A meal for a busy day!

This week is going to be a bit busy for us. I'll be putting in most of our garden AND baking and decorating a graduation cake for Friday. I chose an easy meal for today: Spicy Roast Chicken, Copycat KFC Macaroni Salad, tossed salad and corn.

Spicy Roast Chicken

• 1 - 2 large whole chickens (ours are homegrown and weigh about 7 - 8 lbs.)
• 4 tsp. salt
• 2 tsp. paprika
• 1 tsp. cayenne pepper (you can cut this down if you don't care for the "heat")
• 1 tsp. onion powder
• 1 tsp. thyme
• 1 tsp. black pepper
• 1/2 tsp. garlic powder

Combine all the spices and rub under the skin of the chicken. Rub a bit on the inside too, and any leftover on the skin. If you are making a single chicken, you can roast it in your crockpot; just put it in the crockpot, cover and cook on low for 8 hours. I make two chickens since I have a large family and I put them in my turkey roaster, cover and bake at 350 degrees for 2 to 2 1/2 hours (remember, I use huge chickens. For smaller chickens, 1 1/2 to 2 hours should do.)


Copycat KFC Macaroni Salad (from www.recipezaar.com)

• 16 oz. dry elbow macaroni, cooked, drained and cooled
• 2 Tbsp. instant minced dry onion
• 2/3 c. chopped celery
• 2/3 c. chopped sweet pickles (I use drained sweet pickle relish)
• 2 Tbsp. chopped pimento (optional)
• 1/2 tomato, seeded and chopped

Dressing:

• 1/2 c. sour cream or plain yogurt
• 1 - 1 1/2 c. Miracle Whip
• 2 Tbsp. prepared mustard
• 3 Tbsp. sugar (I cut this down to 1 Tbsp.)
• 1 tsp. onion salt
• 1/2 tsp. black pepper

Combine dressing ingredients and set aside. Combine rest of ingredients in large bowl and stir in dressing until well mixed. Chill before serving. Store in refrigerator.