I wanted to make a nice dinner. I decided I would make a whole chicken in the crockpot. That should be quick and easy, right? This is coming from the woman who NEVER defrosts her meat ahead of time. You know, like the night before. That requires thinking ahead and I don't tend to do that. I make a meal plan every week, but I don't decide which days we are going to eat which meals.
Anyways, I went to the deep freezer and grabbed my whole chicken. My whole frozen solid chicken. My plan was to cut the wrapper off and throw it and the other ingredients into the crockpot. Dinner done. Yeah, that was my plan.
This is what happened. I cut the wrapper off and threw it away, but there was something stuck to the bottom of the frozen chicken. You know the thing that thing the manufacturers put in there to catch all the juices, it had become a part of the chicken. In my infinite wisdom I grabbed my knife and started prying the "chicken juice catcher" (yes, that's my technical term) off of the chicken. As you can imagine this wasn't working very well. Parts of the chicken juice catcher were coming off, but some of it was still stuck to the chicken. So, I did what any sane (using the term loosely here) woman would do an screamed at the chicken. I'm really hoping that I'm not alone in this. I hope that I'm not the only one that has screamed at her chicken. Then, I grabbed the knife and stabbed it. I'm not proud. Plus, the screaming and stabbing didn't get that darn chicken juice catcher off of the chicken!
I scream, "I hate cooking! I hate food!"
Now, I'm in tears. Frustrated. Feeling alone. Overwhelmed. I cry out to Jesus. Help me!
Then comes this thought. This frozen chicken is a metaphor for my life. I had an idea in my mind about how I wanted making dinner to go. I had a plan, my plan. I wanted to do it quickly and get it done.
But, God He wants us to savor life. He wants us to slow down. Maybe we even have to stop and lay it all down at his feet. Maybe that involves screaming and tears. He knows the plans He has for me and he wants good for me, for you. (Jeremiah 29:11).
Defrost the chicken to get dinner made.
It's genius! It was outside of my thought process, which seems ridiculous in hind sight. I tossed the chicken in the microwave to defrost and that chicken juice catcher came right off. And now, a few hours later my house is starting to smell amazing. All because I chose to go on a different path and switch gears.
I was just going to toss that stupid chicken in the trash. Throw it away. But, I stopped. I prayed. I asked for help. The surrender (even on something as small as making dinner) allows Him to take the weight off of our shoulders. He stands there waiting for us to allow Him to yoke to us. His yoke is easy and the burden is light (Matthew 11:30). We just have to ask.
So, I thought I would share the recipe with you.
Crockpot Chicken Dinner
1 Whole Chicken without innards, defrosted (at least slightly)
salt
pepper
sage
Put the chicken in the crockpot and season to taste with salt, pepper and sage. Or whatever you would like.
celery, I just used what was left in my fridge
carrots, I used 4 large
onion, I used 1/2 of a large white onion
Chop the celery, carrots and onion and add to the crockpot. I just used what I had. I'm horrible, I hardly ever measure. Add 1 cup of water into the crockpot. Cook on high 6-8 hours.
I'm serving our chicken with butternut squash and a kale salad.
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