Cheap Chick

Not me, even though I am considerably thrifty. No no, this cheap chick is the one sweating away in my crock pot right now.

A few weeks ago Albertson's had whole chickens for $0.49/lb (how the heck to you type a cents sign?). I bought 3 and used the first 2 right away. As the days til my next unemployment dispersement creep by, I find it time to use the last one.

There are lots of whole chicken recipes online, but I find the easiest way to cook them is as follows:

1. Find whatever sturdy vegetables you have in your refridgerator. Today I had carrots, celery and onions.

2. Concoct a medley of whatever spices you'd like from your cabinet and grab whatever oil (preferably olive) you have on hand. Today I'm using McCormick's Montreal Chicken Grinder and a fancy oregano olive oil. I bought both of these at Big Lots, where I score all my rock bottom priced cooking needs.

3. Chop veggies and cover bottom of the crock pot. Shove half the onion (chopped or not) into the belly of that bird. I like to use some seasonings on the veggies here, but it's optional.

4. Clean the bird from gut to gizzard, rub with oil, generously apply seasoning.

5. Plop that bird breast side DOWN into the crock pot. Cover and let'er cook. Don't pick up the lid, that lets the magic out.

Now, I personally am cooking her on high for 2 hours then down to low for another 3-5 (depending on when these kids get hungry tonight) but that's because she didn't fully defrost after 2 days in the fridge. Usually I put her on low the whole time.

So from this chicken, I should get dinner tonight, lunch tomorrow and at least 2 more meals this week. For all 4 of us. And Uncle Kev if he wants :)

Excuse my pics, I can't find my battery charger for my camera and my ipod camera has gone bezerk. So these are from my phone. I will add the final images when she's done. Wish me luck!

Banana Nut Bread

So this morning baby Pax only got half a banana because the other half was overripe and mushed in my hand before I could get it to him. I asked my mom what to do with all these bananas and she said, "I don't know, make pudding. Make bread. Eat them." You can see where I get my intelligence from - "eat them"... smarty.

So as usual I scoured the Internet in search of a banana pudding recipe (which I really wanted) but on my budget, I had to make something that I already had all the ingredients. On to banana bread. There weren't any exact recipes I could use, so I did my own little combo and in about 30 more minutes we will see how it turned out *fingers crossed.*

I enlisted the help of my oldest, 3 year-old CJ because he has insisted on making pot roast and cake for over a week now. Banana Bread is as close as he's getting. I have no idea why he is obsessed with cooking pot roast, he doesn't even eat it that often.

So here is the recipe I concocted and I will post an "after" pic...

Banana Nut Bread

1/3 c melted butter

3 mushed ripe bananas

1 egg

1 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 tsp almond extract

1/2 cup white sugar

1/2 cup brown sugar

1 tsp baking soda

pinch of salt

dash of cinnamon

1 1/2 cups flour

1/2 cup pecan halves or pieces

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a large bowl, mash the bananas and add the melted butter.

Combine egg and extracts and lightly beat, then add to bowl.

Allow your child to continue stirring the mixture with a wooden spoon while you sugars, spices, flour and nuts (in that order). Pour everything into a buttered loaf pan (I used glass) and bake for one hour.

Remove and cool . Eat.

I will share a few things I found to be helpful: I used real butter - hence the golden brown color and the extreme ease of removing from the pan. Most recipes I found say to cool then remove, but I have this constant baking fear that my creations are going to stick to the pans, so I try to get mine out as quickly as possible. I am trying as hard as I can right now not to slice this loaf, and I recommend letting yours cool as much as you can resist too..... *insert grumbling stomach and children*

Hello Out There...

I'm 6+ months into my separation/relocation and unemployment. The latter of which brings us together here. I am the proud, yet frazzled mother of 2 little boys ages 1 and 3.

My darlings were taken out of daycare thanks to the ongoing changes in our lives, and as my search for work seems unending, I've realized I have to find ways to entertain them (and myself) all day, every day. So this is my story and these are my attempts...