CrockPot Lemon Chicken

3 to 4 pounds chicken thighs
1 (6-ounce) box Lemon Jello powder
3 tablespoons melted butter
1 tablespoon prepared Dijon mustard
1 tablespoon dried minced onion flakes (or one tiny onion, finely diced)

Use a 4 to 6 quart slow cooker. I used a 4-quart for this one, and didn't brown the legs beforehand. The color on the chicken you see up above came only from slow-cooking. If you prefer more of a brown color, or more texture, go ahead and brown beforehand. 

Place the chicken into your slow cooker. In a small mixing bowl, combine the jello powder, melted butter, dijon mustard, and onion flakes. Stir together to make a paste. This isn't liquidy at all--- it's sort of a combo between paste and playdough. Smear this onto your chicken the best you can.
Cover, and cook on low for 6 to 8 hours. I cooked our chicken on low for exactly 7 hours, then kept it on the warm setting for another 2 hours.
Serve with mashed potatoes, or rice pilaf and something green.

Whole Wheat Chocolate Chip Cookies

the signature chocolate chip cookies from Kim Boyce’s “Good To The Grain.”

Ingredients

• 3 cups whole-wheat flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
• 16 tablespoons (2 sticks) cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
• 1 cup packed dark brown sugar
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 8 ounces bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped into 1/4- and 1/2-inch pieces

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line two cookie sheets with parchment paper (you can use one to bake the cookies and the other to freeze the cookies).
2. Sift the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt into a mixing bowl, adding any large bits of grain or other ingredients that remain in the sifter.
3. Combine the butter and sugars in the bowl of a stand mixer or hand-held electric mixer; beat on low speed for about 2 minutes, until just blended. Add the eggs, one at a time, mixing to incorporate after each addition, then add the vanilla extract.
4. Add the flour mixture and beat until barely combined. Stop to scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl. Add the chocolate and beat on low speed just until evenly distributed.
5. Now scoop your cookies. I like to use an ice cream scoop with a release button, but you can also just use a spoon and your hands to scoop up dough, roll it into a ball and flatten it on the sheet. When you finish, pop the cookies you want to bake into the oven for 15 minutes or so, until the cookies are golden brown on the outsides and fragrant. Let them cool for a bit on a cooling rack, then eat them!
6. If you freeze the others, leave them on the sheet in the freezer until frozen and then pluck them into a freezer bag. They’ll keep that way for a month or two.