Economics and chicken

I’ve mentioned this before, but my strategy with spending money is to think in terms of cost-per-use. A cute dress for $50 that you’ll probably only wear 2-3 times? Not good cost-per-use. A pair of shoes that you’ll wear multiple times a week for 6+ months? Better investment.

So my slower cooker. Cost per use for this baby is PENNIES. Though actually it was a gift, so it's been free all along, but shout out to my mother-in-law so she knows I’m using it!

I tried something new this past weekend. I did the whole roast-a-whole-chicken-in-the-slow-cooker thing.

I’m a BIG fan of oven roasting a whole chicken- you end up getting a good amount of meat to cut up and freeze for future use, plus you can add whatever seasonings and spices float your boat. That being said, I love the idea of toss it in a crockpot and let it do it’s thang for a few hours. The slow cooker chicken doesn’t get as pretty browned and roasty looking, but the overall flavor was close enough to the real thing that this is definitely something I’ll make again.

Slow Cooker Roast Chicken

-1 whole roast chicken (bag of guts removed), rinsed

-1 tablespoon olive or vegetable oil

-1 teaspoon ground pepper

-1 teaspoon salt

-1/2 teaspoon onion powder

-1 teaspoon poultry seasoning

Using your fingers, dip them in the olive oil and rub around the bottom of the crock (to prevent chicken from sticking). Place chicken breast-side up. Rub with remaining oil, then sprinkle on seasonings.

The instructions I found online state you cook it on low for 2-8 hours. What an obnoxious range! I guess all slow cookers vary- mine took 5 hours to reach an internal temp of 165 degrees. In the future I’ll try letting it go all the way to 8 hours since that’d be more conducive to getting it going before work- I’ll see if it gets dried out or if it just improves the “roasted” flavor.

Remove chicken and place on a cutting board. Let cool for 10 minutes before cutting- you don’t want all the juices to run away! Letting it sit allows the juices to reabsorb into the meat fibers.

I used the chicken breast parts to make my fave sweet potato salad. Speaking of that salad, I whipped up a SUPER EASY vinaigrette that I’ll share.

Step one- totally copy The Pioneer Woman and use a little Mason jar.

Step two- pour in a little bit too much red wine

Step three- sip it down to about half the jar.

Step four- add an equal amount of olive oil

Step five- add salt, pepper, garlic powder to taste (I used just a pinch of each)

Slap that lid on and shake it up! Such a pretty red color- the wine is definitely not too strong because the seasonings counteract the acid.

The trick for making salad leftovers easy and fresh is to layer in a large Mason jar- toppings on bottom, lettuce on top- then you just invert onto a plate and add your dressing. I bought my blue-topped silicone squeeze bottle at the dollar store.

Cost per use for that thing?!

...you get the point.