Cooking on the cheap.

First off, I love my crockpot. It was a gift last Christmas from MIL. My previous one, was from about 1975. It worked fine, but it was rather small and had seen better days. However, the new one is HUGE. There is a 6lb+ whole chicken under the veggies. This recipie should serve atleast 2-3 meals for my family of two adults and one three year old.

Crockpot roast chicken with vegetables.
(measurements are estimated)

1 whole chicken (mine was about 6lbs)
8 or so potatoes, cubed
1/3 bag baby carrots, cut in half
3 chicken bullion cubes or about 3 tablespoons powdered chicken base
butter, I personally used two sticks.
salt and pepper to taste
any other seasonings you'd like (I used some garlic and some McCormick lemon herb seasoning.)

Stick all in crockpot and cook on low 8+ hours or high 4+ hours, depending on the size of the chicken. You could also use chicken legs or breasts if you're crockpot isn't large enough.

When I saw whole chickens on sale for 59 cents a pound, I bought six and stocked up my large freezer.

Noodles with Sauce and eggplant and zucchini.
serves 3-4

1/2 box pasta
1 jar/can spaghetti sauce
1 small to medium eggplant, peeled and cubed
1 small to medium zucchini, peeled and cubed
1-2 tablespoons olive oil
salt and pepper to taste

While pasta is boiling, heat a large skillet and add some olive oil. Add vegetables and and stir occasionally until tender. (About 10 minutes.) Drain pasta and add in sauce and cooked vegetables. Mix well and heat through.

The best part of this recipe is the eggplant and zucchini were free! A friend's coworker shared a bunch with her and the other day she brought me a small eggplant, medium zuchinni and 3 cucumbers.

Cucumber Salad - With this recipe you can make as much or as little as you need. It tastes much better the next day.

cucumbers, peeled and thinly sliced
vinegar
salt
sugar
water

After slicing the cucumbers place them in a large bowl and sprinkle generously with salt. Let stand about 15 minutes until it looks like most of the water has been brought out. Rinse cucumbers. Wring them out and place in a clean bowl. Mix equal parts vinegar, sugar and water. You can adjust to taste. It shouldn't be to sweet or to sour.