Easy crock pot chicken!

Good morning readers! It's Thursday and this is recipe day. I would like to share two distinct ways in which to cook a whole chicken. Both are easy and result in a really great meal when paired with rice, stuffing or potatoes and a vegetable of some kind. This week I will start with the crock-pot chicken. For those of you who have never prepared a chicken before, please check out this site for step by step preparation instructions: http://www.helpwithcooking.com/cooking-poultry/roast-chicken.html  It is really important that you have that clean work surface and that you clean thoroughly once finished. I always prepare mine in the sink. I clean it well first, then ready the chicken. Once I put it in the crock pot or oven, I then go back and clean the sink again with a bacterial cleanser to be sure I have left no juices behind to contaminate something else.

For crock pot chicken, turn the crock pot on high and place the lid on while you prepare the chicken. After thoroughly preparing the chicken, I stuff salted crushed cloves of garlic under the skin in as many places as possible. I use anywhere from 6-10 cloves, cutting large cloves in half. I also tuck a sprig of fresh rosemary under the skin on each breast and over each side on the back. Look for the edges of the skin and gently pull it up; the garlic and rosemary will slide right in as far as you want it to go! This seasoning seeps into the whole chicken for really great flavor. I also put about a tsp of salt in the cavity of the chicken. I then place the whole chicken breast side down in the crock pot (if you have the crock pot bags, use one; they make clean up super easy). Leave the crock pot on high for the first thirty minutes and then turn to low. Allow to cook a total of 7 hours on low or I have left one as long as 10 hours if away for the day. If you are walking out the door as soon as you put it in the crock pot, it is fine to go ahead and turn the pot to low. I always start out on high to just be sure the crock pot is hot. You can cook the chicken on high if you prefer and it will be ready in four to five hours, but won't be quite as tender. Once the cooking is complete, I take the whole chicken out of the pot and place into a large bowl. Use a very large spatula or spoon to get up under the chicken and lift it out. Sometimes it falls apart in the process, so use a slotted spoon to fish the rest out of the juices. I then use a fork to remove all the meat from the bone, placing the meat in another bowl or platter for serving. The meat will literally just fall off the bones. Throw the bones back into the crock pot, put on the lid, and allow to cool. I usually leave mine overnight and the next morning, just lift the bag out and throw away, or when I don't have a bag, the remains will come out gelled together for easy cleanup. Refrigerate the leftover chicken and use the rest for another meal or for really great sandwiches. I usually cook a chicken like this at least every other week and sometimes more often because it is so tasty and easy; it is also nice to have on hand for many other recipes that call for chicken. Enjoy!

Next week I'll share my other whole chicken recipe. I hope you enjoy this one. For busy parents, this one is the best because it takes little time and can go for so many purposes. Cooking is about creating community. Bring your family together at least three to four nights a week for a meal around the table with the television turned off. Research shows that children who eat as a family at least this many times a week perform better in school and have better relationships with others. Choose happiness!

The Importance of Friendship and Community

After divorce, one of the toughest aspects is the feeling that you are all alone now. You have lost that person who was there each day and helped in someway to make the day's burden lighter. And even in a marriage where you might have been lonely and didn't receive much assistance in the day to day routine, because this can certainly be the case, there is still a profound sense of loneliness when you find yourself truly living on your own. However, guard yourself from allowing your heart to go in search of someone to fill up that emptiness you may feel at this time because you are not prepared to make that decision at this point. Another partner cannot fix things. So what do you do?

In Ecclesiastes 4: 10-12 Solomon talks about the importance of not being alone. The NLT version states: "If one person falls, the other can reach out and help. But people who are alone when they fall are in real trouble. And on a cold night, two under the same blanket can gain warmth from each other. But how can one be warm alone? A person standing alone can be attacked and defeated, but two can stand back-to-back and conquer. Three are even better, for a triple-braided cord is not easily broken." I have always loved these verses, but after divorce, who are you going to stand with? Who is going to back you up? Doesn't this mean I should find someone right away? I believe, if you read the entire chapter, what Solomon is saying is don't let your pride get in the way of asking for help. Don't let your pride make you think you can go it all alone, because this is "vanity" in Solomon's words. We need people in our lives and reaching out to friends and family at this most difficult time in your life is important to do and will help hold you up until you are ready to begin searching for another life partner.

One sad aspect of divorce can be the loss of friends and when you just lost your spouse, this is hard to take. Friends leave for lots of different reasons and if yours were all friends based on the marriage, more than likely many of them will dissolve. But please don't despair. This can also be one of the blessings of divorce in opening the door to new friendships, stronger and longer lasting than those from before. My closest friend came after my divorce and I don't think there will be anything that parts us. We both have remarried, and even live all the way across the country from each other, but we are still friends and always will be. We talk on the phone frequently and travel to see each other. She has been one of the greatest blessings to come from my divorce.

I encourage you to lean on others, to seek the friendships and sense of community that will sustain you through this difficult season in life. I had turned away from God during my marriage, a story I will share at another time, but after the divorce, I realized I could not go it alone and turned back to God. It was then that I began to see my friendships blossom with others and once I started attending church again, I found there another group of people to support me with their encouraging words and cheer. My sisters have been an ever present support in my life, but we drew even closer. When I remarried, I was ready because I had filled up the hole in my heart, not with another partner chosen too fast and out of despair, but with God and with the happiness I chose for myself. I moved from New Mexico to Tennessee to be with my new husband. He is my best friend and love of my life, but I know the importance of that third cord too. I have become involved in our church, Hope Presbyterian in Cordova, TN and am now building new friendships as well. In fact, today's blog was inspired by Dr. Eli Morris, one of our pastors who spoke yesterday about relationships. He reminded me of the Ecclesiastes verses, but also said the following:
"Relationships are the place we find...the Challenge we need...the Encouragement we need...the Comfort we need." And isn't this so true? We are not meant to go through life alone.

Take time this week to write in your journal where you might seek out new friendships or how you might reach out to others and ask for help. Don't let your pride keep you from asking when you really need a helping hand. And never doubt the importance of friendship. I will talk about the partner issue again soon, but develop some really great friendships before you go seeking that new partner. Choose Happiness!