Menu Plan Monday - 7/5/09

Well I had a week off from cooking while we were out of town, and the past few days have just sort of been "winging" it. My love of the crockpot continues to grow since it has been so hot I have no desire to turn on the oven or hang around a hot stove! In fact, I finally decided to order a larger 6-quart oval crockpot (my current one is 4-quart) so I can do some serious meals in it! I also got a copy of the "Fix It and Forget It Lightly" crockpot cookbook from the library, so you can expect to see a lot of crockpot meals in my menu plans as long as the weather stays hot. When we're not crockpotting, we'll be grilling.

• Sunday: Steak salad, baked potatoes, corn on the cob - all cooked on the grill
• Monday: Steak sandwiches (leftovers from Sunday), possibly oven fries (depends on how much effort I feel like exerting), garden salad
• Tuesday: Crockpot Potato Soup (no, its not soup weather, but I have a big bag of potatoes that need to get eaten)
• Wednesday: Leftovers/fend for yourself
• Thursday: Crockpot Sticky Chicken (recipe below), garden salad
• Friday: Chicken Salad (from leftovers)
• Saturday: Crockpot Macaroni and Cheese

Assuming my new crockpot gets delivered as scheduled, I am going to make my favorite roast chicken recipe in the crockpot! This chicken comes out so amazingly delicious in the oven, but it takes a long time to slow roast so I rarely have time to make it. Hooray for crockpots! This is also perfect for a workday since it has be prepared and marinated overnight, so in the morning all I do is throw it in the crockpot and turn it on. How much more simple can it get?

Roast Sticky Chicken

• 2 teaspoons salt
• 1 teaspoon paprika
• 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
• 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1/2 teaspoon white pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 onion, quartered
• 1 whole chicken

In a small bowl, mix together salt, paprika, onion powder, thyme, white pepper, black pepper, cayenne pepper, and garlic powder. Remove and discard giblets from chicken. (I also take the skin off, I think it absorbs more flavor that way and hopefully is a little healthier). Rinse chicken cavity, and pat dry with paper towel. Rub chicken inside and out with spice mixture. Place onion into the cavity of chicken. Place chicken in a resealable bag or double wrap with plastic wrap. Refrigerate overnight, or at least 4 to 6 hours.

To cook in oven:
Preheat oven to 250 degrees F (120 degrees C). Place chicken in a roasting pan. Bake uncovered for 5 hours, to a minimum internal temperature of 180 degrees F (85 degrees C). Let the chicken stand for 10 minutes before carving.

Crockpot:
I plan on throwing this in the crockpot before I leave for work and cooking all day on low, it will cook about 10 hours. Also, I plan on putting some balled up aluminum foil in the bottom of the crockpot so the chicken is raised up a bit and does not sit in its juices/fat all day.

Check out more great menus at Menu Plan Monday.