Big Cooking Day #5

Again, wasn't so gigantic, but the principle continues to work well for us.  Next weekend will be HUGE, so you've got that to look forward to!

I made Crock Pot Girls Chicken n' Dumplings, with a few modifications.  I used a whole bag of whole baby carrots (easy, less prep), one entire unit of celery (I really prefer to use the whole of what I buy if it is something like celery because I'm not likely to use it for anything else before it goes bad), and half of a giant sweet onion.  We also added 2 heads of broccoli.  And we used chicken thighs instead of breasts - we both prefer dark meat, and it is cheaper, win-win!  Preliminary reaction was that the crockpot was suuuuuuper full.  Scarily full.  So full that I was concerned that I'd be able to get the dumplings in.  Second reaction was that this is far more liquidy than the stuff I've been making.  Not sure I was looking for a soup, but it really looks like a soup.  Third reaction was that 8 hours is a long time, and unlike my other recipes, I wasn't given the 4 hours on high alternative.  Not sure if that'd have worked or not, so I went for the 8 hours on low, and added the dumplings at about 6.5 hours, and finished the dish prematurely at 7.5 hours.  The chicken appeared very fully cooked, so I don't think that was a problem, and I was ready for bed!!  Preston's first impression was that it tastes yummy. :-)  I'll be trying it tonight!

On Saturday, Preston and I made the Lemon Fish and Garlicky Cream Corn, so we have a little corn left over for the week.

For Sunday, I made the Maple Glazed Salmon.  We were going to have garlic veg (the kind you buy in a bag - probably need to develop/find my own recipe here), but I didn't make it to the store, so we just had rolls with it and called it a night.  This was only ok with me because I know we'll get a lot of veg the rest of the week from the crock pot recipe.

That was actually it for the cooking day.  I'm counting on 2 nights with the crock pot, 1 night we'll have steak and baked potatoes, and one night we'll have an Amy's frozen pizza.  And then Friday we'll go out!

Next weekend I'll be baking for an annual bake sale that my department holds.  I've alread pre-sold a batch of Blueberry Oatmeal Muffins, so I intend on making 2 batches.  I'll also make Brownies (not from scratch), Pineapple Pecan Cake (from scratch, and always a huge hit), and possibly some sort of cookie... I've got my eye on an easy looking Vinegar cookie recipe (from scratch).  All this means that it'll definitely be a weekend for one of the frozen halves of a crock pot recipe.