Pulled Chicken -Mexican Food version

My sister said she loved my chicken for chicken tacos and asked how I made it. Here is my version. I do use local, pastured chickens which do cook up differently than store bought as they don't have a saline injection and tend in my opinion to have more meat on them. So you may get less yield or need to cook them for a different amount of time and gauge how much of the chicken juices you get and add accordingly.

1 or more whole chickens (depending on how many you want to cook and will fit in your crockpot)

Diced onion

diced bell pepper or some of Penzey's dried bell peppers. (optional)

water for chicken broth

1 bay leaf

Penzey's Chicken Taco Seasoning

Sea Salt

Penzey's Mild Chili Powder

Ground Cumin

Black Pepper

Juice of 1 lime

Dice one or more onions (depending on size and how many chickens you have) and put in bottom of crock pot. Add bell pepper to bottom of crockpot (I like the flavor it gives, I use the dried diced mostly, so if using fresh, dice it small and it will mostly disintegrate into it and leave a nice flavor).

Add about 1/2 cup of water or broth to keep chicken from scorching or drying out when it starts to cook. Add Bay leaf.

Place whole chicken(s) on top of onions, sprinkle with spices and salt on chicken and a bit onto the mixture in the bottom (onion/liquid mixture).

Cover and cook on low for 8 hours or until chicken is falling off the bone.

Remove chicken to a dish that will hold any juices and let cool until able to touch without getting burned.

Pull all chicken meat off of bones and put in a separate dish. Shred meat with two forks or with hands into nice shredded texture. Discard bones, skin, etc.

Strain the liquid to get rid of any chicken bones, skin, etc. You can save some onions if desired and mix them into the chicken. Skim some fat off liquid if there seems to be a lot of fat.

Put chicken back into crockpot and mix with enough liquid to make it nice and moist but not totally swimming in liquid (a bit pooled at the bottom is no big deal, but you don't want a ton of liquid). If there isn't enough juices to moisten it once you remove the fat off the juices, than add some heated up chicken broth.

Mix in more spices (chicken taco seasoning, chili powder and cumin)to taste. I usually shake a bit in and mix it and taste it and then add a bit more if needed. Add salt to taste. Add juice of one lime and mix in to chicken. Heat through in crockpot (you can heat it in high till it is all warmed through if you want it done quickly or if you want to let it go longer, heat on low).

Freezes well too.