Welcome to the June Cookbook of the Month post – the first in the series!
My first pick for the cookbook feature is a somewhat sentimental one. “Southern Living Busy Moms Weeknight Favorites” was one of my first cookbooks, given to me by a friend. We were both young moms with little ones under our feet and each of us wanted to cook healthy and delicious meals for our families. A friend had gifted the cookbook to her and she, in turn, gifted a copy to me.
I marked recipes to try and started adding one or two into our meal plans. I quickly fell in love with this cookbook for a few reasons.
First, nothing in this cookbook is overcomplicated. The recipes call for simple, easy-to-find ingredients, many most people probably already have stocked in the fridge and pantry.
Second, I appreciated the information in the margin of the recipe, especially the side suggestions. My side dishes almost always consisted of a potato dish and a vegetable dish, typically green beans or a salad. I was happy to have some other ideas. The sides suggested are also simple making a complete meal for the family so easy.
This cookbook once was used on a weekly basis and the stains on the cover and pages in between are proof of just that. But over the years, my collection grew and I cooked less often following a recipe so I will admit I have not used the “Busy Moms” cookbook in some time.
However, when going through the book to flag recipes to make for this blog series, I found myself inspired and eager to make so many of these again. In fact, it was difficult to even narrow down the selection to just 5 or 6 recipes to feature here. I will certainly continue to keep this cookbook out as inspiration for our meals even after the month of June.
If my memory serves me well, the first recipe I am sharing is one of the very first recipes I made from this cookbook.
Easy BBQ Chicken
This is an easy, low prep crockpot recipe and also a “double duty” recipe. The “Busy Moms” cookbook provides a second recipe using any leftover chicken from the original.
Tips, Suggestions, & Adjustments
- I have almost always used a whole chicken rather than the 8 bone-in breasts as listed in the recipe. I enjoy the mix of dark and white meat. As long as you are using bone-in chicken, any mix of pieces will work without varying the cooking time.
- Onions – don’t leave them out even if you have a picky eater! The onions really do add so much flavor. When my girls were little and would refuse the entire meal at the sight of even the tiniest onion, I would mince my onions rather than chop. After 8 hours in the crockpot, the onions cook away to nothing.
- After removing my chicken to a cutting board to shred, I pour the sauce through a mesh strainer. The chicken is fall-apart tender. Straining the sauce will assure all bones (and even onions that have not cooked away) are removed before adding the shredded chicken back in and serving.
[lt_recipe name=”Southern Living Easy Barbecued Chicken” summary=”Slow cooker barbecue chicken from the Southern Living Busy Moms Weeknight Favorites cookbook. A make-ahead, double-duty meal!” servings=”8″ total_time=”8H” print=”yes” image=”https://thefamilykitchentable.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/bbq-chicken-with-slaw-300×228.jpg” ingredients=”8 (10-oz.) bone-in chicken breasts, skinned;1 medium onion, chopped;1 cup ketchup;1/4 cup melted butter;1/4 cup brown sugar;2 Tbsp apple cider vinegar;2 Tbsp Worcestershire;1 Tbsp yellow mustard;salt;pepper” ]Place chicken in a 5 quart slow cooker; top with onion.;Whisk together remaining ingredients, ketchup through pepper; pour over chicken and onions.;Cover and cook on High for 1 hour. Reduce heat to Low and continue to cook for 7 more hours.;Remove chicken from sauce onto cutting board or sheet pan to cool slightly.;Remove chicken from bones, Shred chicken and add back to sauce.[/lt_recipe]