Crockpot to the Rescue!

Some days are just the pits. Half of your family members have chest colds; nobody wants to cook. And, you have two broken feet to boot.

So what’s a gal to do? Limp in to the crockpot and find a way to produce dinner for her hungry crowd before they get hangry!

Everything feels tougher and more time consuming when you are walking on sore tootsies. Even with orthopedic boots, carbon shank inserts, and insoles to add needed support. So, quick and uncomplicated top the priority list for this time in my life.

We had some chicken that had been cooked for a previous meal and frozen. It was a wonderful start. I added one frozen breast from a bag in the freezer and thawed it just enough to be able to run a knife through them. I diced them fine and added to the crockpot along with 1 medium yellow onion, 5 cloves of garlic (minced), two carrots cut into thin rounds, 3 quarts of chicken bone broth, 2 bullion cubes and 1 1/2 Tablespoons of salt. I let it cook on high for about 4 hours before stirring and adding about 3/4 cups of uncooked orzo to the mix. Normally, I would have added celery and used brown rice (wild rice, too, if I have some), but it was more important to use what we had on hand. Any noodles would have worked fine also.

While the soup finished and the pasta rehydrated, I set about making fresh rolls using the Kitchenaid Sixty Minute Rolls recipe that I found a couple of years ago on The Thrifty Couple Blog. I doubled the salt in the recipe this time, but still find that it could have used a bit more for my taste.

This recipe really is quick and easy. It would have been quicker had I been able to move about a tad easier. To compensate, I didn’t divide the dough into rolls and just baked it in a single piece, slicing into squares when done. I sat and read blog posts while everything had a final rise and again when baking in the oven.

All in all, the rolls took a bit more like 75 minutes, but considering I usually can pull it off in an hour, it was still really good. I come back to this recipe again and again as I can make rolls in less time than thawing out store bought frozen dough. Mine tastes better and I have control of what goes into them. Besides, it made a humble soup from what we had on hand taste even better and seem like a luxury, not a desperate attempt to stay off my feet.

And that makes it all worthwhile!

What is YOUR go-to meal when your family is ill?