Let's talk 'KISSABLE DINNER"

Let's talk about 'dinner'.
If your a working mom..you'll need to think about dinner the night before and get out what you planned to fix. Thaw it out in the fridge. If your a stay at home mom, take a look at your menu and lay out what you need that morning.

I'm an advocate of the KISS method. Keep it simple stupid. (no disrespect intended..that's just what they call it!)So..keep it simple.
Whole chickens are easy to buy...you can get them on good sales and are extremely easy to fix.Buy a few.
*One whole chicken will provide you TWO meals for 4. YES IT WILL! I promise! (if you're good, you might even be able to squeeze three out of it!..now how frugal is that?!)

On Monday..it's 'whole baked chicken day'. It'll take one hour or less to bake in your oven (unstuffed). So rinse that bird, and let's get to cookin!
Rinse your chicken inside and out and let it drain. Get out a casserole dish..a big one..9x12 I think it is. Heck..I don't keep a ruler in the kitchen!
For rice, it's always 2 to 1..that's two cups of liquid to 1 cup of rice. When it's done you'll have 2 cups of rice. If you're cooking for 4, make sure you use a big casserole dish and double that. (2 Cups of rice, 4 Cups of water).
Ok..mix your water and your rice in the bottom of that casserole dish now let's add some spices.

I'm not going to tell you how much..you'll learn as you go about how much you'll need. The best way to cook..is cook to taste.
Use these spices: Salt, pepper, onion powder, garlic powder and about a teaspoon of soy sauce. Stir all that into the rice/water mix. Get get your chicken!
Set that whole chicken right on top of that rice/water. Now, rub that chicken with either softened butter (my preference) or margarine. Sprinkle it with garlic, onion powder and salt.
*Here's a hint! If you have fresh onions, celery and bell peppers..cut some of those up and put them in the rice instead of the powdered form! (bout 1/2 an onion, 1/2 a bell pepper and one stalk of celery)
Cover this whole thing up with some foil. Bake 350..45 mins to one hour.
While that's baking..mix up some biscuits or some cornbread (take your pick) and choose a veggie. Don't forget...cornbread takes about 20 minutes, so make room in the oven..biscuits take about 15 minutes..you can do them both while your chicken is cooking.
If I'm cooking rice I don't do a 'small' veggie, like peas. I'd choose broccoli or green beans. set them to cooking about 1/2 hour (or less) before the chicken and rice comes out.
About 1/2 hour to 15 mins before the chicken is done, take off the foil. This is when I put in my 'bread'. Rub the chicken with butter/margarine one more time. This will help to brown it all up nice.

Now look there, you have dinner. Cornbread or biscuits, broccoli, baked chicken and rice. In one hour or less. What more could you ask for! Leftovers that's what!

After your family has praised your wonderful dinner, take that chicken rip it into pieces (BONES AND ALL! The WHOLE carcass!) and put it into a container or a plastic bag and put it in the fridge. Do the same with any left over rice..into a container it goes. (as with all the rest of the leftovers..make hubby's lunch if you need to!

WOW..here we are on Tuesday. You had chicken last night, so you don't want it tonight, but homemade hamburger helper sounds pretty good.
So brown up a pound of ground beef or turkey or a mix of both in a LARGE skillet. While it's cooking add one chopped onion (or the 1/2 left from the day before) some bell pepper (again..the 1/2 that was left from yesterday). Cook till done. Drain off any grease.
Now, add 1 C or better macaroni noodles. (how much depends on how many your cooking for) a couple tablespoons soy sauce, pepper, garlic and salt and one bullion cube. Mix it all up. Now, it's time for the water. Pour enough water in the skillet to cover everything. Bring it to a simmer and stir. Keep stirring or the noodles will stick. Cook till the noodles are done. Here's where I add mushrooms so, if you've got em..chop em up and toss em in! Taste and add whatever spices you need to.
Got leftover bread from yesterday. Heat it up in the oven/toaster over or however. (I'm not big on a microwave). Serve with Salad and call it a night!
Fix the hubbies lunch put away all the leftovers. Tomorrow you wont have to worry about taking 'something' out for dinner. We are gonna work with that 'chicken' again!

Sage..the Hedgewife!