/2 to 1 tsp of xanthan gum when there's only a few hours left.
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I basically mashed up these 2 recipes:

http://247lowcarbdiner.blogspot.com/2012/01/sesame-chicken.html

http://crockpot365.blogspot.com/2008/03/crockpot-apricot-chicken-recipe.html

I liked how little of the sugar-free apricot preserves 24/7 Diner used, but I didn't have any white cooking wine handy, so I thought the dijon mustard from A Year of Slow Cooking would give it a bit of a wine taste and then add a hot Chinese mustard kind of feel (in concert with the red pepper). Plus, our oven's broken at the moment, and I like the slow cooker for nights when I'm not sure how late Skyspook's gonna be working.

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I sauteed up 8 ounces of white mushrooms that I'd chopped. Used 2 tbsp of canola oil with a tsp of smoked sesame oil in for flavor and then added salt and pepper and served them on the side.

Skyspook liked dinner but said it was a little sweet. Which is kind of awesome how our taste buds have changed on low carb. Next time, I'll add the sweetener right before serving. That should help.

Grade: B+