How to Roast a Whole Chicken in the Crockpot!!

Wayne County Mom Shares How to Roast a Whole Chicken in the Crockpot

Prep time

10 mins

Cook time

5 hours

Total time

5 hours 10 mins

Serves: 4-5

Ingredients

• 1 (4lb) whole chicken, insides removed and washed/patted dry
• ½ TB of paprika
• 2 TB all purpose seasoning ( such as Mrs. Dash or Archer Farms House Blend)
• ½ TB garlic powder
• 1 tsp salt

Make Chicken Salad with Avocado.

Courtesy of www.avocadosfrommexico.com

Instructions

1. Start by mixing together paprika, all purpose seasoning, garlic powder and salt.
2. Place 4 medium sized foil balls in bottom of crockpot. This will act as a stand to prevent the chicken from drying out.
3. Rub seasoning over your entire chicken (including the inside of the bird). Place on top of foil balls. Cover and cook on HIGH for 4 - 4½ hours, or LOW for 6½ - 8 hours.

Using Yogurt as a Cooking Substitute

Healthy living may start with a bunch of substitutions so that you don't have to give up everything you love. Kick up the health value of your recipes with a little help from this secret (sometimes not-so-secret) ingredient: GREEK YOGURT. The chart below is from Chobani, but you may use any kind of greek yogurt in your recipes as a substitute. 

Roasted Garlic Chicken

Ingredients

8 chicken thighs

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

1 head garlic, separated into whole cloves, papery skin removed (about 20 cloves)

3 tablespoons olive oil

1 tablespoon butter

2 teaspoons poultry seasoning 

1 teaspoon flour

1/4 cup chicken stock

1/2 lemon, juiced

Bread, for serving

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
Rinse and pat dry the chicken. Salt and pepper liberally and allow to temper on a cutting board while you prepare the garlic. In a large ovenproof saute pan over medium heat, cook the whole garlic cloves in olive oil and butter, stirring occasionally, until lightly golden, about 10 minutes. Remove the garlic from the pan and set aside. Increase the heat to medium high and brown the chicken skin-side down until the skin is golden and crispy, about 5 minutes. Turn the chicken over, sprinkle on herbes de Provence or poultry seasoning. Add the garlic back to the pan and place hot pan in oven. Bake the chicken until cooked through, about 25 minutes. Once the chicken is done, remove chicken thighs and garlic to a platter. Place the pan over medium-high heat and sprinkle the drippings with flour and stir to incorporate. Deglaze the pan with the stock and lemon juice. Pour the sauce over the chicken on the platter and serve with bread for sauce-mopping and garlic-spreading.

Mediterranean Chicken

Ingredients: (4-6 servings)

• 1 pound chicken breast tenderloins
• Greek seasoning (I used the no-salt version)
• optional - Feiny's veggie rub seasoning 
• 4 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil (EVOO)
• 4 tsp chopped garlic (about 4 large cloves)
• 2 Tbsp shallots, chopped
• 6 Tablespoons jarred sun dried tomato bruschetta (or sun dried tomatoes in oil)
• 1 cup dry white wine (I used Pinot Grigio)
• 2 cups chicken stock
• 1 Tbsp corn starch
• 4 oz package of crumbled feta cheese
• 6 Tablespoons butter
• 2 cups fresh baby spinach, stems removed
• 1 lb cooked penne noodles, al dente, drained and rinsed
• kosher salt and black pepper to taste
• 1/2 cup toasted pine nuts
• additional sun dried tomatoes 
• sliced black olives to garnish

Make ahead time savers: 

You can make the garlic wine sauce ahead of time and store it in the refrigerator.  You can make, drain, and rinse the pasta ahead of time.  Then when you want to cook dinner, all you need to do is cook the chicken and throw it all together.

Also, get all of your veggies chopped before beginning.  I have a great helper for this type of thing!  Remember, there's always some aspect of a recipe that the kids can help with!  My spinach didn't necessarily NEED to be chopped, but it gave Lily a sense of being needed and involved.  And this is just as important as any of the rest of the things you do! 

Step-by-Step:

Garlic wine sauce - 

To a sauce pan, add olive oil,  half the garlic and half the shallots.  Saute them until golden brown, then add the white wine.  Allow it to come up to a boil, then reduce by half, stirring frequently.   The sauce can be stored in the refrigerator until you need it if you are making it ahead of time.

2 Tablespoons olive oil

2 teaspoons chopped garlic

1 Tablespoon chopped shallots

Allow them to saute until they start to become golden and soft.

Once the garlic and shallots are golden, add in the wine.  I keep some of these small individual bottles of wine just for cooking.  They are usually just the right amount for a recipe, and I don't have to worry about saving the leftovers.  They usually come in a 4-pack. 

1 cup of dry white wine (I'm using Pinot Grigio today)

In a measuring cup or bowl, stir together the cold chicken stock and corn starch to make a slurry.   The slurry will keep the corn starch from lumping up on you when you add it to the hot wine sauce.

