I love Pinterest!

Sundays are family shopping day for us.

After Church we head over to Hickam and have lunch at one of their restaurants and then Ryan and Zach go walking around the PX (or BX as they call it) and I head over to get groceries.

I LOVE grocery shopping, Ryan does not. So this set up works out great for us.

I like to walk down every aisle and imagine things I could cook up with new found ingediants.

However, this week I was on a mission.

I had a whole list of Pinterest recipes that I have been dying to try and so I was good and filled my cart with items on my list (mostly).

 

When Zach woke up Monday morning I told him it was time to get busy.
So I set him up in the kitchen floor with pots and pans and spatulas and he played me music while I worked.

 

We made a Blueberry Crumb Bar and a Crock Pot Chicken.

Both were a hit! (According to Ryan)

 

Crock Pot Chicken (as revised by yours truly):

Ingredients:

 

Rub Ingredients
4 tsp salt
2 tsp paprika
1 tsp cayenne pepper
1 tsp onion powder
1 tsp thyme
1 tsp white pepper
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp black pepper

 

3 1/2 to 4 1/2 lbs roasting or fryer chicken
1 cup chopped onion, approx 1 medium to large onion
4-5 carrots, scrubbed, no need to peel, chopped in halves or thirds
4 celery stalks, cut in thirds

10-12 Fingerling potatoes
2 garlic cloves, peeled and smashed

Directions:

1. Combine rub ingredients in a small bowl.

 

 

 

2. Remove chicken from packaging and remove neck and pouch with organs. Rinse chicken and pat dry with paper towels.

 

3. Rub garlic all over outside of the chicken. Put garlic inside the chicken. Rub the rub all over the outside and inside the chicken.

 

4. Place onions, carrots and celery inside the slow cooker.

 

 

5. Place chicken on top of the vegetables. Cover slow cooker and cook chicken on low for 4-8 hours.  Cook until the internal temperature of the leg is at 160 degrees F (Do not be alarmed by the black potatoes, they are meant to be that way - they are actually purple).

 

 

6. Remove chicken and place in a 9x13 glass baking dish. Place baking dish in the oven under the broiler for about 4-5 minutes. Allow chicken to rest after removing it from the broiler for 5-10 minutes.

 

Afterthoughts:

 

- I almost chickened out of using the cayenne pepper but I am glad that I didn't the rub had a wonderful flavor. BUT if you don't like spicy, I would definitely omit it!

- The carrots were Ryan's favorite, he says double the carrots.

- I added extra garlic, I minced it and rubbed it on the outside of the bird.

- The potatoes did not absorb the flavor very well, maybe next time I will poke fork holes in them or just cut them in half to help them out.

 

 



Blueberry Crumb Bars

 

Ingredients:

1 cup white sugar

1 tsp baking powder

3 cups all-purpose flour

1 cup cold unsalted butter

1 egg

1/4 tsp salt

Zest and juice of one lemon

4 cups fresh blueberries

1/2 cup white sugar

4 tsp cornstarch

 

1. Preheat the oven to 375ºF.  Grease a 9×13 inch pan.

2. In a medium bowl, stir together 1 cup sugar, 3 cups flour, and baking powder. Mix in salt and lemon zest. Use a fork or pastry cutter to blend in the butter and egg. Dough will be crumbly.

3. Pat half of dough into the prepared pan. In another bowl, stir together the sugar, cornstarch and lemon juice. Gently mix in the blueberries. Sprinkle the blueberry mixture evenly over the crust. Crumble remaining dough over the berry layer.

4. Bake in preheated oven for30-45 mins, or until top is slightly brown. Cool completely before cutting into squares.

 

 

Afterthoughts:

 

- It is a thin line between getting the blueberries cooked enough and burning the crumble. I think next time I will cover it with foil for the first fifteen minutes to allow the blueberries to cook longer.