Lemon and Rosemary Chicken

I love the Thanksgiving holiday almost as much as I love the Christmas Holiday (which starts in August in my house).  The smells, the flavors, the gatherings, just linger in my heart.  One day, I was perusing a favorite recipe site for crock pot ideas, when I found this heavenly fragrant whole chicken dish.  It smells like Thanksgiving Day.

The original recipe claims a 9 hour cooking time, for a 3 lb chicken.  Mine, and always a bigger chicken, is done in about 6 hours. Work with your own slow cooker to see how long it takes in your home.  Flambo!!

Below is the link for the original recipe:

Fragrant Lemon Chicken

Here is what I do with it.  I put this in the Crock Pot every Sunday and it’s ready for us when we get home from church.

 Ready to start cooking.

Lemon and Rosemary Chicken

1 whole chicken, 4-5 lbs
1 stalk celery, chopped
1 Apple, peeled, quartered and seeded

1 Lemon, zested and juiced
salt and pepper to taste
1 medium sized onion, (your choice) chopped
1 sprig of Fresh Rosemary (1 tsp of dried from a jar if you don’t have fresh)

1 cup water or Chicken Broth

Rinse the chicken and place in the slow cooker.  Stuff the cavity with the celery and apple pieces.

Sprinkle the Lemon Zest over the chicken breast, add salt and pepper.  Evenly distribute the chopped onion on top.  Squeeze the juice from the lemon over the onions, then pluck the fresh rosemary leaves off the stem and sprinkle them around the chicken.

Add the water or broth to the pot.

Place the lid on the pot and turn on to High for 1 hour.  After one hour, turn down to Low for another 5 hours (according to my crock pot) or until the chicken legs are easily moved around. 

This chicken can take 6-8 hours to cook, depending on your slow cooker quirks.  Mine takes about 6 hours.  But no matter how long it takes, it smells like Thanksgiving Day.  I love Sundays.

After the chicken is cooked, the juice makes a fabulous gravy. Strain the juices into a juice/fat separator, if you have it, leaving to sit for a few minutes so the fat can rise to the top.  Pour into a pot (after skimming the fat off the top if you don’t have the separator) adding the onions and rosemary to said pot along with more salt and pepper.  I add probably another cup of chicken broth from a carton (a good quality organic brand), about 1/2 cup Almond milk (regular milk will be just fine) a few pieces of  dark meat, shredded, and thicken with a cornstarch and water mixture. 

This is wonderful on Mashed potatoes, on the meat, and saving leftover gravy to pour into a Chicken Pot Pie on Tuesday.

Shazaam!

When I saw an ad for Spice Islands Saigon Cinnamon, portraying it as something exotic and special, I was skeptical.  “Cinnamon is cinnamon,” I thought.  It was pricier than “regular” cinnamon, so I left it alone. Then one day, I was feeling adventurous, Flambo surged to the forefront as I perused the spice aisle, and a jar of Saigon Cinnamon flew into my cart. 

Shazaam! Flambo!  I am now a believer!  I have never tasted a cinnamon such as this.  Zing!  Red Hot Candies! Spicy love!  Be warned: If you are a Foodie, once you go Saigon, you don’t go back, and if you do, you are not satisfied. Worth the extra price.

Saigon Cinnamon from the  Spice Islands web site.  I have learned that cinnamon comes from tropical evergreen trees. Cool.

What am I going to do with my 20 jars of  Cinnamon storage?  Yawn my way through hard times?

Food Storage for September

 

For some of us, the harvest is over.  Canned goods in glass jars, the fruits of our labors, line the shelves. For some, the harvest continues, with fall vegetables sill growing.  The anticipation lingers.

Our food storage item for September is Fruits and Vegetables.*

Fruits and Vegetables: 5 servings (1/2-1 cup)/person /day

OR

desired servings/ week x 52

Time to take an inventory of what you have, see what you need, and build on it.  Check Grocery sale fliers for great deals.  Store openings is a good place to find a “3 for a dollar sale.”  Keep and eye open for good deals throughout the year. 

If you are on the baby step program, go through your pantry, check for canned fruits and vegetables you didn’t use last month and throw them the closet with what you tossed in there last month.  Do you have $2.50? $3.00?  Add an extra 3 cans of fruits or vegetables (depending on what you want)  to your cart next time you shop, then throw it in the closet.  You’ve just added to your food storage!  If you’ve found you can do more, even better.

Using Dried Apples

Dried apples are an excellent snack straight out of it’s can or package. To reconstitute them use equal parts of dried apples to boiling water and let stand for 5 minutes. If you put this mixture through the blender you have Applesauce.

Stewed Apples and Raisins

In a saucepan, cover 1 cup dried apples and a few raisins with 4 cups boiling water and let stand for 5 minutes.

"President Marion G. Romney said, “We will see the day when we will live on what we produce.”  Producing our own food frees us from worries and more importantly, we pass on food preservation skills to the next generation. Canning, freezing and dehydrating skills are like any other.  The first time we try will be the most difficult, but the process will get easier as we gain experience.  If you haven’t canned or grown your own garden, consider starting to learn now, so you are prepared for the next season.   I highly recommend the “Ball Blue Book of Preserving, “ which can be found in garden centers, book stores, and the canning supply aisle in the grocery store.  (Amazon.com , itself, does not this version any longer)

)

This book has recipes for how to can, dehydrate, freeze, recipes for canning salsa, jams, and even soups.

What Amazon carries now, is the newer version, titled,  “Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving”

Another option is “Independence Days: A Guide to Sustainable Food Storage and Preservation.”  On this page, I also found a book about gardening on 1/4 acre and other interesting titles.

 

*It is suggested that we store seed.  You may find seeds still available at a Co-op, or farming store, to use for next season.  Also check local dollar stores, and other variety stores for seed packet sales.

Usable Lifetime of Common Seeds

Beans, 3 yrs                          

Eggplant, 4 yrs                             Pumpkin, 4 yrs

Beets, 3 yrs                          

Kale, 3 yrs                                   Radishes, 3 yrs

Cabbage, 4 yrs                      

Lettuce, 4 yrs                             Spinach, 3 yrs

Carrots, 1 yr                         

Melons, 4 yrs                               Squash, 4 yrs

Cauliflower, 4 yrs                 

Onions, 1 yr                               

Swiss chard, 4 yrs

Corn, sweet, 2 yrs                

Peas, 1 yr                                    Tomatoes, 3yrs

Cucumbers ,5 yrs                   Peppers, 2 yrs