Chicken - It's What's for Dinner

Greetings friends!
True to my word, I've been an inconsistent blogger. Hopefully though, you'll find this delicious dinner idea worth waiting for.

 I was talking with a friend before Thanksgiving and she mentioned that she often cooks a chicken in her Crockpot and it makes for a delicious, and almost effortless, meal. The idea intrigued me, but with preparation for the holidays, I sort of put it on the back burner.

Thanksgiving is over, and I'm finally getting back into my regular menu planning. On the menu tonight:  Crockpot Whole Chicken and homemade mashed potatoes.

A few things I am LOVING about this meal:

• Cheap! - Thanks again to my favorite grocery, Aldi, I was able to purchase a 5 lb whole chicken for under $5. Fortunately, I already have some potatoes on hand, so I didn't have to purchase those either. So for my family of 4, we're eating well for just $1.25 per person. 
• Easy - I adore my crock pot. There is not much quite as satisfying as taking a small amount of time to prep a meal then leave it alone until it's ready to eat. It took me all of 10 minutes to prep the chicken for the crockpot. The potatoes will be a bit more work with the cutting and boiling, but still, pretty easy work. 
• Great leftover potential - Ok...maybe it's a little weird to get excited about leftovers. But let's be honest. This is a whole chicken, and there are so many ways to stretch it into more than one meal. (Hello, more money saving!) I'm thinking soup, a pot pie, or a chicken lo mein recipe our family really enjoys. Whatever this chicken goes to, I'm sure I can get a minimum of 2 meals out of it, if not 3. 

Are you ready for the recipe? It's so simple that I can hardly call it a recipe. It's really more like I'm giving you a dinner idea. You can mix it up however you want! 

First, I quickly got the vegetables ready. I cut up 4 stalks of celery, 4 carrots, and one small onion and tossed them in the bottom of the crock pot.

Next, I prepared a dry rub. This is for another post perhaps, but I have come to love dry rubs for preparing poultry. Anyway...

I mixed rosemary, thyme, paprika, white and black pepper, ground cayenne pepper, sage, and garlic powder. Sorry for those of you who like measurements....I just kind of add things to taste. If you don't like much spice, you can take out the cayenne pepper. Whatever your favorite spices though, feel free to use them. A more simple mix that I love is salt, pepper, rosemary, and garlic powder. Mix it up though. Get crazy! (Well, not too crazy.)
Before I put the rub on the chicken, I scored the chicken (made small holes all over, just in case you need some help with kitchen lingo) so all the spices would  get in there and get flavor to the whole chicken. I then smashed a clove of garlic and rubbed over the chicken. I then put the clove in the cavity along with a few carrot and celery sticks.
Next, I put on the rub. Make sure to get in any crevices between the wings and legs. To finish, I squirted some lemon juice over the chicken for a nice zesty kick. 

I turned the crockpot to low for 7.5 hours. I don't know that it will take that long to cook, so I'll keep tabs on it. I read that some people do as little as 4 hours and others as much as 8. It depends on your crockpot and the size of your chicken. Just be sure that when you insert a thermometer into the leg it reads 160 degrees.

My chicken has been going for just over 2 hours. I can't wait to eat this chicken, y'all. My whole house smells divine! I know I haven't eaten it yet, but I'm pretty sure this will be a repeat recipe at the Klein Casa.

Stay tuned for other meals that come from the leftover chicken. I'm really leaning toward a pot pie. *Yum*

Thanks for visiting again. I hope you find as much benefit and satisfaction from this meal idea as I do. 

*Update - after 4 hours and 10 minutes, my chicken was finished cooking. And it's fall off the bone tender. Can't wait to eat it!

On Giving Thanks

November is upon us. The month of Thanksgiving. I have come to love this holiday in a much deeper way over the years. It's much more than turkey and football and food comas. It's about gratitude.  If there is one thing I have come to believe, it is this:

Outtakes

This past Saturday we went out to take family photos. I love getting pictures, and I've been hoping to get some updated photos in frames around the house. While I'm still working on presenting the keepers, I thought it might be fun to share the "blooper" pics, because we all know kids aren't perfect little angels on picture day. :]

 Have a gander, and maybe a few laughs courtesy of the Klein family photo shoot.

                 
The many faces of Ashlyn. She was all over the board. Hilarious, I'm telling you.
                                   
                                    
And then you have these gems. I laugh out loud every time I look at these. Every. Time. I might just have to hang these somewhere in my house just for the laugh factor.

                  
Oh sweet Ashlyn...the portrait of cooperation. Oh, and yes, that would be Ian throwing leaves and grass in my face. Good one, buddy.

                                                       
I'm fairly certain that at this moment, Ian was grimacing, "This is the worst day ever!" Not kidding.

Again, these are the outtakes. I think some of these I enjoy as much as the "good ones."  Portraits are fun, but in all reality, this is us: silly faces, angry faces, leaves in faces, and everything in between. It's fun to remember all of it, isn't it? I'm so thankful for ALL the personality my little family has.

I hope you find some time to enjoy the "outtakes" of life today. It's not always easy at the time, but it's all worth it.

I'll leave you with one more. It's not just the kids that get to have all the fun. ;]
  

Welcome!

Thanks for stopping by my blog! Here's just a quickie post if you are new here.

I should give the disclaimer that I am, in fact, a terrible blogger. I'm inconsistent at best, and I know hardly anything of web design. So, that being said, please don't come here hoping for a daily dose of anything, or the prettiest blog you've ever seen. 

What you can expect though, is reality. Me. At home. In my most natural state. I have messy floors, crazy kids, and a to-do list a mile long. There are a few things I can do pretty well though, and I hope to share those things with you.

I do food. I'm pretty good at meal planning and cooking. Occasionally, I'll share a favorite recipe or menu for a week or two. (Please don't expect a pretty printable. Remember, I'm terrible at that type of stuff.)

I do motherhood. Not that I'm perfect in this endeavor. My kids are often crazy and run around without pants. However, I've come up with a few fun and important ideas for the kiddos in my 4+ years of experience. 

I do marriage. My husband is my favorite person. Yep, even more than my kids. I am consistently working to make our relationship as God honoring and good as it can possibly be.

I do faith. My relationship with God means everything to me. In my darkest of valleys, He holds me and sees me through. On my mountaintops, I rejoice in Him with my whole being. The Gospel is unwavering Good News and I celebrate the fact that I am a child and friend of God. My biggest prayer is that this Good News will seep into your life through this blog, among other places. We all need the Joy of the Lord. 

So, though there are many things you won't find here, you will find a homey place. It may often be messy, but it will be real. I hope you will come to enjoy being here, and add to the conversation.

Welcome to my home. Make yourself comfy.