Well, cooking the entire chicken in the crock pot (even though it was still partially frozen when I put it in) turned out to be a success. No giblet bag was discovered inside the bird. And after we removed the chicken, we added some water to the crock pot along with all the skin and bones, let it keep cooking all night, and in the morning we had lots of chicken stock for soup! I did, however, make Eric give the bird the final "cooking complete" ok when he got home from work. I did not want to be the one responsible for possible sickness in case it hadn't been cooked long enough ;) We both survived nicely, however. So crock pot chicken can work out rather well :)
Now, as for the recipe I used the first batch of chicken for... Eric would probably say that it was not one of the most successful, lol. But not because I cooked it poorly. The recipe used a lot of mayonnaise, which neither of us enjoy a ton. It was a little overpowering. The recipe was for broccoli chicken casserole, and I will post the recipe for anyone who enjoys the taste of mayo. I figured that, since the mayo was mixed with plenty of other stuff, you wouldn't taste it much. You do. So... if you like that taste, this recipe is for you! (I still liked it pretty well though, honestly :)
Broccoli Chicken Casserole
2 (10 1/2-oz.) cans condensed cream of mushroom soup
1 C. mayonnaise
1 tsp. lemon juice
1 C. shredded sharp cheese
3 to 4 lb. chicken, cooked, deboned, and cut into bite-size pieces
1 bunch broccoli spears, or 2 10-oz. pkg. frozen broccoli spears, cooked
1/2 C. bread crumbs
Layer the broccoli spears in the bottom of a casserole dish or oblong 13x9x2" baking dish. Then layer the chicken pieces on and around the broccoli. Next layer the shredded cheese. Mix together the soup, mayonnaise and lemon juice and layer this mixture over all other ingredients. Sprinkle the bread crumbs over the top of the casserole and bake at 350 for approximately 25 minutes, or until bubbles can be seen around the edges of the casserole. Serves 8. Can be made the day before and refrigerated before baking.
I was a little unsure about how to prepare the broccoli. No laughter, please! The directions were just a little unclear to me. I thought it was saying that you were to layer either fresh broccoli, or frozen broccoli that had been cooked, into the bottom of the dish. So that's what I did at first. Just layered the fresh broccoli spears. But then it dawned on me. Perhaps you were meant to cook it whether it was fresh or frozen. The punctuation just seemed a little unclear. So... I took out all the broccoli and set it in boiling water for about two minutes. Perfect!
Like I said before, I waited for Eric to come home and pronounce the chicken well-done enough to eat before I took it out of the crock pot. Perhaps I need to work on the whole realm of self-confidence, lol :) He looked at it a little, then cut off a piece and put it in his mouth in order to decide. That was our test. In all the many shower gifts we received, we realized, we never got a food thermometer. That should maybe be an investment soon, so that taste-and-wait-for-sickness is not our only option for determining when food is ready! We then lifted the bird out into a huge bowl, and started tearing off all the meat. There is a reason why buying chicken breasts is so popular. The whole chicken, bones and skin and all, is really quite unappetizing. Even once it is cooked ;P Our chicken was 5 lbs, so we used some of it for the casserole and saved some for soup.
As for bread crumbs for the top, well, we substituted saltine crackers crunched up individually by me. It probably would have been quicker to have put them all in a ziplock bag and crunch them with a mallet. But instead I just crumbled each little cracker between my finger and thumb. I need to work on efficiency too!
I'll be honest, I totally fell through on doing sit ups this week. But I wasn't feeling very well some days... and, well, I'll see if I can do better next week. As for a new dinner, I will be attempting Artichoke Feta Fettuccine :) Look out Olive Garden, here I come :)
Now, as for the recipe I used the first batch of chicken for... Eric would probably say that it was not one of the most successful, lol. But not because I cooked it poorly. The recipe used a lot of mayonnaise, which neither of us enjoy a ton. It was a little overpowering. The recipe was for broccoli chicken casserole, and I will post the recipe for anyone who enjoys the taste of mayo. I figured that, since the mayo was mixed with plenty of other stuff, you wouldn't taste it much. You do. So... if you like that taste, this recipe is for you! (I still liked it pretty well though, honestly :)
Broccoli Chicken Casserole
2 (10 1/2-oz.) cans condensed cream of mushroom soup
1 C. mayonnaise
1 tsp. lemon juice
1 C. shredded sharp cheese
3 to 4 lb. chicken, cooked, deboned, and cut into bite-size pieces
1 bunch broccoli spears, or 2 10-oz. pkg. frozen broccoli spears, cooked
1/2 C. bread crumbs
Layer the broccoli spears in the bottom of a casserole dish or oblong 13x9x2" baking dish. Then layer the chicken pieces on and around the broccoli. Next layer the shredded cheese. Mix together the soup, mayonnaise and lemon juice and layer this mixture over all other ingredients. Sprinkle the bread crumbs over the top of the casserole and bake at 350 for approximately 25 minutes, or until bubbles can be seen around the edges of the casserole. Serves 8. Can be made the day before and refrigerated before baking.
I was a little unsure about how to prepare the broccoli. No laughter, please! The directions were just a little unclear to me. I thought it was saying that you were to layer either fresh broccoli, or frozen broccoli that had been cooked, into the bottom of the dish. So that's what I did at first. Just layered the fresh broccoli spears. But then it dawned on me. Perhaps you were meant to cook it whether it was fresh or frozen. The punctuation just seemed a little unclear. So... I took out all the broccoli and set it in boiling water for about two minutes. Perfect!
Like I said before, I waited for Eric to come home and pronounce the chicken well-done enough to eat before I took it out of the crock pot. Perhaps I need to work on the whole realm of self-confidence, lol :) He looked at it a little, then cut off a piece and put it in his mouth in order to decide. That was our test. In all the many shower gifts we received, we realized, we never got a food thermometer. That should maybe be an investment soon, so that taste-and-wait-for-sickness is not our only option for determining when food is ready! We then lifted the bird out into a huge bowl, and started tearing off all the meat. There is a reason why buying chicken breasts is so popular. The whole chicken, bones and skin and all, is really quite unappetizing. Even once it is cooked ;P Our chicken was 5 lbs, so we used some of it for the casserole and saved some for soup.
As for bread crumbs for the top, well, we substituted saltine crackers crunched up individually by me. It probably would have been quicker to have put them all in a ziplock bag and crunch them with a mallet. But instead I just crumbled each little cracker between my finger and thumb. I need to work on efficiency too!
I'll be honest, I totally fell through on doing sit ups this week. But I wasn't feeling very well some days... and, well, I'll see if I can do better next week. As for a new dinner, I will be attempting Artichoke Feta Fettuccine :) Look out Olive Garden, here I come :)
I love being the recipient of all this food
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