Sunday Night Dinner

Happy Monday Everyone!

Hope everyone is having a good start to the week. This weekend was a good one. Friday night we headed out to EA for the homecoming game because my brother Nathan and his girlfriend Hannah were nominated for homecoming court. Saturday morning we got up bright and early to go to the farmers market in North Tonawanda. It was a dreary start to the day but that meant less people at the market! After the market I went and got a massage from the NY Institute of Massage. It was wonderful! If you are looking for a cheap place to get a massage I definitely recommend it. $35 for a 50 minute massage and you aren't allowed to tip! Talk about a deal! The rest of Saturday we just hung out and relaxed. I caught up on some TV shows and then we watched the Notre Dame football game. They are having a great season. 

Yesterday I woke up really early like 7:30 and decided to prep and start the chicken for dinner. Friday was Pam's (Bob's mom) birthday and I had invited his family over for a birthday dinner celebrating. I made a roast chicken in the crock-pot, stuffing, mashed potatoes, corn, and a loaf of bread. The chicken is SO easy. Take it out of the wrapping, take out the giblets, rinse with cool water and pat dry with a paper towel. After it is dry, rub with a little olive oil and then put whatever spices you want on it. To crisp the outside of the chicken I put 4 or 5 balls of aluminum foil on the bottom of my crock-pot and place the chicken on top. I let it cook for about 8 hours on low. Yesterday I decided to try putting it on high for 2 hours and then on low for 6 hours but it overcooked the chicken to the point where it fell apart when I went to take it out so from now on I will stick to 8 hours on low. 

After I made the chicken and cleaned up from that I made the ice cream cake. I love ice cream cake and Carvel is great but I like to make my own. It is really easy to do. I take a package of Oreo's and smash them really well and mix them with butter. I put them in a greased 9 x 13 in pan and pack them down. Then I take a 1/2 gallon of chocolate ice cream and spread that on top of the Oreo's. I didn't use all of the ice cream because I was worried about how much room I would have for the other layers. Next I crushed chocolate graham crackers in place of the chocolate crunchies you would have in a Carvel cake. Next I heated up some hot fudge and spread that on top of the graham cracker crumbs. The next layer is vanilla ice cream. I spread that on top, put the lid over and stuck it in the freezer. Right before I served the ice cream cake I put a layer of whipped topping as the last layer. 

Everything was delicious! Easy meal to make! Below are pictures from almost every stage of the process for the chicken & cake. Enjoy! 

Aluminum Foil Balls in Crock-Pot

Chicken after washing (gross) 

Chicken on top of aluminum foil balls with seasoning

Chicken starting to cook

Chicken all done & falling apart. (Oops!) 

All the makings for the ice cream cake

Smashed up Oreo's

Oreo bottom & chocolate ice cream started on top

Smashed up chocolate graham crackers

Hot Fudge on top of graham crackers. 

(When you put the vanilla ice cream on top it will spread out)

Vanilla ice cream on top! 

Still looking for your favorite crock-pot recipes. Share them by commenting below! Today I made chili in the crock-pot, I will post about it tomorrow!