Fast forward to dinner prep time.  I was thinking about this baked chicken, but my mind kept wandering to the leeks. Should I use them today?  Should I save them for soup night?  I love leeks in soup, but we did have a potato soup fairly recently… So I headed off to the Internets to look for some inspiration.  I found it in MyRecipes.com from Real Simple magazine.  A recipe that was truly simple, it combined drumsticks, thighs, leeks and apples and seasoned them all with rosemary, salt and pepper.  Was it a coincidence that I also had picked up a bag of organic Rose apples yesterday?  I was meant to make this dish!

It couldn’t have been easier.  I got out a sheet pan, and as I seperated my drumsticks and thighs, I tossed them onto the pan.  Then I quarted four apples, I ended up using two Braeburn, one Rose, and one Gala, as I thought a blend of apple might be nice.  I took one of my gigantic leeks, removed the dark green part, and then cut it in half lengthwise for some good rinsing.  After the leek was rinsed, and dirt removed, I basically cut them into quarters as well.  Six rosemary sprigs were retrieved from the freezer, and then the whole pile was tossed with oil, salt and pepper.

I made sure the chicken was all skin side up, and then slid the pan into a 400ºF oven.

Forty-five minutes later, dinner was ready.  We ate the chicken with potato wedges on the side.  Oh, wow, was it good! And it was so simple!  The chicken picked up amazing flavors from everything it was roasting with, and the leeks and apples were absolutely delicious and buttery, from having been cooked in chicken fat.

I wouldn’t change a thing with the ingredients, it was so much more than the sum of its parts.  However, I might make a few changes in assembly for next time.  I’m thinking that the leeks and apples were so good, that next time I might add more of them, and the leeks I’m thinking I would chop more finely and use them more as a bed for everything else.   In that case, I would serve this with egg noodles or rice to soak up that leeky, chickeny goodness.  It was quick, and it was really easy to throw together once I had my chicken in pieces.  This was wonderful… We had leftovers, and I’m trying to decide how best to reinvent them for tonight’s dinner, the combination of flavors was THAT delicious.  You should definitely try this one.

Roasted Chicken, Apples and Leeks

8 small chicken thighs and drumsticks (about 2 1/2 pounds)
4 small crisp apples (such as Empire or Braeburn), quartered
2 leeks, halved crosswise and lengthwise
6 small sprigs fresh rosemary
2 tablespoons olive oil
Kosher salt and black pepper

Heat oven to 400° F. On a large rimmed baking sheet (or in a large roasting pan), toss the chicken, apples, leeks, rosemary, oil, 1 teaspoon salt, and 3/4 teaspoon pepper. Turn the chicken skin-side up. Roast until the chicken is cooked through and the apples and leeks are tender, 40 to 45 minutes.

About a month or so ago, though, we were given some groceries, for which I was quite grateful at the time.  But one of the items in one of the bags was a box of Hamburger Helper- it was basic, the cheeseburger flavor, but it’s not something I make for my family.  Ever.  I put that box on the shelf for a while, and every time I walked past it, I would look at it.  I really had a hard time with that silly box of flavored pasta!  I couldn’t decide if I should cook it up, since it was given to us in the spirit of keeping my family fed through the winter, or if it would be okay to take that box and donate it.   I went back and forth for about two weeks, before having a day where I needed a quick meal to take with us to dance.  I quickly thawed a pound of ground beef and the Hamburger Helper was dinner.

And you know what happened?  Abigail ate hers and said it was okay.  I ate mine and thought to myself  “Oh, that’s what processed tastes like.”  Andy ate his (I assume, I wasn’t home to witness), but it was Zander who spoke the truth.  “This does not taste good.”  He ate two bites and chose to spend the evening hungry, rather than eat that abomination.   I was both proud and frustrated at the same time.  Honestly?  I was kind of hoping we’d all like it so that I could consider stocking up on a few boxes, because it certainly was a quick and easy dinner.   But no one really liked it, so lesson learned, right?

Well, a few weeks later, there I am staring at a sale on rice mixes.   You know, those packages of rice and seasonings that you add to boiling water and you have tasty rice in twenty minutes?  I wanted some.  I looked at them, and what made me put them back, actually, was the serving size on the package.  I would have needed at least two- even for a side dish- and that kind of negated the idea of these products being on sale and being a good deal for me.

But did you know that you can make your own rice mixes and store them in the pantry for a quick side dish?  True story!  I did just that last night, and it’s embarrassing how easy it was to do.  I gathered my ingredients, three mason jars, a measuring cup and my measuring spoons.  Then, assembly line style, I poured the ingredients into my mason jars, shook them up, covered them, and then added a label.  I used one jar right away for dinner, but in less than a minute, I had two more jars of rice mix in the pantry, ready for another day.  It just doesn’t get easier than this!

I only made three jars because I checked on the supplies I had on hand, and found I was running low on both dried thyme and dried onions.  As easy as it was to make three jars, had I had enough on hand, I would have made at least six.   One jar of mix was more than enough as a side dish for our family of four.  Depending on appetites, anyway, I could have served six last night, as I had a bit leftover.

You can change this up however you want too- that’s another thing I love about it.  The original recipe I was following called for one tablespoon of dried parsley, I didn’t have that at all, so instead I used 1/2 a teaspoon of dried tarragon.  While I’m sure the parsley is good, I loved the flavor the tarragon brought to the dish.  To make one jar of mix, you simply bring 2 1/2 cups of water to a boil with 2 tablespoons of butter.  Add the mix, stir, cover with a lid, and then turn way down to a simmer for 20 minutes.  After 20 minutes, stir with a fork, cover, and let sit for another five minutes.  Perfect rice, perfectly flavored, exactly how you want it.  If you don’t have chicken broth granules on hand, you could use beef, veggie, ham, whatever flavors you prefer.

