When I was growing up as a pastor's daughter in rural Oklahoma, we lived close to my mother's family. We often went to her parents' house for lunch on Sunday. My grandmother would make roast and potatoes with carrots and green beans or asparagus from her garden. Dessert in the summer was strawberries fresh from the garden. Memories from those Sundays are some of my favorites. The sounds of the women talking and laughing in the kitchen and the men watching football (or some other sporting event) downstairs, the smells of the food all gave me such a feeling of home and security.
Now I live 8 hours from my closest family. (Except for a great-aunt and her kids who would be my 3rd? cousins.) I can't manage to get together with family every week, and cooking an elaborate meal by myself every week is just too much work. Remember my goal of being less tired? I decided to take Sundays off. But I didn't want to give up on good food for Sundays, and eating out every week would be too expensive. When I was a child and we didn't live near my grandparents, Sunday lunch was hot dogs nearly every week. I didn't want to establish this pattern in my own home. So, I started using the crock pot. I put the food in the crock on Saturday night and keep it in the fridge until 7am on Sunday. I take out the crock and put it in the part that plugs into the wall, I guess that's the pot. I turn it on at 8am, and by the time we get home, we have a perfectly cooked dinner.
I have cooked beef roast, pork roast, whole chicken, even meatloaf in the slow cooker. It's very satisfying to have a traditional "Sunday dinner" fully (or nearly) prepared when we get home from church. I wrote up a formal recipe for chicken in the crock pot. I prepare beef and pork roasts very similarly, but with simpler seasonings. To make meatloaf in the crock pot, make a meatloaf using your preferred recipe. Line the crock pot with foil (very important for cleaning) and form the meatloaf into a ball/loaf in the shape of the crock. I leave about an inch between the meatloaf and the side. Cook on low for about 5 hours. I don't put potatoes with meatloaf. I like to make mashed potatoes. A short-cut for that is to peel and chop the potatoes and keep them just covered in water in the fridge. Then drain the water and put the potatoes into water that was heating while you drained them.
Crock pot chicken
Serves 6+ (We eat it the first day, box the leftovers for lunches at work, and use the extra meat and broth for a meal later in the week.)
Ingredients
4-5lb whole chicken
~8 small, washed, unpeeled potatoes
2-4 carrots cut up (or 10-20 "baby cut" carrots)
seasonings: salt, pepper, onion powder, celery flakes, paprika, anything else you like (sage, garlic,...)
Directions:
Sprinkle seasonings in the bottom of the crock insert (this seasons both sides of the chicken)
Remove skin from chicken (This is not hard, just messy and can take time until you have practiced)
Place chicken in crock breast-side up
Sprinkle top with seasonings to taste
Place carrots around chicken (toward the bottom because they dry out badly)
Add water to come half-way up the chicken.
Wash potatoes and place around and on top of chicken.
Sprinkle salt on wet potatoes (otherwise they have no seasoning)
Cook on low for 4-5 hours. Makes a great Sunday lunch. A can of green beans completes the meal very well.
Strain the broth and save it for chicken and dumplings (Will's favorite) or soup for later in the week. Or freeze broth for future use in dumplings or soup.
