Every mother and wife has heard it forever, it seems.  So, what is this question?

“What’s for dinner?”

And it comes everyday!  Even for those of us that enjoy cooking, everyday is a lot.  I am here to help you with this daily chore.  Sans a complete autobiography, suffice to say I raised four rowdy boys, and one brave little girl on one income in a small 1,800 square foot home.   For a couple years, four of the five were teenagers all at once!

They are all now grown and some with children of their own. Feeding them was a mighty daily chore, most especially with one income.  I can say with certainty it can be done, and done well.

So, I have decided to post on my blog recipes that are real winners with moms, dads, and children.  But before recipes come, the right cooking tools need to be on hand.  And anyone who follows my blog knows I love tools! Here is a fun blog on  The Tool Purse

Required Kitchen Tools:

Crock Pot  I do not recommend one over the other, except this, be sure it has a Low, High and Keep Warm feature. Also, I suggest you choose a good size one, at least big enough to hold a whole chicken, or a nice size roast.

Dutch Oven  This is a round heavy metal cooking pot with a snug fitting lid.  Can be used in oven or stovetop.  This is your most valuable kitchen cooking tool.  In the photo are two different types of Dutch Ovens.  The green enameled over cast iron cooks remarkable meals in remarkable time!  I use this one in the oven.  The stainless steel one I use on the stovetop.

Good Heavy Slotted Spoons and Solid Spoons  Good spoons are necessary tools for your kitchen.  There are so many to choose from.  Try them out before purchasing to be sure they fit your hand well, are comfortable, and have a good long handle.

 

 

 Good Thick Hot Pads   And plenty of them.  Also hold them in your hand to be sure they fit well, are soft and bend well.  Some are so stiff they are a danger for  handling hot pots and lids.

 

So, check your kitchen ‘tool box’, be sure you have good tools for working and preparing the delicious meals you will be making for your family with yummy left-overs.  For a very fast starting recipe try this:

 

Crock Pot Whole Chicken

This is one of the easiest recipes to put together.  Do it in the morning before going to work.  It will take less than 15 minutes.

Remove whole chicken from plastic, discard the giblets.  Rinse chicken inside and out.  Place whole chicken, breast side up in crock pot.  Season with salt, pepper, paprika, or your favorite seasoned salt.

For extra flavor add onion and cloves of garlic.  No need to peel them.  They cook sweeter in their skins and can easily be pressed out of skins at end of cooking time with your fork.  Also add a few potatoes with skins on.  Pour a cup of water over all of it.  Set crock pot to “Low”, and go about your day.

You will need your slotted spoons to remove chicken from crock pot.  It will fall apart upon removal.  Arrange on a plate with the cooked potatoes, onion and garlic.   Allow to cool while your favorite vegetable cooks in a little boiling water on the stove.  After cooling some, remove the skin from the chicken, discard, the chicken will fall off the bone.

For extra yumminess, mash your potatoes with a fork, get a little juice with your solid spoon from crock pot, pour over meat, onions and potatoes.  Enjoy!  Let me know how it turned out!

This will serve a family of 4 or 5 for two nights (providing they are all not teenagers!).

 

Homemade is not as hard as you think!