As a side note, the price limit for this freezer meal group was $60 for all 8 meals, and I only spent $30! Woot!
And now you will see why you can make 8 of these meals (plus 2 more for Sunday dinner, so 10 meals) for $30. Drumsticks, carrots, celery, and onions are about the cheapest meats and vegetables you can buy with maybe the exception of cabbage. And when you put them together in the crock-pot, the most amazing dish results.
Okay, since this is the first food post, I didn't plan to take any pictures. Crock-pot meals don't look that pretty anyway, so that's okay. Here is the recipe (and it's from the manual that came with my crock-pot):
Chicken in a Pot
1 to 2 carrots, sliced
1 to 2 onions, sliced
1 to 2 celery stalks, sliced
2 to 3 pound whole broiler/fryer chicken (I just put in enough drumsticks to feed our fam...just make sure you use drumsticks or thighs so they don't dry out like breasts will)
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp coarse black pepper
1/2 cup water, chicken broth, or white wine (I usually use water and throw in 1/2 tsp bouillon granules)
1/2 to 1 tsp basil
Put vegetables in bottom of stoneware. Add whole chicken (or drumsticks). Top with salt, pepper, liquid. Sprinkle basil on top. Cover and cook on LOW 8 to 10 hours or HIGH 3 1/2 to 5 hours (using 1 cup liquid). Remove chicken and vegetables with spatuala.
Okay, so here are some tips. I've cooked it both on high and low. High gives you really moist chicken, but your onions are still a little firm. Low will kind of caramelize your veggies (yum!), but dry out your chicken just a little, but not enough that you wouldn't eat 2 drumsticks fast. As you can see, the recipe isn't very exact. In fact, last night I used 4 carrots, 1/2 onion, and 1 1/2 celery stalks.
When it's all done, I take out the chicken, put it on a plate then put all the veggies and juice in a large bowl. Then you just pour it all on some mashed taters. BUT you can also strain out the veggies and make a really delicious gravy with the juice. Tom is the gravy maker in our house, but I've watched him do it many times. Here is what he does:
Chicken Gravy
Pour the juice into a pan. Add chicken bouillon and garlic powder. Make a slurry of water and cornstarch (about 1/4 cup water, and a couple spoons of cornstarch) and pour it in the pan. Stir it around, and let it boil until it's a thickened gravy. Yum.
Now I did mention mashed potatoes, and last night I made a really yummy double batch since I was sending dinner over to my friend's house.
Garlic Cream Cheese Mashed Potatoes
7 medium to small russet potatoes, peeled and cubed
2 to 3 cloves garlic, crushed
2 oz cream cheese
1/4 cup margarine or butter
1/4 cup milk
salt
fresh ground pepper
Put your potatoes in a pot and cover with water so the water is about an inch over the potatoes. Boil until the potatoes are tender. Strain and return to pot. Pour in milk, butter, and cream cheese and mash with a potato masher. Season with salt and fresh ground pepper to your liking.
Here's a few tips on making mashed potatoes. Use either a potato masher or a ricer. Don't use a hand mixer. The hand mixer does funny stuff to the starches in the potatoes and you end up with these gluey potatoes. If you just mash them you get a nice creamy, sticky potatoes with small, hardly noticeable potato pieces. I also just estimated on all those measurements because I don't use recipes for mashed potatoes. Sometimes I'll just do salt, milk, and butter, or sour cream, milk, and butter, or I'll add some parmesan. Or I'll change my mind completely and make potato soup without draining any liquid.
Last but not least, I made Lion House Rolls yesterday. They're yummy yummy rolls. Unfortunately I can never get mine to turn out like the restaurants (light and flakey), but they still tasted yummy. Oh, and the reason I made rolls was because I was home from church with a fevered little girl. So I had the afternoon to make them. Here is the recipe from ksl.com:
Lion House Rolls
Ingredients:
- 2 cups warm water (110-115 degrees)
- 2/3 cup nonfat dry milk (instant)
- 2 Tb. dry yeast
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 2 tsp. salt
- 1/3 cup shortening (butter or margarine)
- 1 egg
- 5-5 1/2 cups flour, all purpose (bread flour can be used if you have it on hand)
Method:
In the large bowl of an electric mixer, combine the water and the milk powder and stir so the milk dissolves. Add the yeast to tthis mixture then the sugar, salt, shortening, egg and 2 cups of the flour. Mix on low speed of mixer until ingredients are wet, then turn to medium speed and mix for 2 minutes. Stop the mixer and add 2 more cups of flour then mix on low speed until the ingredients are wet, then turn mixer on medium speed and mix for 2 minutes. The dough will be getting stiff and you may need to remove the bowl from the mixer and mix in the remaining flour by hand. Add approximately 1/2 cup of flour and mix again. (This can be done by hand or mixer). The dough should be soft, not overly sticky, and not stiff. (It is not necessary to use the entire amount of flour). Scrape the dough off the sides of the bowl and pour approximately on tablespoon of vegetable oil all around the sides of the bowl. Turn the dough over in the bowl so it is covered with the oil. (This helps prevent the dough from drying out.) Cover with plastic and allow to rise in a warm place until double in size. Sprinkle a cutting board or counter with flour and put the dough on the flour. It is now ready to roll out and cut into desired shape and size of rolls. Place on greased (or parchment lined) baking pans. Let rise in a warm place until the rolls are double in size (approx. 1-1 1/2 hours). Bake in a 375-degree oven for 15-20 minutes or until they are browned to your satisfaction. Brush with melted butter while hout. Yields 2 to 2 1/2 dozen rolls.
Here's one last tip: you can never over-knead a yeast bread!Enjoy!
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