Slow Cooking Success

I have had my slow cooker / Crockpot for some time now but I have not been very happy with the meals and finally I figured out what I have being doing wrong.

As I have not been feeling 100%  I wanted something easy for lunch today. Yesterday I took out of the fridge two chickens and let them defrost in the fridge overnight. Why two? Well here I am glad to report they don’t seem to pump them full of hormones so much so they are not really big like chickens back home.

Last night I got a blog update from A Year of Slow Cooking so I browsed the index and found this  recipe for a whole chicken. Stephanie O’Dea has a great blog and lots of great ideas.

I have a 6 quart Crockpot (just worked that one out today as I don’t understand quarts LOL) and here is what I did.

2 chickens skinned but remaining on the bone (you really should skin them as there is very little fat and the taste and smell is much better).

1/2 cup of salad dressing (Lol I had none in the fridge so I made up my own using seeded mustard, balsamic vinegar, honey and olive oil).

1 apple, 1 onion and few cloves of garlic.

Basically you cover the chicken in the dressing inside and out, season it and stuff the cavity with some cut apple, onion and garlic. Place them in the slow cooker, cover with the lid and then cook on high for 4 hours.

I tell you THESE CHICKENS WERE AMAZING!!!! When done it all just fell off the bone. I took all the chicken off the bone to make it easier to eat for the kids and there must have been about 2 cups of juices at the bottom of the pot which tasted lovely and fruity over the chicken.

We had it with some salad and there were smiles around and HEAPS left over for sandwiches or maybe tacos tomorrow!

Sorry no pictures. If you have a Crockpot / slow cooker then dust it off and head over to the BLOG for some great inspiration.

Oh and the highlight of my day was my bestest pal dropping over with some gorgeous meringues and cream and fruit as a little consolation for missing her big birthday bash last night. Glad to be feeling a little better today but still soooo sad I missed the party.

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A Postcard

I have been sick for the past few days, it is nothing serious and most likely a bug of sorts but it has left me drained and weak to say the least. So what does a girl do when the kids are having DVD time??? Yep, she catches up on blogs etc. So while browsing I came across this very simple request from a Mom in the states who has a little girl about to have a major surgery. She does not want money, she just has requested for people to send her daughter some postcards to cheer her up in recovery.

If you can spare a little time please pen a card to Satori. Her surgery date is the 31st so you would need to send it soon. HERE are the details.

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Happy St Patricks Day

Ah to be sure it is a great day to be Irish! (this picture was taken at the school fete last week)

I had to laugh as all the American teachers seem to get into the celebrations more than the Irish themselves! It was lovely to see everyone sporting their green clothing today.

After picking up Ali from the airport last night I whipped up a very simple skirt for Lulu to wear today. Luckily the shorts I made for Sami last year still fit (well maybe a bit of builders bum when he bent over LOL) so they were ready in their Irish best this morning. Lulu is wearing my Mum’s scarf so she felt very grown up LOL. Can you see that Sami is almost as tall as lulu now!

My darling husband went and got my car all fixed up with new tyres and we were ready to rock and roll out to dinner tonight with Mum and the kids.

Do you know how hard it is to get three kids to look and smile at the same time ;-) Sometimes I feel exhausted with my little Samster he really is a handful and he knows it too ;-)

I have a lot to catch up on here in blog land as I have been a bit busy distracted of late so I promise to be back soon.

May the luck of the Irish be with you always …

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