I did my menu planning a little early this week. After having Ana in the hospital for a week and then spring break I'm a little off on days of the week. MPS is further confusing it by having tomorrow be an inservice day so the kids get an extra day off at the end of spring break....since when does that happen??
I looked back at my menu from last week, and we pretty much stuck to it........I did cave and order pizza friday night because I was just too tired to think about cooking. We did yard work all day Wednesday and then took the kids to the batting cages Thursday and of course the grown-ups had to play too, so by friday I was SORE and exhausted!! Soooo friday's spaghetti got postponed until Saturday!
I strayed from the menu tonite too and I have to say I did pretty good!! Let me start by saying I am NOT a fan of cooking a whole chicken. Not at all. I probably cook one a year and that is usually around the holidays to use the broth for dressing, and since Rachel Ray came out with her boxes of chicken stock I didn't even cook one at all this past year. Well I came across a recipe on a blog for Whole Crockpot Chicken. Here's the link
http://www.recipezaar.com/Whole-Chicken-Crock-Pot-Recipe-33671Let me tell you........it was awesome. I am completely converted to cooking whole chickens this way. I did cheat a little on the seasoning.......instead of getting all the different kinds I got a jar of a chicken seasoning by McCormick that had just about all of them in it. I got a chicken at Walmart for $8.94, it was pretty big too.....it had one of those pop-out timer things which was helpful. I got up this morning, removed the yuck from inside the chicken ( I think my problem is that I just know too much about what all those parts are!!) and cut up an onion and stuffed it in. I rubbed the seasoning on the outside and put a little under the skin on the breast side. I stuck it in the crockpot and turned it on. That was it. EASY. I cooked it on high for about an hour and then backed it to low for the rest of the day. It turned out amazing. It was fall off the bone tender. Everyone loved it. It was pretty close to one of those rotisserie chickens except it was much more bird and it was way cheaper per pound. It was also very easy to get off the bone....which is the most hated part for me (again, I know too much). I baked some potatoes and cooked green beans and didn't have but a little chicken left at then end. One of the responses on the recipe link mentioned making gravy with the drippings left over and I tried that but I stink at gravy!! It tasted great but wasn't so pretty to look at!!
Here's the plan for the rest of the week:
Monday- Bowtie Pasta w/ chicken and Broccoli
Ingredients3 cups farfalle (bow-tie pasta), uncooked4 cups broccoli florets (chopped)3 tbs Kraft roasted red pepper Italian with parmesan dressing6 small boneless skinless chicken breast halves (1 ½ pounds)2 cloves garlic, minced2 cups tomato-basil spaghetti sauce4 ounces cubed cream cheese (I used fat-free)¼ cup grated parmesan cheeseDirectionsCook pasta as directed on package, adding broccoli to the cooking water for the last 3 minutes of the pasta cooking time. (or steam broccoli separately). Meanwhile, heat dressing in large nonstick skillet on medium heat. Add chicken and garlic. Cook 5 minutes, turn chicken over; continue cooking 4-5 minutes or until chicken is cooked through.Drain pasta, return pasta to pan and set aside. Add pasta sauce and cream cheese to chicken in skillet; cook on medium-low heat 2-3 minutes, or until cream cheese is completely melted, mixture is well blended and chicken is coated with sauce, stirring occasionally. Remove chicken from skillet and keep warm. Add sauce mixture to pasta mixture; mix well. Transfer to 6 serving bowls.Cut chicken crosswise into thick slices. Fan out chicken over pasta mixture in each bowl. Sprinkle evenly with parmesan cheese.Makes 6 servings, about 1 ½ cups each.**I cooked two regular breasts of chicken. When it was cooked through, I cut it into bite-sized pieces, smaller would have also worked. I only then added it to the pan and began to cook it up with the dressing and garlic. Also, to serve, I mixed the entire mixture together instead of removing the chicken and fanning it out pretty on top, which would have also been nice.
Tuesday: Apricot Chicken
Ingredients:Enough frozen chicken breasts to fill the bottom of a 9x13 pan. Some small spaces on the bottom ok.1 bottle french dressing1 jar apricot preserves/jam1 envelope lipton onion soup1 and 1/2 cup waterDirections:Combine water, dressing, preserves, and soup mix together in a bowl. Pour over the chicken in a 9 x 13 pan. Bake on 350 for 90 minutes. Take chicken out and shred. Mix chicken back into sauce. Serve over rice.
Wednesday: Chinese Takeout from the freezer.
Thursday: Sloppy Joes
Friday: We are kidless....Date night maybe?
Sat/Sun : TBD will post when I make up my mind!
Before I got Kristan's recipe for the sourdough starter she uses, I found this one I had gotten from a friend at work. I started it 4 days ago and it is sitting on my counter doing it's thing. Tomorrow is Day 5 so I will have to feed it. This starter makes a very sweet bread, almost like cake.........it rocks! I'm going to try the sourdough next!!