Homemade convenience- now that makes me smile.   Oh, and if you happen to be a fan of rice mixes with pasta- such as Rice-A-Roni, leave out 1/4 cup of the rice, and add 1/4 cup broken bits of spaghetti to your jar.

Chicken Rice Mix

makes 1 jar

Combine the rice and all the ingredients in a pint size mason jar.  Shake to distribute the contents.  Cover, label, and store for future use.

To make the rice mix, bring 2 1/2 cups of water to a boil over high heat with 2 tablespoons of butter.  Add the rice mix, stir, cover, and reduce heat to a simmer.  Simmer for 20 minutes.  Fluff the rice with a fork, put the cover back on, and let sit off of the heat for five minutes before serving.

Makes 4-6 servings.

Anyway, this week I turned to the chicken recipes.  I usually gravitate towards pork in the crock-pot because it’s a pretty forgiving meat.  But this week I was in the mood for chicken.  I scrolled through the recipes and a few stuck out.  One is a Mediterranean Chicken that we’re having tonight, and the other was Apricot Barbecue Chicken Wings.  I thought the apricot and barbecue combination sounded really good, and who doesn’t like chicken wings?  My only problem with the recipe as a whole was the chicken wings.  Those things have gone the way of the pork tenderloin, meaning that once upon a time they were a really affordable piece of meat. Now they are not.  I can spend $3.50 on enough chicken leg quarters to feed my family two full meals.  Whole chicken wings cost me $10 to feed my family one meal.  Economical, it’s not.  But I felt like a splurge, so chicken wings it was.

I sort of followed the recipe.  I followed her recommendation to bake the chicken wings for just ten minutes before popping them in the crock-pot.  I figured this gave me an opportunity to properly season the wings- so I sprinkled them liberally with salt and pepper and popped them in the oven to par-cook.  While they baked up, I put together the sauce.

I poured out one cup of barbecue sauce and added my dried mustard.  Then I pulled out the jar of apricot preserves.  I was supposed to use the whole thing, but 18 ounces was a LOT of apricot preserves.  I ended up adding just half of the jar.  Then, instead of tabasco, I used a nice heaping tablespoon of my homemade hot sauce.  A sauce which still needs a name, but is so incredibly delicious.  This summer I’ll share how to make your own hot sauce when the hot peppers are in full explosion.  For now, here’s a picture of my beautiful hot nectar:

I put the chicken wings into my crock-pot and then poured the sauce all over.  I set it to low and walked away.  An hour or two later, before we went out the door, I gave the wings one stir, but that probably wasn’t totally necessary.  When we came home several hours later, the wings were done and we ate them with salad.

They were really good.  The apricot and barbecue played together beautifully. The hot sauce and mustard were perfect additions, because they kept the sweetness in check.  They weren’t too hot for the kids, though Abigail did mention her tingly lips today when she had leftovers for lunch.   And speaking of leftovers, I have a recommendation for this recipe.  I suggest that when you make this, you allow an extra 15 minutes of time if possible.  The reason for this is that when I put the leftovers in the oven today, magic happened.  That delicious sauce really baked into the wings, and then they got this great sticky quality.  They were good last night, but they were spectacular today.  If you have an extra 15 minutes, toss the wings in a 400ºF oven, you won’t be disappointed.

Apricot Barbecue Chicken Wings

Adapted from a recipe from A Year of Slow Cooking

You would think this would be a piece of cake.  I mean, millions of people take lunches to work every day and thrive just fine.  Once upon a time I would take relish in packing Abigail a lunch to take to school in her Laptop Lunchbox.   But packing the most substantial meal of the day can be tricky for me sometimes, and I think one of those reasons is simply the packaging.  Strange but true.

When I make a meal to be re-heated in a microwave, I struggle very much with the idea that I’m having my children heat up food in plastic containers. Mainly for health reasons, to be honest.  But there is also a part of me that cringes when I pack a pasta in red sauce or a bowl of chili, knowing that the container will be stained red for some time after that dish goes in the microwave.  I have long been a fan of using glass in the microwave, but food-to-go?  There are a few issues there, but the biggest issue is that good, sturdy glass containers are not inexpensive.  The up-front costs of a set of portable glass dishes is about 10 times the price of a pack of gladware.

Fortunately for me, one of our Christmas gifts this year was a rather nice gift card to Bed, Bath and Beyond, which can be almost like a little playground for Andy and I.  Seriously.  All those cooking gadgets, dishes, pots and pans, decor, towels, etc.  Even better, there are always 20 percent off coupons floating around for that store, so yesterday I set out to finally pick up some of these glass dishes for our meals away from home.  Here they are!

I just finished washing them up, and now have the horrible task of figuring out where to store these babies.  But I’m really excited about them!  In fact, as I unpacked the box last night, and Andy saw the dishes, we both agreed that we know we need a second set, so I may be heading back tonight to pick up a second package.  These are Pyrex brand dishes, which means that they are really heavy duty and durable.   They are oven, microwave and dishwasher safe, so I can use the smaller dishes to bake individual gratins and baked pastas, then add a cover and haul them to dance to be re-heated.  Nothing heated up in them will stain them, the lids seem to be pretty spill-proof, and when we get back home at the end of the night, they can go right in the dishwasher for the next day.

They do nestle inside each other fine for storage purposes too, so they won’t take up as much room as it appears they would with their lids on.  I’m excited to fill them up and put them to work!