Dinner for a busy day

I'd better post this while it is still today.

Yesterday was filled with packing and general "preparing to leave your house knowing when you return your landlady may be showing it" activities. My father-in-law called first thing and made my day by offering to come spend some time with the kids. He took them to the park, and I think they were gone just over an hour, but it was one hour of MAJOR productivity. I always knew if I could ever be alone in my house for just a little while, I could accomplish so much. As Coop was getting ready to go to the park he suggested I may get a little lonely. I assured him I'd be fine, but would manage.

We had to do some stuff at the bank right around dinnertime, so one of my sisters-in-law watched the kids and I made the following recipes for a quasi date-night/packing evening. (How expectations change: a candlelit dinner, with only a few interruptions from movie-watching children, followed by packing and mortgage paper-signing constitutes a decent date!) So, for a full day I offer you the following recipes for today's Friday Whole Food Recipe Review.

Lemon and Herb Crockpot Roasted Chicken

(Original source: A Year of Slow Cooking blog)

This recipe was great, although I didn't use enough salt. I was hesitant to cut all the fat off the chicken, and then follow her directions to add no liquid, but it turned out so moist! Her instructions to reduce cooking time if you don't want falling apart chicken should be heeded. Tasted great, even in pieces.

Deborah Madison's Roasted Potatoes

(Original source: Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone)

I don't have the cookbook in front of me, but I cut my potatoes (russet, I think) in thin wedges and tossed with olive oil, sea salt, pepper, and thyme. (She offers other herb suggestions, but I needed it to be fast and simple!) I let them cook at a 450 degrees for about 20 minutes, then turned the oven down to 350 degrees until tender, about 15 minutes for mine. They were great...kind of crispy on the edges, but not burnt to a crisp.

We had salad and bread and called it a date.

Today's projects: Pack for trip to Florida. Find Bitty Baby's shoes so she can be properly dressed for said trip. Return library books. Stop in at used library book sale. Clean bathrooms and vacuum so we can come back to a semi-clean house. Try to be faithful with children all the while. All of grace!