2 cups chicken stock

1 Tbsp corn starch

Add the slurry to the reduced wine sauce.  Bring to a boil, then reduce to a medium simmer for about 10 minutes until it has thickened up a bit.  Season to taste with kosher salt and black pepper.  

chicken stock + corn starch slurry

kosher salt

black pepper

Strain the sauce and discard the garlic and shallots to complete the sauce.

I ended up with a little over 1 1/2 cups of sauce after the reduction, etc.  If you are making the sauce ahead of time, you can cover and refrigerate it now.

Be a Meal Planning Guru - DAY 5 - Bringing it All Together

Now it's time to put it all together! Using the lists you made this week, you can easily compose several meals with one item from each list (starch, veggie, protein) On 1-2 nights a week, integrate the one pot wonders. If you plan carefully you can make one pot wonders from leftover proteins and sometimes veggies. 

You can plan your weekly meals by first deciding what three major proteins you are going to eat for the week, then you can make them do double duty! For example, if I buy a rotisserie chicken, I prepare a salad one night and chicken tacos the next. If I’m making roasted pork loin with veggies and rice on Monday, I may use the leftover for pulled-pork sandwiches and sweet potato fries on Wednesday night.

Use combinations that your family enjoys but don't be afraid to change it up! If you always have mashed potatoes with meatloaf, mix it up and do couscous instead one evening. Or a different form of potatoes, home fries!

Here are some nifty combinations:

Speedy Tips 

Spend time each week looking for recipes...

Create a place to save recipes, and keep it SIMPLE...

Check the weather...

Keep a meal journal...

Start a calendar...

Go with theme nights (soup night, pasta night, beans).

Check these awesome templates to guide you along the way!

I like this one for posting on the fridge for the family to see what is coming up next.

This is a more detailed one that you may want to keep close by so that you can have a readily accessible grocery list.


THIS IS THE BEST GIFT I COULD GIVE YOU! There is an actual meal planning book you can put together. Print this pdf here Print page 2 several times and you have a beautiful meal planning journal. You can place this inside of a tradition report cover or have the front and back page laminated at a teacher's store. OR you can have all three pages laminated and you can use a dry erase marker to simply erase your meals after the week is over and start again. I like to keep my meal sheets because I can use them all over again next year or next month!

Sweet Potato Cake!

3 C Grated raw sweet potatoes (about 2 medium sized)

4 Eggs

2 C Sugar

1 C Vegetable oil

1 tbsp Bourbon

2 1/4 C Flour

2 tsp Cinnamon

2 tsp Baking soda

1 tsp Salt

1/4 tsp Nutmeg

1 C Chopped walnuts (optional)

For the frosting

1 C (2 sticks) Unsalted butter at room temperature

2 (8 oz) Packages cream cheese at room temperature

1 lb (approximately 4-4.5 cups) Confectionary sugar

1-2 tbsp Bourbon

1 tbsp Heavy whipping cream

1 tsp Vanilla extract

1/2 C Caramel sauce

1 C Walnuts, chopped

Instructions

1. Peel sweet potatoes. Use a grater to shred the sweet potatoes into a bowl. When finished, use your hands to squeeze out excess juice from sweet potatoes. Pour out excess juice. Re-fluff sweet potatoes with your hands.
2. Preheat oven to 350° and grease and flour two 8” pans. If you choose to use a different size pan, you will need to adjust the baking time accordingly. This can easily be made in a 9” pan as well as a Bundt pan.
3. Lightly beat eggs with a fork. Add sugar and beat on low speed until smooth. Add oil and bourbon. Continue to beat on low speed until well mixed.
4. In a medium bowl, combine flour, cinnamon, baking soda, salt and nutmeg; mix together. Slowly add flour mixture to wet ingredients and beat until incorporated.
5. Fold in walnuts.
6. Pour batter in greased baking pans. Bake for 40-45 minutes. Use a toothpick or knife to check the center of the cake. If your toothpick comes out clean, the cake is done. Allow cake to cool completely.
7. Prepare the frosting by allowing the butter and cream cheese to come to room temperature for about 30 minutes. Combine butter and cream cheese in a mixer. Beat on a medium high speed until its light and fluffy.
8. Slowly add powdered sugar one cup at a time, until each cup is incorporated. As the frosting thickens, add bourbon, one tablespoon at a time. Reserve the second table spoon if you prefer a stronger taste.
9. Add heavy whipping cream and vanilla last. Incorporate into frosting and then increase speed to medium high and beat for additional 2-3minutes to whip air into the frosting.
10. Refrigerate the frosting for at least 30-60 minutes while cake cools.
11. To prepare the cake, use a cake leveler or knife to cut the dome off the cake, leaving a flat top on both cakes.
12. Apply a crumb coat the cake (a thin layer of frosting) and put in the freezer for 20-30 minutes. Remove from freezer and add remaining frosting. Keep refrigerated.
13. Before serving, use your hands to apply walnuts to the sides of the cake. Drizzle the caramel over the top of the cake and gently spread to the edges with an offset spatula.