Dear Blog....I've missed you.

I used to take the time to check my blog almost daily and try to keep up with the latest on here.
Now, it seems that I am taking that time and relaying the information on Facebook to people there.
Sorry, little blog.  I will try to make amends.

So, recently I spent the week at my daughter and son-in-law's house while they were away.  I took care of their dog and cat and brought in the mail.
I got to spend more time with their elderly cat, who is going on 16 years old, and their American Mastiff who is 5.

I found that she dislikes the TruGreen Lawn truck and man who drives it, and that had I opened the front door, she would most definitely have taken him down in a heartbeat.
She is a good watchdog! (and BIG)

I had a quiet week while my family was walking around Disney World in Florida.
I decided to have a nice lunch ready for them when they arrived back home.  They were very hungry when they returned, so that worked out perfectly.  I went to the store ahead of time and made a favorite recipe in my daughter's crock pot, when I finally found it.

That chicken recipe is to put boneless chicken in the crockpot (I always boil mine a little first).  Then mix up a bowl of one envelope of onion soup mix, a bottle of Russian salad dressing, which is sometimes hard to find.  It is sort of a peachy color and I keep that in mind when scanning the grocery shelves for that dressing.  There's Italian, French, Honey Mustard, Oil and Vinegar, Spicy Italian, Vinaigrette, Ranch -- and so on.
There are regular dressings and fat-free.  I have given up reading the labels when looking for the Russian dressing.  I just scan row after row, looking for the color of the bottle.
Finally, at Hannaford, I reached behind a Ranch dressing bottle, and there it was!  The last one.

OK, so back to the preparation:  In a bowl, you mix the onion soup mix, the Russian dressing and a small jar of apricot preserves.  Pour this mixture over the pieces of chicken in the crock pot and cook on low for several hours. You could do 6 hours or so; but like I said, I do boil the chicken a short while before I start, so I didn't need that much time.

I like to serve this with rice, although Pennsylvania Dutch noodles would be great, too.  And I made some fresh green beans, which I love -- for a vegetable.  When you scoop the chicken out of the crock pot, do make a point of scooping out some of the sauce to put over the chicken on each plate, and it is especially yummy to put a little over the rice, too.

Our two year old asked for seconds, and our 7 year old was caught licking her plate!  I was happy to see this, because sometimes children are a little standoffish about eating a new flavor, or trying a new recipe.  Most children just eat white rice, either plain or with a little butter on it.

We had them at a Chinese restaurant one time and the kids ordered the white rice.  The waitress said to them "Just like in China -- the kids only want the white rice!"